essay titles about happiness

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

121 Happiness Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Happiness is a universal goal that we all strive to achieve in our lives. Whether it's through relationships, career success, or personal fulfillment, finding happiness is something that we all desire. If you're looking for inspiration for an essay on happiness, we've compiled a list of 121 topic ideas and examples to help get you started.

• The Importance of Gratitude in Achieving Happiness
• How Social Connections Impact Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Mindfulness and Meditation
• The Role of Physical Health in Happiness
• Pursuing Passion and Purpose for a Fulfilling Life
• Overcoming Adversity and Finding Happiness
• The Connection Between Money and Happiness
• The Impact of Social Media on Happiness
• Cultivating Positive Relationships for a Happy Life
• The Benefits of Volunteering for Personal Happiness
• Finding Joy in the Little Things
• The Power of Positive Thinking in Achieving Happiness
• The Role of Self-care in Maintaining Happiness
• How Nature and the Outdoors Can Boost Happiness
• The Connection Between Creativity and Happiness
• The Importance of Setting and Achieving Goals for Happiness
• Overcoming Fear and Anxiety to Find Happiness
• The Link Between Health and Happiness
• The Impact of Gratitude Journals on Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Self-acceptance and Self-love
• The Benefits of Laughter for Mental Health and Happiness
• The Impact of Music on Mood and Happiness
• The Connection Between Exercise and Happiness
• Cultivating a Positive Mindset for a Happy Life
• The Role of Education in Achieving Happiness
• The Importance of Work-life Balance for Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Travel and Exploration
• The Benefits of Mindful Eating for Happiness
• The Connection Between Sleep and Happiness
• Overcoming Perfectionism to Find Happiness
• The Impact of Kindness and Compassion on Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Simplifying and Decluttering
• The Role of Resilience in Achieving Happiness
• The Benefits of Pets for Mental Health and Happiness
• The Connection Between Forgiveness and Happiness
• Cultivating a Gratitude Practice for a Happy Life
• The Impact of Social Support on Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Learning and Personal Growth
• The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Happiness
• The Role of Hobbies and Leisure Activities in Achieving Happiness
• The Benefits of Positive Affirmations for Mental Health and Happiness
• The Connection Between Spirituality and Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Acts of Kindness and Service
• The Impact of Positive Relationships on Happiness
• Cultivating a Growth Mindset for a Happy Life
• The Role of Mind-body Practices in Achieving Happiness
• The Benefits of Spending Time in Nature for Mental Health and Happiness
• The Connection Between Gratitude and Happiness
• Finding Happiness Through Acceptance and Letting Go
• The Importance of Social Connection for Happiness
• The Role of Self-compassion in Achieving Happiness
• The Benefits of Positive Self-talk for Mental Health and Happiness
• Cultivating a Healthy Lifestyle for a Happy Life
• The Impact of Journaling on Mental Health and Happiness
• The Role of Physical Health in Achieving Happiness
• The Benefits of Gratitude Journals for Mental Health and Happiness
• The Benefits of Mindful Eating for Mental Health and Happiness
• The Role of H

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

309 Happiness Essay Topics & Research Questions

What is happiness? This is one of the fundamental questions discussed in philosophy, psychology, religion, sociology, and other sciences. Many research papers and essays explore this phenomenon, and the topic of happiness is an infinite source of inspiration.

If you decide to write a paper on happiness, this is a great chance to learn what happiness is for you. To help you create outstanding writing, our expert team has collected the best happiness essay topics.

🔝 Top 10 Happiness Essay Topics

✍️ happiness essay prompts, ❓ happiness research questions.

• ⚖️ Happiness Argumentative Essay
• ➡️ Essay about Cause and Effect of Happiness

🤩 More Happiness Essay Titles

✏️ writing about happiness: step by step, 🔗 references.

• How to find happiness?
• What are the signs of a happy person?
• The most common myths around happiness.
• The effects of positive psychology on happiness.
• How does happiness change over the lifespan?
• The effects of happiness on physical well-being.
• The most popular theories of happiness.
• The world’s happiest countries.
• The definition of family happiness.
• Can money buy happiness?

Writing an essay on happiness can be tricky since this is a very complex phenomenon. However, if you focus on its specific aspect, you can easily do research and write a well-crafted paper. Consider our ideas on how you can narrow the topic of happiness.

Can Money Buy Happiness: Argumentative Essay Prompt

There’s an ongoing debate about the connections between happiness and money. If you want to investigate this controversial topic in your essay, it’s essential to consider both sides before jumping to conclusions.

Recent research by Kahneman, Killingsworth, and Mellers suggests that people are generally happier as they earn more. More than 30,000 adults aged between 18 and 65 living in the US with different incomes participated in a survey. Researchers measured their happiness at random intervals in the day via an app called Track Your Happiness.

The results revealed that happiness rises with income, even in the high salary range. However, there was a so-called “unhappy minority” — about 20 percent of participants, whose happiness didn’t progress after the person reached a certain income level. You might want to mention this research as an argument in your essay.

What Does Happiness Mean to You: Essay Prompt

There’s no one universal definition of happiness. It differs from person to person. If you’re writing a narrative essay , you can describe what happiness is for you. For more formal assignments, you might want to define happiness from a psychological, philosophical, or religious perspective.

Neuroscientists have demonstrated a great interest over the past years in what happens in our brains when we’re happy. According to neuroscience , happiness is the release of dopamine and serotonin (two types of neurotransmitters) in response to external factors.

While medical studies see happiness as a physiological process, in religion, happiness is sacral. To be precise, biblical scholar Jonathan Pennington defines happiness as something that cannot be found outside since this is a feeling of complete alignment with God and his coming kingdom.

Aristotle Happiness: Essay Prompt

When writing a happiness essay, it’s almost impossible not to mention the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. In one of his works, The Nicomachean Ethics , he presented one of the first happiness theories, which is still relevant today.

According to Aristotle, happiness lies in achieving all the good, such as health, knowledge, wealth, and friends , which leads to the perfection of human nature. Often, happiness requires us to make choices, some of which may be very challenging. For example, the lesser good sometimes promises immediate pleasure, while the greater good requires sacrifice. Aristotle’s theory of happiness remains one of the most influential frameworks and is worth mentioning in your writing.

Prompt for Happiness Is a Choice Essay

Is happiness a choice? This is another complex question you can build your essay around.

To give you some food for thought, psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky believes that roughly 50 percent of people’s natural happiness level is genetically determined . However, if we work on our happiness consistently, with effort and dedication, we can boost it.

It sounds shocking, but we make around 35,000 conscious decisions daily, each contributing to our happiness. As mentioned earlier, genetics make up roughly half of the happiness levels. The rest depends on our choices, and only 10% of happiness depends on circumstances.

• How do sociological perspectives shed light on factors contributing to happiness?
• How does a cross-disciplinary approach enrich our understanding of happiness?
• What is the impact of relationships on well-being?
• How can happiness be measured subjectively and objectively?
• What does the economics of happiness say about human well-being?
• How does health contribute to human happiness?
• Does income directly relate to happiness?
• What are the socio-economic and sociodemographic characteristics of happiness?
• How do classical and neo-classical economic theories conceptualize happiness?
• How do social security and welfare contribute to happiness?
• Can employment affect happiness?
• Who is happier: self-employed or those working for hire?
• What is the impact of retirement on happiness?
• What is the link between female happiness and marital status?
• Should sacrifices be made for the sake of children’s well-being?
• How do meaningful personal relationships contribute to happiness?
• How does feeling in control of one’s life affect happiness?
• What is the relationship between freedom and happiness ?
• What is the connection between a community’s religious diversity and happiness?
• What is the link between the amount of leisure time and happiness?
• How do outdoor activities affect happiness?
• How does culture affect the way people evaluate happiness?
• How do social networks influence a person’s happiness?
• What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up theories of life satisfaction ?
• What is the impact of regular involvement in sports on happiness?
• How often should one meet with friends to feel happy?
• Is loneliness inversely related to happiness?
• What is the impact of political stability on happiness?
• Is living in a democratic state a determinant of happiness?
• Can economic freedom contribute to one’s happiness levels?
• What are the economic consequences of social happiness?
• Is happiness a fundamental goal of a democratic society ?
• Can happiness be attained by well-organized governmental efforts?
• Happiness versus well-being: are these concepts the same?
• What is the math behind the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index?

Questions about Happiness: Psychology

• What is the impact of family bonds on subjective well-being?
• Psychology Answers Whether Money Buys Happiness.
• Can physical health be a reflection of internal happiness?
• Are life challenges a stimulant of happiness?
• How to Increase Happiness Across All Three Types of Subjective Well-Being.
• Are psychometric scales valid and reliable for measuring happiness?
• What is the role of gratitude in positive psychology?
• Does Your Personality Predict Your Happiness?
• What is the link between gratitude and happiness?
• Is gratitude an alternative to materialism and a tool for attaining happiness?
• Happiness and Academic Success Relationship .
• What is the concept of “good human life” in psychology?
• How does evolutionary psychology explain the origins of happiness?
• How has the concept of happiness evolved across different psychological theories?
• Self-Esteem and Happiness Analysis .
• How does subjective well-being vary across different age groups?
• What is the role of social support in happiness?
• To what extent does genetics determine the baseline happiness level?
• The Happiness Tips and Examples from Real Life.
• How do cultural norms influence the understanding of happiness?
• How does the experience of flow states contribute to happiness?
• How can mindfulness meditations increase happiness?
• Do Stay-at-Home Mothers Exhibit More Indicators of Happiness Than Full-Time Working Mothers ?
• Is there a genuine science of happiness?
• Positive psychology: a new science of happiness or old data in a new package?
• How does the quality of interpersonal relationships affect happiness?
• What cognitive and emotional processes are involved in positive self-appraisal?
• Generosity Motivating Factors and Wellbeing.
• What are the dimensions of psychological well-being?
• How does the engagement in prosocial behaviors contribute to happiness?
• What is the impact of pursuing extrinsic and intrinsic goals on happiness?
• How does having a life purpose contribute to happiness?
• Spiritual Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs.
• Positive psychology coaching: how to learn to help others attain happiness?
• What are the neurobiological correlates of happiness?
• Relationship of Proactive Personality, Financial Planning Behavior, and Life Satisfaction.
• What is the impact of spiritual well-being on happiness?
• Happiness on prescription: do anti-depressants contribute to well-being?
• What personality traits are associated with sustained happiness levels?
• How Does Regular Alcohol Consumption Affect Happiness?
• How do positive psychology interventions at school affect young adults’ happiness?
• What is the link between physical attractiveness and subjective happiness?
• What is the connection between happiness and neuroticism?
• What are the positive psychology teachings of Buddhism ?
• Is yoga a path to mature happiness?
• What is the impact of social comparison on happiness?

Philosophical Questions about Happiness

• How to achieve ultimate happiness?
• The dark side of happiness: what are the wrong ways of pursuing happiness?
• Can there be wrong types of happiness?
• Bhutanese Views on Happiness and Subjective Wellbeing.
• Is happiness egoistic self-indulgence?
• What are the philosophical problems in the study of happiness?
• Is there a link between happiness and compassion?
• Philosophy on Knowledge, Reality, and Good Life.
• Can happiness be universally possible?
• What are the conditions and causes of happiness?
• Relativity of happiness: are lottery winners happier than accident survivors?
• People and the Meaning of Life.
• How do emotional styles contribute to happiness?
• What are the personality traits of a happy person?
• What is Carson’s approach to happiness and satisfaction?
• Philosophical Views and Cultural Influences.
• What is the philosophical stance on happiness and pleasure?
• Can happiness be equated to hedonism?
• How can the pursuit of happiness be analyzed from a utilitarian perspective?
• What is Benditt’s view of happiness and contentment?
• What were Aristotle’s ideas on the human good?
• What is the difference between classical and contemporary philosophy readings on happiness?
• What is the link between happiness and the meaning of life?
• What is eudaimonic well-being ?
• What are the features of Diener’s happiness philosophy?
• What is the happiness philosophy of Plato?
• How has happiness research in philosophy progressed over time?
• Money Cannot Bring True Happiness.
• What is the concept of happiness in English sayings?
• Is ancient happiness wisdom applicable to modern times?
• What are the contributions of the world’s famous happiness philosophers?
• What does Islam say about happiness?
• What were John Stuart Mill’s views on the moral and political philosophy of happiness?
• Personal happiness or societal well-being: what should be prioritized?
• How do Foucault’s teachings describe children’s happiness?
• What were Ibn Rushd’s ideas on happiness?
• How have ancient philosophers influenced contemporary debates on the nature of happiness?
• Human Development and Wellbeing.
• How do Eastern and Western approaches to happiness differ?
• How did stoics achieve happiness?
• Is greater happiness for a greater number of people desirable?

⚖️ Happiness Argumentative Essay: Topic Ideas

• Nature vs. nurture : the role of personal choices in achieving happiness.
• Can happiness be increased by technological advancements?
• The Relationship between Money and Happiness .
• Happiness can’t be achieved with anti-depressants.
• Cultivating positive brains is vital for happiness.
• Happiness levels in rich and poor nations .
• Is unhappiness more important in moral terms than happiness?
• Gay Marriages: Isn’t It Time to Allow Them Feel Happy?
• Emotional control plays a vital role in a person’s ability to be happy.
• Happiness is inseparable from pleasure.
• Happiness inevitably leads to human flourishing.
• Are there moral limits to satisfaction?
• Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness.
• There should always be a place for virtue in happiness.
• Happiness is a stochastic phenomenon: examining Lykken and Tellegen’s views.
• Suffering is not mutually exclusive with happiness.
• Technological progress distances people from simple happiness.
• Goodness means different things to people.
• Health, Wealth, and Happiness: Government’s Responsibility.
• Happiness and meaning are two main aspects of a virtuous life.
• Is happiness research relevant for economists?
• Happiness research can offer implications for public policy .
• Happiness: a contribution to an economic revolution.
• How To Achieve Well-being and Enjoyment in Life?
• The paradox of choice: does an abundance of options lead to greater happiness?
• Implications of happiness research for environmental economics.
• Diversity is a vital determinant in modern happiness research.
• Happiness research should be country-specific.
• National Well-Being Before and During the Pandemic.
• A need for more programs for increasing personal happiness.
• Happiness is a relative concept.
• Happiness can prosper only in democracies.
• Collective and individual happiness are interrelated.
• Psychological Well-Being, Self-Efficacy, and Personal Growth .
• Happiness affects mental and physical health in many ways.
• The impact of happiness on achievement.
• Do acts of kindness increase happiness levels?
• The impact of relationships on individual happiness: quantity vs. quality.
• Hedonism vs. eudaimonism: which leads to a more fulfilling life?
• Happiness depends on income, but not exclusively.
• Should maximizing happiness be the government’s social policy?
• Insights of happiness research for public policy and administration.
• Democracy: Equality of Income and Egalitarianism.
• Human happiness is impossible without favorable social conditions.
• Happiness scales don’t work.
• There’s a tangible degree of utility for human happiness.
• Instagram Use and Psychological Well-Being in Women.
• The significance of adaptation and change in sustaining lasting happiness.
• Happiness is culturally constructed.
• Happiness is not equal to well-being.
• Personal happiness is a principal element of productivity.
• Preventive healthcare can boost people’s well-being and happiness.
• Happiness at work determines general happiness to a large degree.
• Morality plays a huge role in the folk conceptions of happiness.

