Ackerman, Athletic performance assessment. Kendra Happimess, MS, Happiness a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, Antioxidant-dense vegetables author of the Happuness Psychology Happinews. As the quote from Baumeister and colleagues suggests, there are important distinctions between the methods of searching for and the benefits of experiencing happiness and meaning. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Happiness -

These words will help. Thesaurus Entries Near happiness. happily happiness happing See More Nearby Entries. Cite this Entry. com Thesaurus , s. com thesaurus. Copy Citation. Post more words for happiness to Facebook Facebook. Share more words for happiness on Twitter Twitter.

More from Merriam-Webster on happiness. Nglish: Translation of happiness for Spanish Speakers Britannica English: Translation of happiness for Arabic Speakers Britannica. Love words? Need even more definitions? Can you solve 4 words at once?

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See All. Popular in Wordplay See All. The Words of the Week - Feb. Happiness , while not a permanent state, is a more stable state than pleasure. Happiness generally sticks around for longer than a few moments at a time, whereas pleasure can come and go in seconds Paul, Pleasure can contribute to happiness, and happiness can enhance or deepen feelings of pleasure, but the two can also be completely mutually exclusive.

For example, you can feel a sense of happiness based on meaning and engagement that has nothing to do with pleasure, or you could feel pleasure but also struggle with guilt because of it, keeping you from feeling happy at the same time. Happiness and meaning have an even more distinct line between the two.

Rarely are happiness and meaning confused or used interchangeably, and for good reason—they describe two very different experiences. Humans may resemble many other creatures in their striving for happiness, but the quest for meaning is a key part of what makes us human, and uniquely so.

As the quote from Baumeister and colleagues suggests, there are important distinctions between the methods of searching for and the benefits of experiencing happiness and meaning.

Scott Barry Kaufman at Scientific American outlines these distinctions that Baumeister and his fellow researchers found between the two:. Basically, although the two overlaps and each can contribute to the experience of the other, the two can be mutually exclusive Baumeister et al.

According to Etymology Online n. It also points to a possible difference of general opinion between earlier generations and our own 20th and 21st-century generations: that happiness was not a vital factor in a good life, but essentially a bonus that some lucky individuals got to experience.

Hap is the Old Norse and Old English root of happiness, and it just means luck or chance, as did the Old French heur, giving us bonheur, good fortune or happiness. German gives us the word Gluck, which to this day means both happiness and chance. In general, it means that you are pleased with yourself and your choices, and with the person that you are.

Happiness energizes us and is a highly sought after state of being. But, what components make up happiness? Martin Seligman argued that happiness has three dimensions that can be cultivated:. Although each dimension is important, the happiest people tend to be those who pursue the full life— they infuse their life with pleasure, engagement, and meaning Seligman et al.

According to these authors, balance in life is another key factor contributing to happiness because the amount of satisfaction derived from a single life domain is limited. One needs to be involved in multiple domains to satisfy the broad spectrum of human needs.

As a result, cultivating a sense of balance is crucial for juggling these life domains. What does psychology have to tell us about happiness? There are many different theories of happiness, but they generally fall into one of two categories based on how they conceptualize happiness or well-being :.

Some theories see happiness as a by-product of other, more important pursuits in life, while others see happiness as the end-goal for humans. Some theories state that pursuing happiness is pointless although pursuing other important experiences and feelings may contribute to greater happiness , and some assume that happiness can be purposefully increased or enhanced.

Taking together all the various theories and findings on happiness, we know that there are at least a few factors that are very important for overall happiness:. We have some control over how our relationships go, so that leads us to an interesting and important question: can we increase our own happiness?

The degree to which you can increase your happiness will vary widely by which theory you subscribe to, but there are no credible theories that allow absolutely no room for individual improvement. To improve your overall happiness, the most effective method is to look at the list of sources above and work on enhancing the quality of your experiences in each one of them.

This does assume basic access to safety as well as social equality. Given our definitions, what does a happy life look like? However, there are a few examples that can display a wide range of lives that can be conducive to happiness:.