➡️ Essay about Cause and Effect of Happiness: Topics

• Causes of happiness and unhappiness.
• Culturally specific causes of happiness.
• Physical appearance peculiarities and happiness.
• Individual traits’ impact on perceived happiness.
• Chinese Population: Future Growth and Wellbeing.
• Effect of overestimating and underestimating the importance of happiness on well-being.
• Influence of happiness on one’s body and mind.
• Absence of happiness as a probable cause of mental health disorders .
• Can unhappiness cause cancer?
• The Citizen Science: Impact on Personal Wellbeing.
• Causes of marital unhappiness.
• Effects of chronic stress and unhappiness at work.
• Unhappiness as a cause or effect of loneliness.
• Happiness and success – what’s the cause in this relationship?
• Effect of wealth on happiness.
• Social Justice, Feminism and Well-Being.
• The impact of living in a democracy versus autocracy on people’s perceived happiness.
• Causes of male happiness.
• The influence of consumerism culture on happiness.
• Differences between the causes of male and female happiness.
• Instagram Use and Psychological Well-Being .
• How do the causes and effects of happiness change with age?
• Effects of happiness on the elderly.
• The impact of education level on happiness.
• Causes of happiness in Eastern and Western cultures.
• Can a cause of happiness in one culture be a cause of unhappiness in another one?
• Divorce of Parents and Impact on Child’s Well-Being.
• The influence of the number of children one has on the perceived happiness level.
• Can the pursuit of one’s dream be a cause of happiness?
• Freedom as a cause of happiness.
• The causes of material versus spiritual happiness.
• Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Well-Being.
• Causes of happiness in the workplace.
• Effects of being happy and emotionally stable on academic performance.
• The impact of happiness on the quality of social relationships.
• Can happiness be a source of productivity?
• The Impact of Self-Care on Well-Being among Practicing Psychologists.
• Individually determined causes of happiness and misery.
• Environmental causes of human happiness.
• How do causes of happiness change over time?
• The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Social Well-Being.
• Can happiness cause health improvements?
• Moral causes of happiness.
• The effect of positive body image on a person’s happiness.
• How does high self-esteem affect one’s happiness?
• People’s recipes for long-term happiness across cultures.
• Polling Exercise: Self-Fulfillment Over Self-Indulgence.
• Effects of happiness on sociability.
• Happiness causes in single-parent families and double-parent families.
• Causes of happiness among very wealthy people.
• Positive Impact of the Environment on Families .
• Is happiness a stable concept? What causes happiness to change?
• Causes of happiness as seen by feminists.
• Strong friendship bonds as a cause of happiness.
• Psychological wealth as a precondition of happiness.

Pursuit of Happiness Essay Topics

• The unending pursuit of happiness is too commercialized.
• Pursuit of happiness in the movies.
• History: In Search of the American Dream.
• The scientific pursuit of happiness: approaches from different sciences’ perspectives.
• People often get lonely in the pursuit of happiness.
• Self-defeating pursuit of happiness.
• Historical cases of happiness pursuits.
• Materialism and pursuit of happiness.
• Positive Psychology to Lead a Normal Life.
• Experientialism and happiness.
• Time, money, and social connections in the happiness equation.
• Therapy vs. medications in the pursuit of happiness.
• What should a person know to pursue happiness successfully?
• Pursuit of happiness: rural vs. urban perspectives.
• Pursuit of happiness in the Age of Enlightenment .
• How do advances in biotechnology serve the pursuit of happiness?
• Psychobiotics and gut-brain relationships: happiness via nutrition.
• Downshifting for the sake of happiness.
• The impact of race on the choice of happiness pursuit methods.
• Perceived security and pursuit of happiness.
• Experiential consumption in the pursuit of happiness.
• The origins of the hunt for happiness.

Happiness at Work: Topic Ideas

• The benefits of happy employees for the organization.
• The reciprocal relationship between happiness and success.
• Job Satisfaction and Ethical Behavior in Prisons.
• Impact of happiness and optimism on performance.
• Waiting to become happy as the greatest success limitation.
• Police: Issue of Job Satisfaction, Hazards and Risks.
• Cultivation of positive brains for motivation, workplace creativity, and resilience.
• Escaping the cult of the average for the sake of happiness.
• Psychological flexibility is the key to workplace success.
• Human Resource Regulations: Working Hours and Minimum Salary .
• Independence as a cause of happiness at work.
• Work-life balance and happiness.
• Attaining happiness in the knowledge-intensive workplace.
• Approaches to measuring happiness at work.
• Diversity at the Workplace: Problem and Importance.
• Happiness at work: small firms, SMBs, and corporations.
• Cross-cultural correlates of happiness at work.
• The art of staying happy in the workplace.
• Work-Life Balance in the Last Decade .
• The quality of relationships with colleagues as a determinant of happiness.
• Workplace conflict and happiness.
• Happiness and financial/non-financial rewards.
• Positive psychology coaching for staff.
• Impacts of Parenting on Work, Life, and Family.
• Can a person working nine-to-five be really happy?
• Happiness and overtime work.
• Happiness in the educational workplace.
• Steps to Reduce Stress at Work.
• Happy doctors and nurses: can seeing suffering every day align with happiness?
• Anger control and happiness at work.
• Culture of respect and workplace happiness.
• Exploring the Concepts of Productivity and Stress Levels in the Workplace.
• Happiness at work and broader life satisfaction.
• Happiness among emergency workers.
• Happiness and workplace burnout.
• Work Efficiency Impact Factors.
• Can real happiness be attained through work?
• Organizational learning measures for supporting staff happiness.
• Happiness at work and organizational effectiveness.
• Human Factors: Workload and Stress Relationship.
• Are happy employees more committed to their employer?
• Happiness at work and motivation.
• Happy staff and growth mindsets.
• Work-Related Stress and Meditation & Mindfulness.
• How do workers of different ages conceptualize happiness at work?
• Self- and peer-related orientations and happiness at work.

We’ve prepared a small writing guide to help you make a well-structured and captivating happiness essay. Consider the best tips for the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion .

Happiness Essay Introduction

The introduction is an essential part of an academic essay that presents the topic, provides background information, and catches readers’ attention. Here are the three main elements to include in your introduction.

Body Paragraphs about Happiness

The body is the longest essay part, leading readers through your ideas, arguments, and evidence for your thesis . It’s always divided into two or more paragraphs, each centering around a topic sentence.

A topic sentence describes the paragraph’s central idea and should be expanded with evidence and examples. It also helps to transition smoothly from one section to another.

Remember, we’ve already developed a thesis statement about the connection between happiness and productivity. An example of a happiness topic sentence for this essay is shown below.

To find supporting evidence for your thesis, you can check out major theories, previously done research, statistics , case studies, and articles on the topic.

Happiness Essay Conclusion

The conclusion is a vital part of an essay that reminds readers of your thesis statement and summarizes the main points. Nothing new is presented in this section, but you might want to encourage readers to think deeper about the topic.

The critical requirement for the conclusion is paraphrasing your thesis statement from the introduction. You can keep the keywords but change the rest.

Happiness is a complex phenomenon many writers, poets, and scientists try to explore. If you also want to contribute to happiness discussion and share your ideas, writing an essay is a great opportunity. Consider our top happiness essay topics and writing tips to write a memorable paper.

• Happiness | Harvard Business School
• Happiness | TED
• Research Topic: Happiness | Association for Psychological Science
• Three New Ideas About Happiness and Well-Being | Greater Good Magazine
• Happiness Articles & More | Greater Good Magazine
• Happiness in Psychology and Philosophy | Cogut Institute for the Humanities
• Happiness | UCLA Anderson Review
• The Five Big Questions of Happiness Research | Longevity
• 10 Questions: How Can We Be Happy? | CBS News
• Can Money Buy Happiness? Scientists Say It Can. | The Washington Post

301 Abortion Essay Topics & Research Questions on Laws, Ethical Issues & More

333 football research topics & essay titles.

• Tourist Attractions Essay Topics Topics: 65
• Sports and Culture Paper Topics Topics: 104
• Basketball Paper Topics Topics: 57
• Parenting Styles Research Topics Topics: 102
• Immanuel Kant Topics Topics: 159
• Allegory of the Cave Topics Topics: 60
• Aristotle Paper Topics Topics: 125
• Plato Paper Topics Topics: 185
• Socrates Research Topics Topics: 115
• Football Topics Topics: 155
• Epistemology Research Topics Topics: 76
• Free Will Research Topics Topics: 78
• Metaphysics Topics Topics: 71
• Divorce Research Topics Topics: 142
• Marriage Research Topics Topics: 262

148 Happiness Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on happiness, ✍️ happiness essay topics for college, 👍 good happiness research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting happiness research titles, 💡 simple happiness essay ideas, ❓ happiness research questions.

• Relationship Between Morality and Happiness
• Family Happiness Definition and Aspects
• Stress and Happiness in Personal Experience
• Happiness, Its Components and Main Aspects
• Human Relationships and Happiness
• The Ways Friends and Family Make an Individual’s Level of Happiness Higher
• Comparison of Socrates’s, Epicurus’s, and Michel de Montaigne’s Views on Happiness
• Happiness in Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” In the “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle argues that there are different lives people tend to consider happiness; they include the life of political action, money-making, etc.
• “Quicksand” by Nella Larsen: The Theme of Happiness This essay explains the theme of happiness, as depicted in the novel “Quicksand” by Nella Larsen, and the role that gender, race, and class have contributed to Helga’s unhappiness.
• The Global Campaign: Share the Happiness With Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s leader in producing sweet soft drinks. Coca-Cola’s recent promotion campaign is truly global as it targets different countries including Nigeria and Uganda.
• Rhetorical Analysis of “Why Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness” by Begley This paper presents the rhetorical analysis of the article “Why Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness” by Begley, paying special attention to ethos and pathos.
• Operationalization Methods: Motivation, Mood, Anxiety, and Happiness Operationalization is used for turning abstract concepts into quantifiable values. This paper aims to analyze and assess the operationalization methods.
• Employees’ Happiness in the UAE This study explores the effects of workplace social support, psychological contracts, and work engagement on employees’ happiness in the United Arab Emirates.
• Economics and Happiness: Personal Experience Human actions and their impacts on the temperature and ecosystem have resulted in unusual plant and animal extinction events.
• The Level of People’s Happiness There are many indices that are created specifically for monitoring the level of people’s happiness. In general, the level of happiness is decreasing worldwide.
• Pursuit of Happiness: Yeimi Portillo and Maya Hmed Yeimi and Maya’s perspectives on happiness proved that although family happiness and money contribute to happiness, personal satisfaction is the most crucial factor.
• Modern Society’s Approach toward the Pursuit of Happiness The term “pursuit of happiness” can be found in the Declaration of Independence of the United States. This statement relates to the freedom to participate in any activity.
• Pursuit of Happiness and Changeling Films Comparison Pursuit of Happiness is a film story of Chris, which express his quest for success. In the Changeling film, joy occurs in the state where Angelina attempts to get justice.
• Aspects of Pursuit of Happiness The relationship between personal possessions and happiness is more negative than positive because the pursuit of material goods is weakly correlated with well-being.
• The Mediating Effect of Job Happiness on the Relationship Between Job Satisfaction Employee happiness has attracted significant attention from scholars and practitioners because of employees who are committed.
• Principles of Morality and Happiness Numerous thinkers contemplated ever-lasting principles of morality and happiness: David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, Aristotle and Immanuel Kant.
• How Happiness Arises From Social Interaction The author believes that happiness arises from social interaction, not from assigning value to activities, and proves his argument by reviewing the conclusions of philosophers.
• Aristotelian Perspective on Nozick’s Happiness Argument Nozick states that there is more to life than mere happiness. The paper presents the arguments based on Aristotle’s discussions on virtue and the good life.
• Technological Progress Does Not Always Result in Happiness While technological progress is associated with numerous benefits, they do not always result in human happiness.
• The Happiness Concept in Aristotle’s Ethics The concept of Happiness presented by the Greek philosopher Aristotle lies beyond the traditional notion of Happiness that has developed in the collective consciousness.
• Happiness: Hedonism and the Theories of Virtue This paper focuses on what happiness is and what it is to be happy using the ideas and views from hedonism and the theories of virtue by Aristotle and Plato.
• General Good and Happiness Definition The general good and happiness can be defined as states and conditions in which people are satisfied with the course of life actions.
• Money, Happiness, and Materialism Correlation The paper concludes that happiness doesn’t depend on material goods, and it should be understood that respect and empathy are superior to any material wealth.
• Happiness Search: The Parable of the Prodigal Son This essay aims to analyze the Parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15:11–32 to confirm this thesis and investigate the connection of this text with the search for true happiness.
• “Flow, the Secret to Happiness” by Csikszentmihalyi Hence, the key to happiness is not financial well-being or big success; the way to serenity and happiness is to be in a state of flow.
• Examining the Happiness: Statistical Analysis The survey questionnaire asked participants if they were happy by using a value close to seven which was the maximum score, or unhappy by choosing one or values near it.
• Bentham and Taurek on Happiness of the Community Taurek effectively criticized Bentham’s approach to defining utilitarianism in communities by providing a logical analysis of particular cases.
• Balancing Others’ Freedom and Own Happiness One person’s freedom may prevent others from being happy since acting as one pleases does not necessarily mean doing what is right.
• Achieving the State of Joy and Happiness Project In this project, the author determines the factors that prevented better commitment to self-care routines and highlights ways to limit these factors.
• Philosophers’ Views on Ethics and Happiness The paper aims to analyze the ideas of the philosophers by taking into consideration their views concerning ethics and happiness.
• Money as a Means Rather Than a Result of Achieving Happiness The paper states that one can note that money is a tool that allows buying things that make a person happy, but money itself does not bring happiness.
• How Change in Attitude Can Bring Happiness The central idea of movie “Happy 2011” is to investigate the phenomenon of happiness and determine what factors make a person happy.
• The Definition of Happiness and Its Pursuit Happiness lies in something simple and being able to notice it. It is not connected with the material but with sensations coming from within.
• Morality and Happiness: Philosophical Concept Moral phylosophy considers the moral principles of people and their interaction with the environment. The purpose of this paper is to identify its main components.
• Happiness and Good Life: Review Happiness is one of the most critical human aspirations in any era. Martin Seligman outlines three main ways to achieve it. Engagement allows people to be kind to each other.
• Chris Gardner in the Movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” by Muccino Chris Gardner is an American businessman and public speaker who inspired the main character in “The Pursuit of Happiness”.
• Can Money Buy Happiness? This article analyzes Sandy LaMotto’s research that money brings happiness and that selfish spending is associated with a good mood.
• Survey of Personal Happiness and Personal Life Challenges Resilience Psychological stability based on an optimistic perception of life situations and satisfaction with life positively affects person’s work effectiveness.
• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit for Happiness Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are popular words contained in the American Declaration of Independence. These words are what define the American people.
• Love – The Misconception. Synonymous of Happiness Depending on what happiness means to one, it can be asserted or contradicted that it is a misconception to believe that money is the most important thing to bring happiness and love.
• Economics of Happiness, Hunger, and Famine The foodstuffs constantly act as a necessary and uncontested part of the fund of vital means and increase for whatever reasons its deficiency is fairly perceived as a disaster.
• Socrates and His View on Happiness Philosophers and thinkers are always the rebels of their contemporary society. The foundations of their philosophy are laid on the basis of human welfare.
• “The Blue Zones of Happiness” by Dan Buettner In “The Blue Zones of Happiness,” Dan Buettner talks about three zones – Singapore, Costa Rica, and Denmark. The author explains the reasons for people’s happiness in each country.
• Aristotle and Aquinas on Happiness In his most renowned work, Nicomachean Ethics, the philosopher Aristotle explored the idea of a supreme good of people.
• Biology and Happiness Relationship Human beings engage in numerous activities, establish appropriate relationships, and formulate decisions that can eventually make them happy.
• “Gross National Happiness in Bhutan” Article by Kelly Implementation of practices that can increase the level of happiness in society is important. Material wealth cannot guarantee psychological wellbeing.
• Maslow’s and Friedman’s Guides to Happiness and Balance At the moment, my physiological and safety needs are predominantly satisfied in such circles as “home,” “work,” and “self.”
• Money and Happiness in Economic Theories The pursuit of additional wealth and income usually becomes addictive thereby reducing an individual’s time with their family members and friends and limiting their social life.
• Imagination, Illusion and Sublimation in Happiness Achievement The phenomenon of happiness as a state of being has a special place in the Western Philosophy. The subject matter has been explored by Kant, Tocqueville, Du Chatelet, and Freud.
• Happiness as a Way of Living and Perceiving Reality While discussing the topic of happiness and people’s attitudes to this concept, it is possible to speak about many individuals who view the idea of happiness differently.
• Happiness, Positive Psychology and Counselling The paper defines happiness, discusses theories of happiness, measurement of happiness, promoting happiness in counselling, and the role of positive psychology in counselling.
• Is the Good Life Found in Pursuing Happiness? Happiness and a good life are different concepts, and one can exist separately from the other; thus, not always a good life can be found in the pursuit of happiness. n
• Justice and Happiness in Plato’s “Republic” Plato’s Republic focuses on the discussion of the meaning of justice and explores a connection between the just man and his happiness.
• House Activities vs. Personal Happiness “Want to Be Happier? Hire a Housekeeper, Researchers Suggest” suggests that spending money to get rid of annoying activities makes people happier than buying material things.
• Level of Happiness in Terms of Regional Differences The paper develops a survey design to collect data on the statutory differences in happiness, its measurement and the factors that affect it.
• Happiness in Biology, Culture, Experience It isn’t easy to understand what happiness is. However, it is still possible to identify some factors that are likely to affect the degree of happiness.
• The Human Concept of Happiness and Good In order to achieve happiness or fulfilment, men’s good character is essential. In this paper, the philosophical relationship between the man’s good behaviour and happiness is explained.
• Material Goods Role in Happiness Happiness is an expression of positive emotions. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether material goods are essential for an individual’s happiness.
• Floods and Happiness: Empirical Evidence From Bulgaria
• Co-residency, Ethnicity, and Happiness of China’s Rural Elders
• Aristotle and the Philosophy of Happiness
• Collective Happiness: Labor Union Membership and Life Satisfaction
• Adult Happiness and Prior Traumatic Victimization in and Out of the Household
• Consequentialism and Its Effects on the Greatest Happiness
• Christians Seek Happiness and Fulfillment From a Higher Power
• Eudaimonia and the Economics of Happiness
• Factors That Affect Individual Happiness
• Career Mistakes That Are Costing You Happiness
• Driven Management and Personal Happiness Strategy Plan
• Differences Between Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Happiness
• Close Relationships and Happiness Among Emerging Adults
• Ethnic Identity and the Pursuit of Happiness
• Comparing Happiness Through Social Media
• Environmental Awareness and Happiness
• Authentic Happiness and the Compassionate Love Scale
• Gross National Happiness and Macroeconomic Indicators in the Kingdom of Bhutan
• Financial Distress and Happiness of Employees in Times of Economic Crisis
• Foreign Aid, Economic Outcomes, and Happiness
• Against Positive Thinking: Uncertainty as to the Secret of Happiness
• Environmental Degradation and Happiness
• America’s Growing Obsession With Happiness
• Economic Progress Without People’s Happiness
• Augustinian and Aristotelian Happiness
• Happiness and Declining Inframarginal Values
• Education, Income, and the Distribution of Happiness
• Employee Satisfaction, Happiness, and Confidence
• Attitudes, Actions, and the Pursuit of Happiness
• Happiness and Domain Satisfaction in Turkey
• Correlation Between Happiness and Money
• Age and the Pursuit of Happiness Among Immigrants
• Cultural Capital and Happiness: Why the Rich Are Happier
• Decentralization, Happiness, and the Perception of Institutions
• Brave New World Happiness Term
• Crime and Happiness Amongst Heads of Households in Malawi
• Friendship, Need Satisfaction, and Happiness
• Circuits Regulating Pleasure and Happiness in Bipolar Disorder
• Education, Income, and Happiness: Panel Evidence for the UK
• Economic Growth Brings Greater Happiness
• Aristotle and John Stuart Mill on Happiness and Morality
• Buddhism: Happiness and the Four Noble Truths
• Correlation Between Luck and Happiness
• Ethics, Happiness, Freedom, and Virtue
• Buddhism and True Happiness
• Eroding Happiness Through Emotional Abuse
• Childhood Adversity and Adulthood Happiness: Evidence From Japan
• Goodness, Happiness, and Virtues in Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
• Finding the Genuine Happiness in the Religion of Christianity
• Getting Innovation Right: The Key to Happiness and Flourishing
• Happiness and Domain Satisfaction in Taiwan
• Brave New World: The Price of Universal Happiness
• Beauty and Equality: The Key Elements to the Pursuit of Happiness
• Happiness and Its Effect on the Quality of Our Lives
• American Beauty: The Troubled Pursuit of Happiness and Self-Worth
• Capabilities Vis-a-Vis Happiness: Evidence From Pakistan
• Aristotle’s Concept and Definition of Happiness and Virtue
• Bentham Epicurus Cicero Their Views on Happiness and Pleasure
• Epicurus and His Theories on Peoples’ Pursuit of Happiness
• Achieving Happiness Through Solitary Commitment and Social Dedication
• Are Foreign Aid and Migrant Remittances Sources of Happiness in Recipient Countries?
• Why Basic Needs and Wealth Are the Independent Determinants of Happiness?
• Can Religion Insure Against Aggregate Shocks to Happiness?
• What Are the Differences Between Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Happiness?
• Does Better Rail Access Improve Homeowners’ Happiness?
• Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China?
• Does Lone Motherhood Decrease Women’s Happiness?
• Does Money Affect Happiness and Self-esteem?
• Does Music Affect Our Quality of Life and Their Own Happiness?
• Does Past Unemployment Experience Explain the Transition Happiness Gap?
• Does the Internet Have a Positive Effect on Our Happiness?
• How Happiness Mediates the Organizational Virtuousness and Affective Commitment Relationship?
• What Is the Happiness Level of the UAE Population?
• What Is Immanuel Kant’s Principle of Private Happiness?
• How Modern Technology Has Increased Material Wealth but Not Happiness?
• What Are Some Conceptual and Methodological Issues on Happiness?
• Why Is Gender Equality Ruining Everyone’s Happiness?
• Will Raising the Incomes of All Increase the Happiness of All?
• Has Job More Effect on Happiness Than Social Life Does？
• Does Happiness Affect the Bilateral Aid Flows Between Donor and Recipient Countries?
• Does Ethical Leadership Lead to Workers’ Happiness Increase?
• Does Higher Education Increase Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness?
• Does Social Trust Increase Individual Happiness in Japan?
• What Are the Seven Keys to Achieving Happiness?
• What Is the Extent to Which Happiness Is Linked With Our Leisure Lifestyles?

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, March 1). 148 Happiness Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/happiness-essay-topics/

"148 Happiness Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 1 Mar. 2022, studycorgi.com/ideas/happiness-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) '148 Happiness Essay Topics'. 1 March.

1. StudyCorgi . "148 Happiness Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/happiness-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "148 Happiness Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/happiness-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "148 Happiness Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/happiness-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Happiness were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 8, 2024 .

Essays About Happiness: 5 Essay Examples and 6 Writing Prompts

Being happy and content is essential to living a successful life. If you are writing essays about happiness, start by reading our helpful guide.

Whenever we feel positive emotions rushing through our heads, chances are we are feeling happy. Happiness is what you feel when you enter the house, the smell of your favorite food being cooked or when you finally save up enough money to buy something you’ve wanted. It is an undeniably magical feeling. 

Happiness can do wonders for your productivity and well-being; when you are happy, you are more energetic, optimistic, and motivated. So it is, without a doubt, important. However, do not become caught up in trying to be happy, as this may lead to worse problems. Instead, allow yourself to feel your emotions; be authentic, even if that means feeling a little more negative.

5 Top Essay Examples

1. causes of happiness by otis curtis, 2. how to be happy by tara parker-pope, 3. reflections on ‘happiness’ by shahzada sultan.

• 4.  Happiness is Overrated by John Gorman

5. Toxic positivity by Suhani Mahajan

6 prompts for essays about happiness, 1. why is it important to be happy, 2. what is happiness to you, 3. the role of material things in happiness, 4. how does happiness make you more productive, 5. is true happiness achievable, 6. happiness vs. truth.

“If you don’t feel good about yourself you will have a similarly negative attitude towards others and education is one way of having good self-esteem, as it helps you to live life successfully and happily. Education is one way of getting that dream job and education is an essential cog in the wheel to living comfortably and happily. One English survey that included over 15,000 participants revealed that 81 percent of people who had achieved a good level of education had a high level of life satisfaction.”

Based on personal beliefs and research, Curtis’ essay describes different contributing causes to people’s happiness. These include a loving, stable family and good health. Interestingly, there is a positive correlation between education level and happiness, as Curtis cites statistics showing that education leads to high self-esteem, which can make you happier. 

“Socratic questioning is the process of challenging and changing irrational thoughts. Studies show that this method can reduce depression symptoms. The goal is to get you from a negative mindset (“I’m a failure.”) to a more positive one (“I’ve had a lot of success in my career. This is just one setback that doesn’t reflect on me. I can learn from it and be better.”)”

Parker-Pope writes about the different factors of happiness and how to practice mindfulness and positivity in this guide. She gives tips such as doing breathing exercises, moving around more, and spending time in places and with people that make you happy. Most importantly, however, she reminds readers that negative thoughts should not be repressed. Instead, we should accept them but challenge that mindset.

“Happiness is our choice of not leaving our mind and soul at the mercy of the sways of excitement. Happiness cannot eliminate sorrow, suffering, pain or death from the scheme of things, but it can help keep fear, anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, pessimism and other fathers of unhappiness at bay.”

Sultan discusses what happiness means to her personally. It provides an escape from all the dreariness and lousy news of daily life, not eliminating negative thoughts but keeping them at a distance, even just for a moment. She writes that to be happy; we should not base our happiness on the outcomes of our actions. We cannot control the world around us, so we should not link our happiness to it. If something doesn’t go our way, that is just how the world works. It is useless to be sad over what we cannot control.

4.   Happiness is Overrated by John Gorman

“Our souls do float across the sea of life, taking on water as they go, sinking ever so slightly — perhaps even imperceptibly — into despair. But our souls are not the bucket. Happiness itself is. And it’s the bucket we use to pour water out our souls and keep us afloat. What we really need is peace. Peace patches the holes in our souls and stops the leaking. Once we have peace, we will no longer need to seek happiness.”

In his essay, Gorman reflects on how he stopped trying to chase happiness and instead focused on finding peace in life. He writes that we are often so desperate looking for happiness that our lives become complicated, chaotic, and even depressing at times. He wants readers to do what they are passionate about and be their authentic selves; that way, they will find true happiness. You might also be interested in these essays about courage .

“That’s the mindset most of us have. Half of toxic positivity is just the suppression of 200% acceptable feelings such as anger, fear, sadness, confusion, and more. Any combination of such feelings is deemed “negative.” Honestly, mix ‘em up and serve them to me in a cocktail, eh? (Fine, fine, a mocktail. I reserve my right to one of those little umbrellas though.)