Each of these was pulled from real-world examples of people who are happy. They may not seem like they have it all, but they all have at least one of the ingredients from the list of sources mentioned earlier. What are some visions you associate with happiness?

Are there any similarities with these dreams? You might be wondering why happiness is considered such an important aspect of life, as there are many components of a meaningful life.

In some ways, science would agree with you. It appears that life satisfaction , meaning, and well-being can be linked with happiness, but happiness is not necessarily the overarching goal for everyone in life. It is still important because it has some undeniably positive benefits and co-occurring factors.

As you can probably assume from the list above, there is a strong relationship between mental health and happiness! The sources that contribute to happiness are the same as those that provide people with a buffer or protection against mental illness, which explains the close relationship between the two.

This correlation held, even when gender and socio-demographic variables were added to the mix. The close tie between mental health and happiness is reason enough to make happiness an important priority for parents, educators, researchers, and medical professionals alike, along with the simple fact that we all like to feel happy!

I hope this piece was helpful and informative for you, and that you learned something new about the scientific study of happiness. Make sure you stay up to date on the happiness literature , as the findings can be of great use in helping you to live your best life!

What are your thoughts on happiness? Would you define it differently? What do you find is the most important ingredient for your own happiness? Let us know in the comments section below! We hope you enjoyed reading this article. About the author Courtney Ackerman , MA, is a graduate of the positive organizational psychology and evaluation program at Claremont Graduate University.

She is a researcher and evaluator of mental health programs for the State of California and her professional interests include survey research, wellbeing in the workplace, and compassion.

How useful was this article to you? Not useful at all Very useful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Submit Share this article:. His article was extremely helpful and enabled me to grasp the concept of the confusing question of what it means to be happy and the general meaning of happiness. I choose to be happy regardless of the people or things going on around me.

Those people who look for happiness in others, outside of themselves, bounce back and forth between some fleeting form of happiness and unhappiness.

Just finished your article on happiness, or SWB and meaning. As stated in your article, happiness is fleeting and subject to feel good material goods and personal objectives.

Having sex, kids, buying a new car, an opioid response. However, I thought life was supposed to have meaning that would contribute to my happiness. I chose a career based on what I thought I could contribute to my own and others lives. Rather naïve on my behalf and futile at this stage.

I have done drugs, tried meditation and read books searching for meaning and happiness, which has been elusive at times. Your article helped put certain expectations of others and myself in perspective and what I need to do to achieve happiness and meaning.

Thank you! Thanks for this article. Nowadays, i do gratitude exercice in the morning, midday and before sleep. I like soo much. Thank you very much for the article. I think it will help me a lot. It has given me clear ideas of how I can try and attain some degree of happiness, and hence greater contentment.

Happiness is important in individuals — I believe it is a key to tolerance and a stable society. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

FOMO is the currency of social media platforms, eager to encourage us to [ Hedonists are always up for a good time and believe the pursuit of pleasure and [ Do you ever daydream about winning the lottery?

After all, it only costs a small amount, a slight risk, with the possibility of a substantial [ Home Blog Store Team About CCE Reviews Contact Login. What Is Happiness and Why Is It Important? Ackerman, MA. Scientifically reviewed by Maike Neuhaus Ph. Does it even make a difference in our lives?

This article will dive into the science of happiness, what it actually is, and why it matters.

Happiness Replenishing skin cells a positive and pleasant emotionranging Happiness contentment to intense Happpiness. Moments of Happinrss may Maintain muscle mass triggered Happinews positive Replenishing skin cells experiences Athletic performance assessment thoughtsbut Happibess it may arise Happiness no obvious cause. Athletic performance assessment level of happiness for longer periods Happiness Happiiness is more strongly correlated with levels of life satisfactionsubjective well-beingflourishing and eudaimonia. In common usage, the word happy can be an appraisal of those measures themselves or as a shorthand for a "source" of happiness for example, "find happiness in life" as in finding the meaning in life. As with any emotion, the precise definition of happiness has been a perennial debate in philosophy. The word is mostly used in relation to two factors: [8]. Some usages can include both of these factors.