But by closing ourselves off to anything but positivity, we’re experiencing the same effects as being emotionally numb. Why are we doing this to ourselves?”

Mahajan writes about the phenomenon known as “toxic positivity” in which everyone is expected to be happy with their lives. It trivializes people’s misfortunes and sufferings, telling them to be happy with what they have instead. Mahajan opposes this, believing that everyone’s feelings are valid. She writes that it’s okay to be sad or angry at times, and the stigma around “negative feelings” should be erased. When we force ourselves to be happy, we may feel emotionally numb or even sad, the exact opposite of being happy. 

Many would say that happiness aids you in many aspects of your life. Based on personal experience and research, discuss the importance of being happy. Give a few benefits or advantages of happiness. These can include physical, mental, and psychological benefits, as well as anything else you can think of. 

Happiness means different things to different people and may come from various sources. In your essay, you can also explain how you define happiness. Reflect on this feeling and write about what makes you happy and why. Explain in detail for a more convincing essay; be sure to describe what you are writing about well. 

Happiness has a myriad of causes, many of which are material. Research the extent to which material possessions can make one happy, and write your essay about whether or not material things can truly make us happy. Consider the question, “Can money buy happiness?” Evaluate the extent to which it can or cannot, depending on your stance.  

Happiness has often been associated with a higher level of productivity. In your essay, look into the link between these two. In particular, discuss the mental and chemical effects of happiness. Since this topic is rooted in research and statistics, vet your sources carefully: only use the most credible sources for an accurate essay.

In their essays, many, including Gorman and Mahajan, seem to hold a more critical view of happiness. Our world is full of suffering and despair, so some ask: “Can we truly be happy on this earth?” Reflect on this question and make the argument for your position. Be sure to provide evidence from your own experiences and those of others. 

In dystopian stories, authorities often restrict people’s knowledge to keep them happy. We are seeing this even today, with some governments withholding crucial information to keep the population satisfied or stable. Write about whether you believe what they are doing is defensible or not, and provide evidence to support your point. 

For help with this topic, read our guide explaining “what is persuasive writing ?”

For help picking your next essay topic, check out our top essay topics about love .

Happiness Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on happiness.

Happiness is something which we can’t describe in words it can only be felt from someone’s expression of a smile. Likewise, happiness is a signal or identification of good and prosperous life. Happiness is very simple to feel and difficult to describe. Moreover, happiness comes from within and no one can steal your happiness.

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

Every day we see and meet people who look happy from the outside but deep down they are broken and are sad from the inside. For many people, money is the main cause of happiness or grief. But this is not right. Money can buy you food, luxurious house, healthy lifestyle servants, and many more facilities but money can’t buy you happiness.

And if money can buy happiness then the rich would be the happiest person on the earth. But, we see a contrary image of the rich as they are sad, fearful, anxious, stressed, and suffering from various problems.

In addition, they have money still they lack in social life with their family especially their wives and this is the main cause of divorce among them.

Also, due to money, they feel insecurity that everyone is after their money so to safeguard their money and them they hire security. While the condition of the poor is just the opposite. They do not have money but they are happy with and stress-free from these problems.

In addition, they take care of their wife and children and their divorce rate is also very low.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Happiness Comes from Within

As we now know that we can’t buy happiness with money and there is no other shortcut to happiness. It is something that you feel from within.

In addition, true happiness comes from within yourself. Happiness is basically a state of mind.

Moreover, it can only be achieved by being positive and avoiding any negative thought in mind. And if we look at the bright side of ourselves only then we can be happy.

Happiness in a Relationship

People nowadays are not satisfied with their relationship because of their differences and much other reason. But for being happy in a relationship we have to understand that there are some rules or mutual understanding that keeps a relationship healthy and happy.

Firstly, take care of yourself then your partner because if you yourself are not happy then how can you make your partner happy.

Secondly, for a happy and healthy relationship give you partner some time and space. In addition, try to understand their feeling and comfort level because if you don’t understand these things then you won’t be able to properly understand your partner.

Most importantly, take initiative and plan to go out with your partner and family. Besides, if they have plans then go with them.

To conclude, we can say that happiness can only be achieved by having positive thinking and enjoying life. Also, for being happy and keeping the people around us happy we have to develop a healthy relationship with them. Additionally, we also have to give them the proper time.

FAQs about Happiness

Q.1 What is True Happiness? A.1 True happiness means the satisfaction that you find worthy. The long-lasting true happiness comes from life experience, a feeling of purpose, and a positive relationship.

Q.2 Who is happier the rich or the poor and who is more wealthy rich or poor? A.2 The poor are happier then the rich but if we talk about wealth the rich are more wealthy then the poor. Besides, wealth brings insecurity, anxiety and many other problems.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

• Entertainment
• Environment
• Information Science and Technology
• Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Life

Essay Samples on Happiness

Exploring why happiness is more important than money.

Happiness is more important than money — a simple yet profound statement that encapsulates the essence of a fulfilling and meaningful life. While money is undoubtedly a vital resource, it pales in comparison to the profound impact that happiness has on overall well-being. This essay...

The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Dream

The concept of the American Dream, often intertwined with the pursuit of happiness, has been a fundamental part of the United States' cultural narrative. This essay delves into the intricate relationship between the pursuit of happiness and the American Dream, examining how societal values, opportunities,...

• American Dream

Exploring the Age-Old Question: Can Money Buy Happiness

The relationship between money and happiness has been a subject of contemplation for centuries. Can the accumulation of wealth truly lead to a fulfilled and contented life? Or simply: can money buy happiness? This essay delves into the complex interplay between money and happiness, examining...

My Views on the Meaning and Purpose of Life

Finding one’s purpose is probably one of the major philosophical and spiritual debates humans have. When we ask ourselves the question “What is my purpose?” we usually consider many things that are probably not going to point us in the direction of our purpose. They...

Can Money Buy Happiness: Sharing Persuasive Personal Viewpoint

Money is a defined as “any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context”. In what way does that relate to the emotional feeling of...

• Personal Beliefs

Stressed out with your paper?

Consider using writing assistance:

• 100% unique papers
• 3 hrs deadline option

Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years: Where Is Happiness of Life

Imagine having a life all planned out, then one thing goes wrong. Oe someone passes away or they move, it could be a big or a small change, but any situation could completely alter the outlook on life. One day the glass could be half...

My Dog is My Stress Reliever and My Partner in Crime

During everyone’s lifetime span there’s always someone who keeps me company and is always by my side no matter what. Some people have a significant other, favorite parent, or best friend. But there’s some that have an animal’s companion. For me that’s the case. In...

• Personal Experience

In Pursuit of Unhappiness: Exploring Many Ideas of Happiness

Everyone wants to be happy in their life, yet few people know what happiness means or how to strive for it. In his article “In Pursuit of Unhappiness,” Darrin M. McMahon argues that being altruistic is happiness. Meanwhile “True happiness isn’t about being happy all...

What Is The Good Life And How To Achieve It

The common notion of the good life is that everyone wants to have money, a big house, a perfect family, and a perfect job, like the "American dream." However, I feel that a good life is when there is happiness, love, hard work, achieving success,...

In Pursuit Of Joy And Happiness

Somebody told me yesterday that I will achieve my inner peace when I would finish what I had started. At that time, I haven’t finished my chocolate cake, but I finished it when I got the support of my friend. Same as chocolate cake, we...

• Personal Goals

Our Expectation From Someone and How We Depend on It

Expectation is a strong belief that something will happen but also expectations is a strong mental weapon that we create by our own way. We all have different expectations from people like someone expect that 'he should wear a red tshirt' or some expect that...

• Expectations

Alcohol-Related Deaths Due to Peer Pressure

I am standing here today to fight for our independence and liberty of freedom to decide. I am here to raise an awareness about an issue that is faced by a lot of kids, teenagers and young adults worldwide. Would you do something that you...

• Peer Pressure
• Relationship

Cat as a Source of Happiness and Entertainment

For some families around the world, pets are an important part of their family as they turned out to be their source of happiness and entertainment. If having pets have some advantages then they additionally have a few disadvantages as well. The most common disadvantage...

Exploring Good Life: Living Life To The Fullest

The idea of a good life can be defined as how a person wishes or desires to live their life. From interviewing my cousin, friend, and classmate I learned that it living a good like means for them to be financially stable, having a healthy...

Attracting Happiness: Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

“No such thing as a life that is better than yours.” From J.Cole’s song, “Love Yourz”, my interpretation of this lyric is that each individual is faced with their own adversities in life. Every effort made to overcome these adversities is your pursuit towards happiness....

• Opportunity

Money Can't Buy Happiness: The Meaning Of Happiness

What is the actual meaning of happiness? Most of us probably think that we do not need a formal definition of happiness, as we cannot simply explain happiness through words. We can feel happiness when it comes over you, happiness is a sense of well-being,...

Examples Of Ignorance Is A Bliss And Origin Of The Word

The word Bliss originates from German and Middle English language and associates with extreme happiness and joy. To feel Bliss literally means to be in the state of ecstasy or in spiritual joy. The meaning of the word can also be represented as a metaphor...

• Linguistics

Reasons Why Money Cannot Buy Happiness

If I asked a stranger to describe a wealthy individual, they would probably use the words “privileged,” “successful,” and “happy.” When, in reality, studies have proven that having a great deal of money does not always lead to happiness. In fact, despite popular belief, money...

The Importance Of Patience in Achieving Success and Happiness

Patience is an essential virtue that plays a vital role in achieving success and happiness in life. The term patience is defined as the ability to endure challenges and adversities without getting angry or frustrated. It is a trait that allows individuals to remain calm...

Money Can't Buy Happiness Through Cultural Lens

Many people believe that money and happiness travel in different paths. These people do not believe that money is the main source of happiness and that there are many things that can make a person feel happier such as, spirituality, relationships, family, etc. However, these...

Money Can Buy Happiness: The Speech On Achieving Happiness

“Money can buy happiness” is a common phenomenon, widely believed by people these days, I however beg to differ. Expectancy theory states that money will motivate employees as long as their personal goals are being satisfied and the perception that their pay is dependent upon...

Relation Between Kindness And Happiness

Kindness. Kindness is one of the most powerful forces that boost one’s happiness. We define kindness in countless terms because it holds a different meaning for everyone. From helping someone in need without searching for anything in return, being honest, respecting others' opinions, accepting others...

• Positive Psychology

Happiness And Depression In The Necklace

Everyone has a different way of how they would like their life to be. Some are okay with being rich; some are okay with being middle class, and some are okay with living life paycheck to paycheck. Some people think that life is about the...

• The Necklace

Money Can Buy Happiness In One's Personal Experience

A person is said to be happy if they experience a series of positive emotions like pride, interest and joy, with rare cases of negative experiences like anxiety, sadness, and anger (Khoddam 1). A happy individual is also most likely to appreciate life since they...

The Role Of Money And Finances On Happiness

Money is a fundamental aspect of human life throughout the world. People spend a large fraction of their time earning and spending money. In wealthy and poor societies around the globe, there is now an enormous concern about economic development, and in most nations, it...

Reminiscences On The Event That Made Me Happy

“Something that made me happy” Life is like a puzzle; and when the pieces fit, you finally see what you have to do but before it does you have to be an active person with an open mind. This happened to me when I decided...

How The Happiest Moment Of My Life Has Influenced Me

People have the memorable moment of their lives that they wanted to cherish until the very last. Having the one who cares and being beside you to enjoy that moment which will last forever in our soul is precious. For myself having the chance to...

"Compassion and the Individual": Article Summary and Response

In the article “Compassion and the individual,” the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso talks about the importance of love and compassion for one’s well-being. He argues that the purpose of life is to be happy, but the achievement of happiness is impossible without love and...

The Definition of True Happiness According to Dalai Lama

In Western society, happiness is widely regarded in the lens of activities that bring us immediate, temporary pleasure, such as the desire to acquire material possessions or physical/sexual gratification. Although these things are not inherently negative, viewing long-term happiness in a pleasure-driven perspective is not...

The Effect of the Environment on an Individual's Happiness: Analysis of Literature

Happiness encompasses a profound sense of well-being, elation, contentment, and gratification. It embodies a myriad of emotions and sentiments. Being subjective and evasive, the definition of happiness varies from one individual to another. Numerous factors come into play when considering one's happiness, such as our...

• A Hunger Artist

Comparison of the Life Satisfaction Between the Hunter Gatherer and Neolithic Communities

Do you think life in a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer community really was happier than living in a Neolithic agricultural community? First and foremost, there are several pros and cons for either of the categories if you were to weigh them against each other. With that being...

• Hunter Gatherers

Acceptance as the Key to Personal Happiness 

A key element of your happiness is to accept the current situation in your life and to appreciate the good that is offered to you. This does not mean that you turn around and lose all hope of improvement. Exactly the opposite Acceptance means that...

Relationship Between Happiness, Rationality and Meaningfulness

I feel bordered on the inconsequential to say that for many of us the deepest contentment we have felt in our lives is connected with meaningful activities and relationships. Contrarily, in our darkest time and hours life appears pointless or empty and our best efforts...

• Meaning of Life

Five Faces of the Happiness Pyramid by Abraham Maslow

While human beings have been casing the illusory path to happiness since ages, it was only in 1943 that psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a theory about achieving happiness. In his paper, A Theory of Human Motivation, Maslow proposed a pyramid of human needs that need...

• Abraham Maslow

How I Learned to Cherish Every Moment of My Life

Growing up in a family that frequently moved was difficult. Whenever we would leave for another town, I was overcome with a feeling of sadness. The most distressing aspect of each move was losing the affectionate friends I had made while needing to then adjust...

• Thankfulness

My Key Personal Values That Make Up My Individuality

How do people decide what is the right or wrong way to live and behave? They use their personal values to lead them to make the decisions that they believe are right. Personal values are the way in which individuals decided the way of thinking,...

The Empowerment of the Main Character in House of Mirth

The hardest part of this journal on The House of Mirth was finding a good topic to cover. I considered several thousand different topics, ranging from the ideas of money and happiness to how Wharton criticizes higher society both through Lily Bart’s monologues about gender...

• Literature Review
• The House of Mirth

Inspiring Story in Movie In Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness takes place in San Francisco, 1981, Based on the real life story of Chris Gardner, an aspiring stockbroker who experienced homelessness as a salesperson and eventually went on to become a millionaire. The Pursuit of Happiness takes you on a two-hour...

• In Pursuit of Happiness
• Inspiration

Positive Psychology in Movie In Pursuit of Happiness

Summary The Pursuit of Happiness is a truly inspirational movie that focuses on overcoming hardships in life to achieve happiness and success. The movie revolves around the life of Chris Gardener who invests all of his money on making portable density scanners. Although these scanners...

Critical Analysis of Jeremy Bentham's Philosophy of Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham is a famous English political radical and philosopher. Among his philosophical works, the most well-known is the concept of utilitarianism in which the acts and actions are assessed based on the potential outcomes and consequences (Stanford Encyclopedia, 2019). The most aspired result or...

• Jeremy Bentham
• Utilitarianism

Reciprocity of Prosocial Behavior and Happiness

How important is social belonging? Previous research revealed that social belonging is an essential component for humans, similar to basic needs such as food and water (Gazzaniga, 2018). Evolutionary speaking, people who did not belong were for example excluded from their group and were less...

• Prosocial Behavior

The Connection Between Prosocial Behavior and an Increase in Happiness

Past research has shown that feelings of happiness are associated with several health benefits like improved immune system functioning and increased life expectancy (Gazzaniga, 2018). This raises the question: How can this desirable state of mind be increased? A growing body of literature suggests that...

Making Memories: Keep Happy Moments with You Forever

Would you rather enjoy today or have great memories today or tomorrow and forever?. Memories are one of the biggest aspects of life. Making memories shows you how you’ve lived your life. Making memories with friends, family, and going on trips will make you who...

The Virtue Ethics: Defining the Human Happiness

Ethics, what is ethics? The oxford dictionary defines ethics as “moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.' Ethics itself tries to explain what makes a person’s life good or happy. This event leads into the Nicomachean Ethics a book...

• Virtue Ethics

Materialism as the Reason for Happiness

We all want to be happy and cope with the struggles life throws at us. But one of the main ways of finding temporary happiness are turning to materialistic objects, which can impact our true happiness. Materialism can lead to an individual to become selfish,...

• Materialism

Photography as a Way to Capture a Glimpse of Time: Based on the 'On Photography' Book Review by Susan Sontag

If I took a photo of you at this exact instant, what would I be photographing? Am I capturing a glimpse of time? A mirrored image of reality? Or is the hi-definition lens slowly depicting a moment of the past, for at the second I...

• Book Review
• Photography

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas": Analysis of the Theme of Happiness

Is there such a thing as pure happiness? From my standpoint, the feeling of being happy and content in not one specific item, but one’s interpretation of life; something that cannot be physically touched, but more of a mindset in which you react. In “The...

• The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Interconnection of Piano Music and Happiness in Life

I fell in love with music at an early age. Sometimes, I sit back and watch some hilarious videos of me playing music on the piano that was recorded when I was five years old. Playing the piano always thrills me, and I remember admiring...

Protection of Individualism in Brave New World

In Brave New World, the author Aldous Huxley predicts a future, like no other, where truth is trumped by happiness. The people in the World State are ignorant of the truth. They mistake the truth as happiness. This ignorance leads them to believe that a...

• Brave New World
• Individualism

Self-Confidence as the First Step to Happiness

Self-confidence is the most engaging quality that a person can have. How can anyone see how great you are if you can’t see it for yourself? But how do we overcome anxiety and fear? It’s just easy to tell ourselves that we just have to...

Following One's Wishes in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant,” once said Roman Poet, Horace. People frequently come across obstacles, and their true self becomes evident during those times. Horace's assertion about adversity is shown in many situations with people...

• Into The Wild

The Difference Between Satisfaction and Happiness in Fahrenheit 451

Technology is becoming greatly integrated into our everyday lives. Newer, faster, and smarter gadgets make our lives less complicated, however do they make us happier? Ray Bradbury explores computers correlation with happiness throughout his novel Fahrenheit 451: a dystopian novel based around the burning of...

• Fahrenheit 451
• Ray Bradbury

Is Our Obsession With Happiness Making Us Miserable?

Coming from a family tree brimming with cases of depression, I developed a fixation with the concept of happiness, or rather the lack of it, at a very young age. My worrisome mother, having been one of those cases, encouraged me to spend a great...

Ways To Be Happy & To Live A Peaceful Life

Life is not all about having a lot of money. It doesn’t obligate you to always give. Or something that will always come out from you. Sometimes it is better to be silent. And in our life there will be a point that we will...

Aristotle’s Theories Of Happines And Friendship

Aristotle was born in Stagira, Greece (which is now known as Macedonia), and is seen as one of the greatest philosophers and psychologists to this day. He was a student of Plato, and a teacher of Alexander the Great. He was most intrigued by the...

“Lenox Avenue: Midnight” Critical Response

Small ideas with big outcomes! Try baby steps and don’t forget to award yourself. Just one tiny change can make a variety to the way you feel about yourself and others. Get Happier First give up expectant to have happiness without sadness, or ups without...

• Personal Life

More To Life Than Happiness

Happiness comes and goes more often than we’d like. So why does our culture obsess over searching for it? In Emily Esfahani Smith’s Ted talk she explains there are better ways of achieving happiness in our lives than chasing after it. “Chasing happiness can make...

• Personal Philosophy

"Health and Happiness": Analysis of Robert D. Putnam's Essay

Health and Happiness, an essay by Robert D. Putnam, argues that there is an indisputable link between an individual’s degree of social-connectedness and his physical well-being. This link of body and psychology is explained in terms of social-capital, a term used to illustrate the extent...

• Socialization

Financial Capacity Decides Happiness Level From Purchased Experiences Material Items

When people buy things they desire, they tend to feel happy about the effort. But does spending money can always increase the level of happiness? In a recent study, researchers found that it depends on their financial capacity and the type of things they actually...

• Consumerism

Aristotle's Ideas Of Achieving Happiness

Aristotle’s view point in regard to virtue ethics examines what virtues a person needs to live a flourishing life. I am going to argue that virtue ethics best comports with the messiness of actual life. The ethical concepts and theories involved in virtue ethics have...

The Research Methods In The Article "The Happiness Of Pursuit"

The three research methods used to accumulate the data which served as the basis for the article “The Happiness of pursuit” are the Survey, Correlation and Experimental Method. In the Survey Method, which is information from most people using public polling techniques to report behaviors,...

• Research Methods

Best topics on Happiness

1. Exploring Why Happiness Is More Important Than Money

2. The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Dream

3. Exploring the Age-Old Question: Can Money Buy Happiness

4. My Views on the Meaning and Purpose of Life

5. Can Money Buy Happiness: Sharing Persuasive Personal Viewpoint

6. Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years: Where Is Happiness of Life

7. My Dog is My Stress Reliever and My Partner in Crime

8. In Pursuit of Unhappiness: Exploring Many Ideas of Happiness

9. What Is The Good Life And How To Achieve It

10. In Pursuit Of Joy And Happiness

11. Our Expectation From Someone and How We Depend on It

12. Alcohol-Related Deaths Due to Peer Pressure

13. Cat as a Source of Happiness and Entertainment

14. Exploring Good Life: Living Life To The Fullest

15. Attracting Happiness: Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

• Personality
• Perseverance
• Barbie Doll
• Valentines Day

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Emotions & Feelings — Happiness

Happiness Essays

The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental aspect of human existence, and it is a topic that has been explored and debated by philosophers, psychologists, and writers for centuries. When it comes to writing an essay on happiness, there are a multitude of topics to choose from, each offering a unique perspective on what it means to be happy and how to achieve it. In this article, we will explore some of the best essay topics related to happiness.

The Definition of Happiness

One of the most fundamental questions to explore in an essay on happiness is the definition of happiness itself. What does it mean to be happy? Is happiness a fleeting emotion, or is it a more profound state of being? How do different cultures and societies define and pursue happiness? These are all questions that can form the basis of a thought-provoking essay on the subject.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is a central theme in many philosophical and literary works, and it is a topic that lends itself to exploration in an essay. What are the key factors that contribute to a person's happiness? Is happiness something that can be pursued and achieved, or is it something that simply happens to us? How do different life experiences and circumstances impact our ability to pursue happiness?

The Science of Happiness

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the science of happiness, with researchers studying the factors that contribute to happiness and well-being. An essay on the science of happiness could explore topics such as the role of genetics, the impact of social relationships, and the influence of external factors such as income and material possessions on happiness. This is a topic that can provide a wealth of research and data to support your arguments.

The Relationship Between Money and Happiness

The relationship between money and happiness is a perennial topic of debate, and it is one that can provide plenty of material for an essay. Does money buy happiness, or are there other, more important factors at play? How does the pursuit of wealth impact our ability to find happiness? These are all questions that can be explored in an essay on the subject.

The Pursuit of Happiness in Literature

Literature is full of stories and characters that grapple with the pursuit of happiness, and it is a rich source of inspiration for an essay on the subject. You could explore how different authors and poets have depicted the quest for happiness in their works, and how their portrayals have influenced our understanding of the subject.

The Role of Gratitude in Happiness

The practice of gratitude has been shown to have a profound impact on our happiness and well-being, and it is a topic that is well worth exploring in an essay. How does gratitude contribute to our happiness, and how can we cultivate a greater sense of gratitude in our lives? These are all questions that can form the basis of a compelling essay on the subject.

The Pursuit of Happiness in the Digital Age

The rise of social media and digital technology has had a profound impact on our lives, and it has also raised new questions about the pursuit of happiness in the modern world. How does the constant connectedness of the digital age impact our ability to find happiness? What role does social media play in shaping our perceptions of happiness, and how can we navigate these new challenges to find greater fulfillment in our lives?

The choice of essay topics related to happiness is vast and varied, offering a rich tapestry of ideas and perspectives to explore. By choosing a compelling topic, you can reach a wide audience and contribute to the ongoing conversation about what it means to be happy. Whether you choose to explore the definition of happiness, the pursuit of happiness in literature, or the role of gratitude in happiness, there are endless opportunities to create a thought-provoking and impactful essay on the subject.

How to Achieve Happiness

Multifaceted concept of happiness, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

The Theme of Happiness in Fahrenheit 451

How can ethics help to achieve happiness, happiness – an exercise for a healthier soul, the ultimate gift of life and happiness, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

My Definition of Happiness and The Importance of Happiness to Me

The pursuit of happiness in the death of ivan ilyich and tartuffe, the explanation of the importance of happiness, true happiness and the sources of it, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

Creative Writing: The Fragility of Happiness

True happiness and how to build it, the steps necessary to achieve happiness and success, to become happy: my personal mission statement, the most imortant rules of living, a look at the advantages of laughing and being cheerful, why a confident smile is a happy smile, making the most out of your circumstances, healthy is the new happy, riches and eternal joy: possibility of buy happiness, discussion on the importance of the pursuit of happiness, analysis of thomas aquinas’ views on happiness, why happiness is more important than success, gratitude and acceptance as the key to happiness, john mills: happiness and mill's utilitarianism, the concept of lasting happiness in terms of stoicism and skepticism, the concept of ethics and the pursuit of happiness, money can't buy happiness and satisfaction, review of competition and happiness by theodore isaac ruben, relevant topics.

• Responsibility
• Forgiveness

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Environment
• Information Science
• Social Issues
• Argumentative
• Cause and Effect
• Classification
• Compare and Contrast
• Descriptive
• Exemplification
• Informative
• Controversial
• Exploratory
• What Is an Essay
• Length of an Essay
• Generate Ideas
• Types of Essays
• Structuring an Essay
• Outline For Essay
• Essay Introduction
• Thesis Statement
• Body of an Essay
• Writing a Conclusion
• Essay Writing Tips
• Drafting an Essay
• Revision Process
• Fix a Broken Essay
• Format of an Essay
• Essay Examples
• Essay Checklist
• Essay Writing Service
• Pay for Research Paper
• Write My Research Paper
• Write My Essay
• Custom Essay Writing Service
• Admission Essay Writing Service
• Pay for Essay
• Academic Ghostwriting
• Write My Book Report
• Case Study Writing Service
• Dissertation Writing Service
• Coursework Writing Service
• Lab Report Writing Service
• Do My Assignment
• Buy College Papers
• Capstone Project Writing Service
• Buy Research Paper
• Custom Essays for Sale

Can’t find a perfect paper?

• Free Essay Samples

Essays on Happiness

“What is happiness?” – composing a happiness essay will help you answer this question, which was on humanity’s mind forever. Time leaves its mark on society and on each person, our priorities, goals, values change, but they need to feel happy remains constant. Happiness essays explore happiness from a different point of view. Samples of essays on happiness define it as a positive emotion, which contributes to productive, creative, and active life. In addition, happiness is closely related to joy. Most authors of essays on happiness agree that in order to feel happiness and joy, people need certain reasons and incentives. Happiness occurs when a person’s surroundings meet their desires when needs are fulfilled and goals are achieved. However, happiness can also come from within. Happiness can be a choice, so we shouldn't allow external factors to rob us of it. Look through our happiness essay samples to discover more about happiness for your own essay!

Some of the fundamental values and beliefs of positive psychology include: First, gratitude is one of the values which contributes to happiness in life. Positive psychology beliefs and focuses on enhancing happiness and therefore, the more one s cultivates gratitude, the more happily the people will be. Another belief is that happiness...

An individual’s state of happiness or unhappiness gives much reflection about him. People who are happy feel confident about themselves, and they tend to perceive the world as the safest place for existence. They are more tolerant, make good decisions and are cooperative. They don't dwell much on their negative...

When the word psychology is brought up, the first thing in mind may be an area of study dedicated to solving the gloomy side of life characterized by anxieties, addictions, phobias, etc. In a world struck by a flux of natural, social, economic and financial challenges, the study and understanding...

Positive psychology is explained as the study of the specific ways of thinking and acting that involve the positive aspects of human nature. Happiness, on the other hand, is a human phenomenon characterized by positive feelings that inherently influence how an individual perceives life. The psychology of positive human functioning...

An article was published in Time Magazine’s online version claiming that one of the major causes of unhappiness in our society is the use of cellular phones at the dinner table. The article is based on a recent study which focused on mobile phones being one of the major causes...

In the chapter, Happiness and Immorality, Cahn and Murphy bring forth arguments that explain the happy immoralist and the unhappy immoralist respectively. In particular, Cahn presents a fictitious persona whose primary objectives include gaining fame, reputation, and wealth. However, the person employs dishonest tactics which are immoral in his pursuit...

Words: 1385

Found a perfect essay sample but want a unique one?

Request writing help from expert writer in you feed!

When the word psychology appeared, the first thing in mind may be an area of study dedicated to solving the gloomy side of life characterized by anxieties, addictions, phobias, etc. In a world struck by a flux of natural, social, economic and financial challenges, the study and understanding of happiness...

Dalai Lama has been able to address so many issues that have tended to affect the human life especially the spiritual perspective. So many people from across the globe usually wants to achieve that fundamental need in life which is mainly focused on ensuring that they are able to live...

Words: 1449

Stoic philosophers, who include Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Zeno of Citium (the founder of stoicism philosophy) among others, strongly emphasize that a good life is brought about by living with virtue, self-control, and tolerance by serving other people, and by bringing inner calmness to our lives. They taught that, if...

According to Aristotle, happiness depends on ourselves more than other people. For this reason, he gave this topic more time in his era. He established that happiness is an activity according to virtue and therefore the activity is according to the highest virtue. In most cases, it is referred to...

To live a happy and a fulfilling life one must first come to terms with his/her current situation. In most cases, people live in denial and are obsessed with other people’s lifestyle and end up living beyond their means. The social media is awash with flashy lifestyles that are in...

Aristotle's distinction between Knowledge and Theoretical Knowledge is a practical discipline which aims at enlightening the society about the matters of conduct in practical. Many psychologists have tried to provide counter-arguments relating to Aristotle's claims on knowledge and theoretical knowledge. However, most of the scholars still use Aristotle's ideas since...

Related topic to Happiness

You might also like.

Happiness Essay Topics & Ideas

• Persuasive Essay Topics About Happiness
• Interesting Essay Topics About Happiness

Informative Essay Topics About Happiness

Happiness essay topics for college students, happiness essay topics for high school students.

• Happiness Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

✒️ Persuasive Essay Topics About Happiness

• “What Happiness Is” by Eduardo Porter
• 7 Tips to Increase Employee Happiness and Productivity
• 7 Ways to Boost Your Happiness Level Instantly
• 9 Ways to Finding Happiness
• A Brief Analysis on The Correlation Between Income Rates, Emotional Well-being and Happiness
• A Comparison of Happiness and Power in “Paradise Lost” and “A Doll’s House”
• A Good Career Is the Key to Happiness
• A History of Happiness
• A Pursuit of Happiness a Movie Review
• A Pursuit to Compromise Happiness
• A Research on Finding Happiness in New Science of Happiness
• A Review of The Movie, Pursuit of Happiness Featuring Will Smith
• A Study of Family Issues in Pursuit of Happiness by Gabriele Muccino
• American Literature: Pursuit of Happiness
• Analyzing The Three Types of Happiness
• Anna Karenina in Pursuit of Happiness
• Another Country: Finding Happiness in Homosexuality, Overcoming Rejection, Identity, and Desire
• Aristotle and John Stuart Mill on Happiness and Morality
• Aristotle Life And Happiness
• Aristotle vs Plato’s View on Happiness
• Art Makes Happiness Seem Attainable
• Brave New World – Manufactured Happiness
• Can Money Buy Happiness
• Cause of Happiness

✨ Best happiness Topic Ideas & Essay Examples

• Caf? Lattes and the Pursuit of Happiness Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. meet at a local Starbucks, have a grande Café Latte, and discuss their visions of what type of society best supports the pursuit of happiness. They agree on most aspects, but disagree on one aspect. ….
• Why Happiness is the Goal of Human Life Is life really about the ‘money’, the ‘cash’, the ‘hoes’, who has the biggest gold chain or who drives the shiniest or fastest car, who sells the most albums or who has the most respect? Aristotle challenges views, which are similar to the ones held ….
• Pursuit of Happiness and The American Dream The American dream and education is the pursuit of happiness which the individuals can follow to walk on the path of success. The dream of accomplishing the educational goals as well as personal goals that can contribute to society. It also covers ….
• A Formula for Happiness A formula embodied in the gospel of Jesus Christ reveals the pathway to happiness. It is a plain and precious truth found throughout the Book of Mormon. It is described particularly well in the teachings of the prophet Lehi to his sons as he neared ….
• Story “The Happy Prince“ Important Lessons about Happiness It is very difficult to feel the true happiness unless you realize what happiness means to you. One can earn his or her so called “ happiness “only by thinking of himself or herself in the first place whenever doing something . From the Story “ The ….
• Factors that show the real happiness One quote from “A Formula for Happiness” is “Happiness has traditionally been considered an elusive and evanescent thing. ” Macbeth takes place in Scotland in the early sass’s Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will ….
• Pursuit of Happiness Film Review The movie Pursuit of Happyness is a very good representation of how hard life can be for some people. In this case, the person was Chris who was struggling to hold onto a job and provide for his family. Due to the difficulty of holding onto a job, ….
• Link Between Money and Happiness in “The Great Gatsby” In today’s society, the idea that money can buy happiness is prevalent in the ordinary lives of most people. As a society we often equate the attainment of money or power with happiness. In many cases obtaining wealth or power does not always ….
• Money and Happiness in “The Great Gatsby” “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.” This quote by Benjamin Franklin shows, like in The Great Gatsby, money can’t buy happiness. First, the author ….
• Is Happiness Imaginary or Not? “Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children and by children to adults.” -Thomas Szasz- Szasz is stating that happiness is imaginary. If he is saying this, he ….
• Is Money a Measure of Happiness The measure of happiness through Quantitative data could be money. A Quantity of money a person has, and how satisfied they are with it, it could mean a lot to one. A person can buy anything they want with money and have a luxury life, while some ….
• Can Money Buy Happiness or Not It is debatable to say whether money can buy happiness. While many of us go through life with pursuit of money on our minds, we are often told money can’t buy happiness. Some say that money provides basic comforts like shelter, food, power and that ….
• Importance of Happiness Our state of happiness or unhappiness colors everything. Happy people perceive the world as safer and feel more confident. They make decisions, cooperate more easily, and are more tolerant. They rate job applicants more favorably, savor their ….
• Effects That Money Has on Our Happiness Over the years, there has been an extensive amount of research put into the effects money has on our happiness. People from all across the world, especially the United States, would become ecstatic after hearing from their boss that they have earned ….
• The American Dream And Pursuit Of Happiness The term “The American Dream” was coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams.the statement refers to a dream of equality of all people with fair opportunities. During 1931 in the United States unemployment was up16.3% and the stock market crashed in 1929…..
• How to Achieve True Happiness of Life Now days we see that mental illnesses like depression and being hopeless about future are spreading rapidly among masses. From a man living in the card box/shelter house to the man living in a luxury Mansion both are facing these types of mental ….
• Utilitarianism and Greatest Happiness Utilitarianism begins with the work of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), an English political and social reformer. Educated at Oxford, Bentham eventually headed up a small group of thinkers called the “Philosophical Radicals.” This group, which included ….
• COncept of positive psychology in movie pursuit of happiness Historically, Americans have flocked to theaters to find happiness, hope and heroes in film. Film producers were enormously successful at drawing in audiences and inspiring audience. In recent years, however, most movies have been more depressing ….
• Happiness Express Inc The primary audit objectives of confirming a client’s year-end accounts receivable include occurrence and accuracy of realizable value. Auditors would like to make sure that the transaction generating the accounts receivable actually occurs, and ….
• Concepts of Morality and Happiness in The Ring of Gyges The story about of “The Ring of Gyges” is a question of morality that compels the reader to ask himself and evaluate his own morality, that is, whether or not he considers himself moral or immoral. Although morality is not all-or-nothing, given the ….

✍ Interesting Essay Topics About Happiness

• Challenges of Knowing Yourself and the Quesr for Happiness
• Cheating, Unfaithfulness And Happiness
• Children and Happiness
• Comparing the Poem Richard Corey with Money and Happiness
• Corruption and Control Within The One-state: an Attempt to Eliminate Happiness to Maintain Power
• Credit on Happiness and Subjective Well-being of Labor
• Definition Essay on Happiness
• Discussion of Whether Money Can Buy Happiness
• Discussion on The Importance of The Pursuit of Happiness
• Discussion on Whether Money Can Buy Happiness for You
• Discussion on Whether Success is More Important than Happiness
• Discussion: Money Can’t Buy Happiness
• Do Rules Contribute to a Persons Happiness
• Does money bring happiness
• Does More Money Equals Happiness
• Does Wealth Lead to Happiness
• Drama Analysis of The Pursuit of Happiness Movie
• Education and Happiness
• Evaluation of Authentic Happiness
• Excessive Happiness with Patch Adams
• Fame: Happiness and People
• Family and Happiness
• Four Things To Do to Increase One’s Level of Contentment and Happiness
• Freedom vs Happiness in Brave New World
• Gratitude and Acceptance as The Key to Happiness
• Great Essentials for Happiness
• Greatest Happiness Principle
• Gross domestic product v gross national happiness
• Happiness & Economic Growth
• Happiness and Christmas
• Happiness and Liberal Model
• Happiness and Life Satisfaction – Our World in Data
• Happiness and Money
• Happiness and Veronica S Life
• Happiness and Vulnerability of Childhood in “Dubliners”
• Happiness and Work
• Happiness as a Goal in I Stand Here Ironing
• Happiness Can Be Found in Unlikely Circumstances
• Happiness Effect Of Reading
• Happiness Express, Inc
• Happiness for Aristotle and Plato
• Happiness for Our Life
• Happiness Found in Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde
• Happiness frames a focal subject of Buddhist lessons For extreme opportunity from
• Happiness in China
• Happiness in Marriage
• Happiness is a Choice
• Happiness Is a Global Pursuit
• Happiness Is Real When Shared
• Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life
• Happiness Levels and Income Levels
• Happiness Theme in I Am Sam
• Happiness you can’t under on depression
• Health vs Happiness
• How Being a Millionaire Affects Your Happiness
• How Can Ethics Help to Achieve Happiness
• How is happiness conveyed in Jane Austen’s Emma and Charlotte Bronte’s Villette?
• How Kingwall Searches for Human Happiness in Pursuit of Happiness
• How to Achieve Happiness in Life?
• How to Balance Personal Happiness and Financial Security
• Hu300 Unit 7 Views on Happiness
• Human Nature and Happiness as Shown by Marx and Freud in Communist Manifesto
• I Believe in Happiness
• Identity Defined Through Happiness
• If You’re Happy and You Know It – Happiness
• Ignorance Is Happiness
• Incivility at Workplace: How it Affects Happiness
• Increase Your Happiness
• Individual Happiness and Responsibility in “The Glass Menagerie”
• Individual Happiness Contributes to the Harmonious Society
• Individualism and Happiness
• John Stuart Mill: Greatest Happiness Principle
• Jon Gertner’s The Futile Pursuit of Happiness
• Katherine Mansfield’s Presentation of Happiness
• Key to happiness
• Lamp at Noon and the Pursuit of Happiness Comparison
• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
• Literature Review of The Hardships and Happiness in Our Lives
• Love and Happiness
• Marriage and Happiness
• Materialism and Happiness in America
• Materialistic Attitude to Happiness in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald I
• Meaning of life – Happiness
• Memories of Happiness and Accomplishments in My Life
• Mill Happiness Theory
• Money and Happiness: Can Money Buy Happiness
• Money Bring Happiness
• Money Can Not Buy Happiness
• Money Can’t Buy Happiness
• Money Can’t Buy Happiness and Satisfaction
• Money cannot buy happiness
• Money Does Not Bring Happiness
• Money Does Not Guarantee Happiness
• Money Doesn’t Bring Happiness
• Money Is It the Source of Happiness
• Must a Person be Moral In Order to Obtain True Happiness

⭐ Happiness Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

• My Idea of Happiness
• My Version of Happiness
• Narrative Essay. A Day of Mixed Happiness and Sadness
• Oliver finds happiness and security
• Optimism Plays a Key Role in Happiness
• Pain or Happiness
• Persuasion of Happiness
• Physical/practical and Mental Exercises to Achieve Happiness
• Poetry and Happiness
• Positive emotions and global happiness
• Poverty is a Great Enemy to Human Happiness
• Pride and Prejudice: Love and Happiness
• Proven Methods to Increase Your Happiness Hormones Naturally
• Pursuit of Happiness In “You Learn by Living”
• Pursuit of Happiness Movie Review
• Pursuit of Happiness Will Smith Speech
• Reflections: About Happiness
• Relationship Between Money and Happiness
• Representation of Modern Man’s Pursuit Of Happiness
• Resilience and Happiness of Single Parents
• Review of Neuro-scientific Theory of Happiness
• Rosseau’s Source of Happiness in The Fifth Walk
• Social Norms and The Pursuit of Happiness in “The Awakening”
• Social Stereotypes and Happiness

Get a Quality Essay on Your Topic

Other Topics

• Motivation Essay Topics & Ideas
• Argumentative Essay Topics About Animals
• Life Changing Experience Essay Ideas
• Oppression Essay Topics & Ideas
• Prejudice Essay Topics & Ideas

Hi, my name is Amy 👋

In case you can't find a relevant example, our professional writers are ready to help you write a unique paper. Just talk to our smart assistant Amy and she'll connect you with the best match.

• About Project
• Testimonials

Business Management Ideas

Essay on Happiness

List of essays on happiness, essay on happiness – short essay (essay 1 – 150 words), essay on happiness – for kids and children (essay 2 – 200 words), essay on happiness – 10 lines on happiness written in english (essay 3 – 250 words), essay on happiness (essay 4 – 300 words), essay on happiness – ways to be happy (essay 5 – 400 words), essay on happiness – for school students (class 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 standard) (essay 6 – 500 words), essay on happiness – ways of developing happiness (essay 7 – 600 words), essay on happiness – sources of suffering, happiness and conclusion (essay 8 – 750 words), essay on happiness – long essay on happiness (essay 9 – 1000 words).

Happiness is defined by different people in different ways. When we feel positive emotions we tend to feel happy. That is what happiness is all about. Happiness is also regarded as the mental state of a person in an optimistic manner.

Every person defines happiness in his/her own manner. In whatever manner you may define happiness; the truth is that it is vital for a healthy and prosperous life.

In order to make students understand what true happiness is all about, we have prepared short essays for students which shall enlighten them further on this topic.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for school students (Class 3, 4 ,5, 6 and 7 Standard).

Introduction:

Happiness is a state of mind and the feeling expressed when things are going great. It is what we feel when we get our first car, buy a new house or graduate with the best grades. Happiness should be distinguished from joy. When joy is a constant state of mind, happiness depends on events in our lives.

Importance of Happiness:

The opposite of happiness is sadness which is a state of negativity in the mindset. When we remain sad for an extended period of time it can lead to depression. To avoid this state of mind we must always remind ourselves of happenings in our lives that made us happy.

Conclusion:

Though life throws countless challenges at us on a daily basis, if we drown in those challenges we would definitely become depressed. It is important that we find positive things in our daily lives to get excited about and feel the happiness.

Happiness is a state of mind which makes you feel accomplished in life and having everything in this world without a single reason to repent. Well, although there can be no perfect definition of happiness; happiness is when you feel you’re at the top of the world where a sense of complete satisfaction prevails.

The meaning of happiness is relative and varies from people to people. For some, happiness is when you experience professional success, reunions with family and friends, eating out, reading books or watching good movies. While for others, happiness can be accomplished by some weekend activities which might help you de-stress and get the satisfaction of mind.

If you involve yourself in social activities where you help the needy and provide support to the weaker section of the society, you can experience happiness if not anything else. When a young boy flies a kite, plays with mud, and watches the nature, for him, that is the greatest happiness in the world.

The happiness of mind is often considered quite contrary to jealousy and anger which you experience once you have failed or unaccomplished any desired goal. You should always try to rehearse the ways of keeping yourself satisfied and keeping away from negativity to experience peace and happiness in life. True happiness begins where desire ends!

What is happiness? It is a state of being happy. But it does not mean to be happy all the time. Happiness is a feeling of something good that is happening in our life. We feel happy when we achieve something. But happiness is spread when our dear one is happy as well. Some people find true happiness in playing with their pets, while some may find happiness in staying engaged in creative work.

Happiness is often derived from channelizing thoughts to positive thinking. However, it is not as simple as it may sound.

To achieve the state of complete happiness one has to practice on improving the state of life by:

1. Staying contended in life with what you have. Cribbing and grumbling never lead to happiness.

2. Staying focused on the current life instead of daydreaming of the good days or old days.

3. Stop blaming for something that went terribly wrong in life. The life is all about moving on. Stop worrying and set new goals in life.

4. Being thankful to God for all the good things that you have in your life.

5. Having good people around you who can boost up positivity in your life.

Everyone desires to be happy in life. Happiness cannot be achieved without establishing complete control of one’s thoughts as it is very easy to be carried away by the waves of thoughts and emotions surrounding us. Remind yourself of the good things of your life and be thankful about it.

What is happiness? Some would state that happiness implies being well off. Others would state that for them, happiness intends to be sound. You will discover individuals saying that for them happiness implies having love in their life, having numerous companions, a great job, or accomplishing a specific objective. There are individuals, who trust that the want of a specific wish would make happiness in their life; however, it may not be so. Having true happiness is something which is desired by all.

The Path to Happiness:

There are small things which when incorporated into our daily lives, can lead us to the path of happiness. For instance, instead of thinking about problems, we should actually be thinking about the solutions. Not only will we be happier but we shall also be able to solve our problems faster. Similarly, once in a while, you start the day with the longing to achieve a few targets. Toward the day’s end, you may feel disappointed and miserable, in light of the fact that you haven’t possessed the capacity to do those things. Take a look at what you have done, not at what you have not possessed the capacity to do. Regularly, regardless of whether you have achieved a ton amid the day, you let yourself feel disappointed, due to some minor assignments you didn’t achieve. This takes away happiness from you.

Again, now and then, you go throughout the day effectively completing numerous plans, yet as opposed to feeling cheerful and fulfilled, you see what was not cultivated and feel troubled. It is out of line towards you.

Each day accomplishes something good which you enjoy doing. It may tend to be something little, such as purchasing a book, eating something you cherish, viewing your most loved program on TV, heading out to a motion picture, or simply having a walk around the shoreline. Even small things can bring great levels of happiness in our lives and motivate us for new goals.

Happiness is not what you feel from outside, rather it is something which comes from your inner soul. We should find happiness in us rather than searching for it in worldly desires.

Happiness is defined by different people in different ways. Some find happiness in having a luxurious life while some find it in having loving people around them rather than money. True happiness lies within us and our expectation of happiness. It is something that should be felt and cannot be explained in words.

Even though this simple word has a lot of meaning hidden in it, many fail to understand the real one or feel the real happiness. Finding happiness in the outer world is the main reason for this failure. Nothing can buy you happiness, whether be the favorite thing you desire for or the person you love the most or the career you build, unless and until you feel it within yourself.

Ways to be Happy:

Bring happiness and soulful life to yourself rather than expecting it from the outside world like things, money, etc. Being happy is not as easy as advised to be one happier person. To be content and happy with whatever you have and yourself it takes time and patience. You should practice to be a happier person in all moments and eventually you will notice that no sorrow can sink you down.

Whatever good or bad happened in your past shouldn’t bother your present. Learn to live today with more happiness than yesterday and forget about your past sadness for a harmonious life. Thankfulness to the life you got is another important character you should acquire to be happy. If you compare yourself with someone with better luxurious life, then you will never be happy or content and do it the other way.

Don’t depress your mind with bad and negative thoughts about yourself and around. Try to find every goodness in a situation you face and accept the things that already happened, whether good or bad. Never forget to choose merrier and positive people to be closer to you so that their vibes will also help you in being one merrier person.

Whenever you feel low and depressed never hesitate to go to those around you to find happiness. But be aware of those negative ones that may pull you even deeper into the bad thoughts. Always surround yourself with positive thinking and motivating people so that you can rise higher even from the deepest fall.

Happiness is nothing but a feeling that will be seeded into your soul only if you wish to and nothing other than yourself can indulge this feeling in you. Don’t spoil your life finding happiness somewhere else.

Happiness is a very complicated thing. Happiness can be used both in emotional or mental state context and can vary largely from a feeling from contentment to very intense feeling of joy. It can also mean a life of satisfaction, good well-being and so many more. Happiness is a very difficult phenomenon to use words to describe as it is something that can be felt only. Happiness is very important if we want to lead a very good life. Sadly, happiness is absent from the lives of a lot of people nowadays. We all have our own very different concept of happiness. Some of us are of the opinion that we can get happiness through money, others believe they can only get true happiness in relationships, some even feel that happiness can only be gotten when they are excelling in their profession.

As we might probably know, happiness is nothing more than the state of one being content and happy. A lot of people in the past, present and some (even in the future will) have tried to define and explain what they think happiness really is. So far, the most reasonable one is the one that sees happiness as something that can only come from within a person and should not be sought for outside in the world.

Some very important points about happiness are discussed below:

1. Happiness can’t be bought with Money:

A lot of us try to find happiness where it is not. We associate and equate money with happiness. If at all there is happiness in money then all of the rich people we have around us would never feel sad. What we have come to see is that even the rich amongst us are the ones that suffer depression, relationship problems, stress, fear and even anxiousness. A lot of celebrities and successful people have committed suicide, this goes a long way to show that money or fame does not guarantee happiness. This does not mean that it is a bad thing to be rich and go after money. When you have money, you can afford many things that can make you and those around you very happy.

2. Happiness can only come from within:

There is a saying that explains that one can only get true happiness when one comes to the realisation that only one can make himself/herself happy. We can only find true happiness within ourselves and we can’t find it in other people. This saying and its meaning is always hammered on in different places but we still refuse to fully understand it and put it into good use. It is very important that we understand that happiness is nothing more than the state of a person’s mind. Happiness cannot come from all the physical things we see around us. Only we through our positive emotions that we can get through good thoughts have the ability to create true happiness.

Our emotions are created by our thoughts. Therefore, it is very important that we work on having only positive thoughts and this can be achieved when we see life in a positive light.

Happiness is desired by every person. However, there are very few persons that attain happiness easily in life.

It is quite tough to get happiness in life as people usually link it with the things and the people around them. The simple fact is that happiness usually starts as well as finishes with your own life. All those people who understand this fact easily get the true happiness in their life.

Happiness in Relationships:

There are lots of people who link happiness with the money and there are few others also who link it with the personal relations. It is very important to know that if you are not happy with yourself then, it is not possible to remain happy in your relationship as well.

The problems in the relationship have been increasing speedily and the main cause behind it is the huge amount of expectation that we have from the other individual. We always want them to make us feel happy. For example, some people feel happy if their partner plans a surprise for them or if he/she buy them a new dress. But all these things are not a true source of happiness in life.

Ways of Developing Happiness:

The lack of happiness in the relationship not only exists in couples but also in the relationship of friends, sister – brother or parent-child.

The following are the few ways that help in creating happiness in the relationships:

1. Pay Attention to Yourself:

You should always pay attention to yourself to get happiness. You should not give importance to any other person in your life in comparison to yourself and also expect the same from that person. Giving too much importance to the other and not receiving anything back from them makes a person disappointed and happiness gets lost.

2. Have some Initiative:

You can make the plan of traveling outside yourself. Don’t wait for your parent, partner or kid to take you outside. You can ask them to come along with you if they want. But, if they decline your offer then, don’t get discouraged and carry on your trip plan along with full happiness.

3. Provide some Space:

It is necessary to provide some amount of space to every individual and spend some time with oneself. It helps in creating happiness.

Happiness is Necessary for Good Life:

It does not matter that whether you are a working expert, a schoolchild, a retired person or a housewife, happiness is necessary for everybody to live a good and happy life. Happiness is essential for an individual’s emotional comfort. A person who is not fit emotionally will feel an impact on his complete health that will drain very soon.

Unluckily, despite the fact that happiness is tremendously necessary, people do not give so much importance to all those habits which can keep them happy. They are so excessively captivated inside their professional lives as well as other nuts and bolts of life that they overlook to relish the happy memories of their life. It is also the main reason that problems like anxiety, stress, and depression are increasing gradually in people’s lives today.

Happiness is an internal feeling. It is a healthy emotion. Happiness helps us to stay fit both mentally and physically. Happiness helps in lowering stress and keeping away from any health issues. The reason of happiness may be different for different person. You just need to find out what actually makes you happy. So, if you want real happiness in life then, you need to understand that only you can make yourself happy.

“There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way” this sentence has been attributed to Buddha. Well, at least that’s what it says on one sticker in my dorm room. The fact is that man has occupied himself with the path to happiness for millennia. Something happened during our evolution that made us deeply question the purpose of our existence. People like Buddha are part of the answer, or at least they try to give us the answer.

Since these questions have troubled us there have been many who sought to answer them and by doing so, they formed philosophies and religions. The search for earthly happiness will make many do incredible deeds but if this energy is used in the wrong way it can cause great suffering. How can we know which recipe for happiness is the best one and what we should devote our time and attention to? The trick is, there is no right answer and as the first sentence of this essay states, there is no way to be happy because being happy is the way. That’s how I got my head around this problem, let me explain some more.

Source of Suffering:

At the expense of sounding Buddhist, when you think about most of the things that make us unhappy are material in nature. They are the things that we really do not need but they make us feel happy. This notion is not just something the wise man from the 6 th century BC India expressed but many more have said this before and after him. Socrates and Jesus to name just a few.

What I find interesting in the struggle for happiness is the paradox present in the instructions to reach it. One has a  thought all through life to be good and hard working so he can get the things he wants and needs later on in life but then as you start to struggle for the money you realize that your life is turning into a money grabbing game. So, the source of happiness and stability becomes the source of all your anxiety and aggression. Naturally, we can see how some people thought that all material things stand on the path to our happiness.

But what about the immaterial, what if you are in love with someone you are not supposed to love? The above instruction would tell you to surrender your heart’s desire and you will be free from constraints. Is this happiness? Or is it the struggle to do and achieve the impossible the real source of happiness?

Source of Happiness:

People often forget that they are animals and like all of them they have a logic to their nature and their own specific needs. Like all the other animal’s people are caught in the struggle for existence and sometimes surviving the day can be a real ordeal if you get caught in the wrong circumstances. Men has made himself safe from most of the things that could have harmed him in nature but in doing so he forgot what he has made.

Think about the present from a historical perspective. Even a hundred years ago most people lost up to 80% of all their children to diseases, clean water was a rarity for most of our existence, and people actually had to labor to make food and to have enough to feed their family all through the year. The fact is we have a lot to be grateful for in the present age and the fact that some of us are unhappy because we do not have all our heart’s desires is just a symptom of collective infancy. Having all of your loved ones around you, with a roof to shelter under and with lots of delicious food is the only source of happiness man needs everything else should just be a bonus.

Happiness cannot be found by rejecting everything that is material or by earning more money then you can spend. The trick is to find balance by looking at yourself and the lives of people around you and by understanding that there is a lot to be grateful for, the trick is to stop searching for a path and to understand that we are already walking on one. As long as we are making any type of list of the prerequisite for our life of happiness, we will end up unsatisfied because life does not grant wishes we are the ones that make them come true. Often the biggest change in our lives comes from a simple change of perspective rather than from anything we can own.

Happiness is the state of emotional wellbeing and being contented. Happiness is expressed through joyful moments and smiles. It is a desirable feeling that everybody want to have at all times. Being happy is influenced by situations, achievements and other circumstances. Happiness is an inner quality that reflects on the state of mind. A peaceful state of mind is considered to be happiness. The emotional state of happiness is mixture of feelings of joy, satisfaction, gratitude, euphoria and victory.

How happiness is achieved:

Happiness is achieved psychologically through having a peaceful state of mind. By a free state of mind, I mean that there should be no stressful factors to think about. Happiness is also achieved through accomplishment of goals that are set by individuals. There is always happiness that accompanies success and they present feelings of triumph and contentment.

To enable personal happiness in life, it is important that a person puts himself first and have good self-perception. Putting what makes you happy first, instead of putting other people or other things first is a true quest towards happiness. In life, people tend to disappoint and putting them as a priority always reduces happiness for individuals. There is also the concept of practicing self-love and self-acceptance. Loving oneself is the key to happiness because it will mean that it will not be hard to put yourself first when making decisions.

It is important for an individual to control the thoughts that goes on in their heads. A peaceful state of mind is achieved when thoughts are at peace. It is recommended that things that cause a stressful state of mind should be avoided.

Happiness is a personal decision that is influenced by choices made. There is a common phrase on happiness; “happiness is a choice” which is very true because people choose if they want to be happy or not. Happiness is caused by circumstances and people have the liberty to choose those circumstance and get away from those that make them unhappy.

Happiness is also achieved through the kind of support system that an individual has. Having a family or friends that are supportive will enable the achievement of happiness. Communicating and interacting with the outside world is important.

Factors Affecting Happiness:

Sleep patterns influence the state of mind thus influence happiness. Having enough sleep always leads to happy mornings and a good state of mind for rest of the day. Sleep that is adequate also affects the appearance of a person. There is satisfaction that comes with having enough sleep. Enough rest increases performance and productivity of an individual and thus more successes and achievements are realized and happiness is experienced.

Another factor affecting happiness is the support network of an individual. A strong support network of family and friends results in more happiness. Establishing good relationships with neighbors, friends and family through regular interactions brings more happiness to an individual. With support network, the incidences of stressful moments will be reduced because your family and friends will always be of help.

Sexual satisfaction has been established to affect happiness. It is not just about getting the right partner anymore. It is about having a partner that will satisfy you sexually. There is a relationship between sex and happiness because of the hormones secreted during sexual intercourse. The hormone is called oxytocin and responsible for the happiness due to sexual satisfaction. Satisfaction also strengthens the relationships between the partners and that creates happiness.

Wealth also plays a significant role in happiness. There is a common phrase that is against money and happiness: “money cannot buy happiness” is this true? Personally, I believe that being financially stable contributes to happiness because you will always have peace of mind and many achievements. Peace of mind is possible for wealthy people because they do not have stressors here and then compared to poor people. Also, when a person is wealthy, they can afford to engage in luxurious activities that relaxes the mind and create happiness. For a person to be wealthy, they will have had many achievements in life. These achievement make them happy.

A good state of health is an important factor that influences the happiness of individuals. A healthy person will be happy because there are no worries of diseases or pain that they are experiencing. When a person is healthy, their state of mind is at peace because they are not afraid of death or any other health concerns. Not only the health of individuals is important, but also the health of the support system of the person. Friends and family’s state of health will always have an impact on what we feel as individuals because we care about them and we get worried whenever they are having bad health.

Communication and interactions are important in relation to an individual’s happiness. Having a support system is not enough because people need to communicate and interact freely. Whenever there are interactions like a social gathering where people talk and eat together, more happiness is experienced. This concept is witnessed in parties because people are always laughing and smiling in parties whenever they are with friends.

Communication is key to happiness because it helps in problem solving and relieving stressors in life. Sharing experiences with a support system creates a state of wellbeing after the solution is sought. Sometime when I am sad, I take my phone and call a friend or a family member and by the time the phone call is over, I always feel better and relieved of my worries.

Happiness is an important emotion that influences how we live and feel on a daily basis. Happiness is achieved in simple ways. People have the liberty to choose happiness because we are not bound by any circumstances for life. Factors that influence happiness are those that contribute to emotional wellbeing. Physical wellbeing also affects happiness. Every individual finds happiness in their own because they know what makes them happy and what doesn’t.

Emotions , Happiness , Psychology

Get FREE Work-at-Home Job Leads Delivered Weekly!

Join more than 50,000 subscribers receiving regular updates! Plus, get a FREE copy of How to Make Money Blogging!

Message from Sophia!

Like this post? Don’t forget to share it!

Here are a few recommended articles for you to read next:

• Which is More Important in Life: Love or Money | Essay
• Essay on My School
• Essay on Solar Energy
• Essay on Biodiversity

No comments yet.

Leave a reply click here to cancel reply..

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Billionaires

• Donald Trump
• Warren Buffett
• Email Address
• Free Stock Photos
• Keyword Research Tools
• URL Shortener Tools
• WordPress Theme

Book Summaries

• How To Win Friends
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• The Code of the Extraordinary Mind
• The Luck Factor
• The Millionaire Fastlane
• The ONE Thing
• Think and Grow Rich
• 100 Million Dollar Business
• Business Ideas

Digital Marketing

• Mobile Addiction
• Social Media Addiction
• Computer Addiction
• Drug Addiction
• Internet Addiction
• TV Addiction
• Healthy Habits
• Morning Rituals
• Wake up Early
• Cholesterol
• Reducing Cholesterol
• Fat Loss Diet Plan
• Reducing Hair Fall
• Sleep Apnea
• Weight Loss

Internet Marketing

• Email Marketing

Law of Attraction

• Subconscious Mind
• Vision Board
• Visualization

Law of Vibration

• Professional Life

Motivational Speakers

• Bob Proctor
• Robert Kiyosaki
• Vivek Bindra
• Inner Peace

Productivity

• Not To-do List
• Project Management Software
• Negative Energies

Relationship

• Getting Back Your Ex

Self-help 21 and 14 Days Course

Self-improvement.

• Body Language
• Complainers
• Emotional Intelligence
• Personality

Social Media

• Project Management
• Anik Singal
• Baba Ramdev
• Dwayne Johnson
• Jackie Chan
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Narendra Modi
• Nikola Tesla
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Sandeep Maheshwari
• Shaqir Hussyin

Website Development

Wisdom post, worlds most.

• Expensive Cars

Our Portals: Gulf Canada USA Italy Gulf UK

Privacy Overview

Subscribe to our newsletter

20 great articles & essays about happiness, what makes us happy by joshua wolf shenk, how wanting less leads to satisfaction by arthur c. brooks, the futile pursuit of happiness by jon gertner, there's more to life than being happy by emily smith, social connection makes a better brain by emily esfahani smith, happiness is a glass half empty by oliver burkeman, when it’s bad to have good choices by maria konnikova, why generation y yuppies are unhappy by tim urban, the real roots of midlife crisis by jonathan rauch, buy experiences, not things by james hamblin, quit your job by barbara bradley hagerty, what’s the point if we can’t have fun by david graeber, did laughter make the mind by chris knight, the origin of laughter, smiles and tears by michael graziano, funny or die by julie beck, why do we laugh by david robson, see also..., 50 great psychology articles, 50 great essays about life, 50 great articles about love and relationships.

Money ? Happiness. QED. by Bill McKibben

The truth about money by gregg easterbrook, why does it feel like everyone has more money than you by jen doll, your lifestyle has already been designed by david cain, joy by zadie smith, all joy and no fun by jennifer senior, young women are convinced motherhood is going to suck by ej dickson, flow by mihaly csikszentmihalyi, the antidote by oliver burkeman, 10% happier by dan harris.

About The Electric Typewriter We search the net to bring you the best nonfiction, articles, essays and journalism

Essay on Happiness in Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on Happiness in Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Happiness in Life

Understanding happiness.

Happiness is a feeling of joy, satisfaction, and contentment. It’s the positive emotion we feel when our needs are met or our desires are fulfilled.

Importance of Happiness

Happiness is crucial in life. It keeps us healthy, boosts our immune system, and makes us more creative. It also improves our relationships with others.

Finding Happiness

We find happiness in various ways. It can be through spending time with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, or helping others. Remember, true happiness comes from within, not from material possessions.

Happiness as a Choice

Happiness is a choice. We can choose to be happy by focusing on the positive aspects of life and maintaining a positive attitude.

250 Words Essay on Happiness in Life

Understanding the concept of happiness, the role of positive emotions.

Positive emotions play a significant role in fostering happiness. They enable us to appreciate the present, build resilience, and create a positive outlook towards life. They also enhance our ability to cope with adversity and maintain a sense of well-being, thereby contributing to our overall happiness.

Significance of Relationships

Relationships are another critical aspect of happiness. They provide emotional support, a sense of belonging, and a platform for sharing joys and sorrows. Quality relationships, whether familial, platonic, or romantic, contribute to a sustained sense of happiness.

The Pursuit of Meaning

While pleasure and positive emotions contribute to happiness, the pursuit of meaning is equally important. Engaging in activities that align with our values, interests, and passions provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment, thereby enhancing our happiness.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, happiness in life is not a destination, but a journey. It’s a dynamic state, influenced by one’s emotions, relationships, and pursuits. It’s about finding joy in the little things, cherishing relationships, pursuing meaningful activities, and maintaining a positive outlook. Ultimately, the key to happiness lies within us, and it’s our responsibility to unlock it.

500 Words Essay on Happiness in Life

Introduction: the concept of happiness.

Happiness, a seemingly simple concept, is a multifaceted and deeply personal idea. It is a universal goal that everyone strives to achieve. Yet, its definition varies widely among individuals, cultures, and societies. Philosophers, psychologists, and scholars have long explored the nature of happiness, its sources, and its significance in our lives.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is a journey rather than a destination. It’s about finding joy in the journey itself, not just the end goal. Happiness is a dynamic process that evolves and changes with our experiences, perceptions, and personal growth. It is not a static state to be achieved, but a continuous process that needs to be nurtured and cultivated.

Many of us believe that happiness is tied to external factors such as wealth, success, or relationships. However, studies have shown that our circumstances account for only about 10% of our happiness levels. The rest is determined by our genes and, importantly, our actions and attitudes. This implies that we have significant control over our happiness.

Happiness and Wellbeing

Practices for cultivating happiness.

Cultivating happiness requires conscious effort. Practices such as mindfulness, gratitude, and positive thinking can significantly enhance our happiness. Mindfulness helps us live in the present moment and appreciate it, while gratitude shifts our focus from what’s wrong in our lives to what’s right. Positive thinking, on the other hand, helps us maintain an optimistic outlook on life, even in challenging situations.

Conclusion: The Essence of Happiness

In conclusion, happiness is a deeply personal and complex phenomenon. It’s not just about feeling good, but also about growing emotionally, being satisfied with life, and building meaningful relationships. It is an ongoing journey of self-discovery and personal growth. By understanding the nature of happiness and consciously adopting practices that cultivate it, we can enhance our wellbeing and lead more fulfilling lives.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Happiness - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

Happiness, often understood as a state of well-being and contentment, is a deeply complex and multifaceted emotional state. Essays on happiness could explore the psychological, philosophical, and cultural dimensions of happiness, its measurement, and its role in a fulfilling life. Discussions might also delve into the relationships between happiness, material wealth, relationships, and personal achievement, drawing upon various psychological theories and empirical studies. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Happiness you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

The Key to Happiness

The Key to Happiness Self-respect is an essential element for a person's well being of their mental health. Anyone who seeks to be mentally healthy needs self-respect, but the thin line between self-respect and ego is crossed quite easily resulting in many internal and external conflicts. These conflicts can have drastic effects on people, making them act in eccentric ways, and their outlandish actions have direct and opposite reactions. The same theme of ego and excessive pride is prevalent in […]

What is Happiness?

What is happiness? How do we get it? Where does it come from? These questions have been debated throughout history. Each question is viewed and answered differently by every person. The first people who began questioning the true definition of happiness were Greek Philosophers. Some philosophers believed that it came from hedonism. Hedonism is the pursuit of sensual pleasure. Others believed happiness was a goal to be achieved, a final destination that made the injustices of life worthy of something. […]

Society Rather be Happy

Why would our society rather be happy then full of knowledge? Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury. This book is about a fireman' who destroys books and houses with such in them because in this society, no one reads anymore. Their happiness is much more important to them then any type of knowledge. This begins to be a problem to him when he meets Clarisse and starts to question this society. People should challenge the rules when society defines […]

We will write an essay sample crafted to your needs.

The Pursuit of Happiness: Aristotle’s Philosophical Perspective as Indicated

As indicated by aristotle he happens to be the establishing fathers of Happiness, He expresses that satisfaction all relies upon ourselves more than any other person. It is a condition of human life and an objective in itself. Euphoria depends upon ourselves." More than some other individual, Aristotle values fulfillment as a central purpose behind human life and a target in itself. As needs he devotes more space to the subject of delight than any researcher before the propelled time. […]

Happiness is the Meaning

Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence (Aristotle). That much can be agreed upon by the majority of the world. We as humans seek happiness and self satisfaction. But just what is this happiness we strive to achieve? Philosophers, psychologists, and other great minds have pondered this very question since as far back as ancient Greece. If one was to ask a person from India what it means to be happy, […]

The Aristotle’s Perspective on Freedom Citizenship and PolityImam Subkhan

From Ethics to Politics:The Aristotle's Perspective on Freedom, Citizenship, and PolityImam SubkhanEveryone wants to be happy with their lives. Aristotle contended that the happiness is "something final and self-sufficient, and the end of action" (Ethica Nicomachea, 941) that transcend all the aims of action. The actions or anything we do are intended to something that we consider good. It means there are many goods in our lives, but there is the one good that becomes an umbrella for other goods, […]

What is Happiness and Can you Buy It?

Before the debate, let's define what is happiness. This question is philosophical, but I tried to simplify it. Wikipedia gives an answer like this: Happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It is also used in the context of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, flourishing and well-being. Can money buy happiness? There's no definite answer. But we know the way you spend your money can affect […]

Eudaimonia Happiness and Virtue on Aristotle

Aristotle was the ancestor of the concept of eudaimonia. The word "Eudaimonia refer to the type of life one thinks best, most worthwhile, or most desirable. It is generally referred to hedonic happiness. It is the belief that one is getting the important things one wants, as well as certain pleasant affects [1]. It is about pleasure, having fun and enjoying yourself. Aristotle argues that most people agree that living well and doing well is all about happiness [2]. Furthermore, […]

Philosophy of Life the Meditations of Stoic and Epicurean

Philosophy of life constitutes a set of rules or principles that govern people's decisions on matters involving their daily livelihoods. Philosophies of life guide people on what to do, how to do it, how they should be along with guiding them on many other things. People have lived according to such philosophies from time immemorial. This was due to the belief that abiding by such philosophies would result in happy lives. Moreover, the goal of life philosophies has been for […]

Kant and Aristotle on Happiness

Human happiness has been a topic of discussion for thousands of years. The discussion focuses on how to reach true happiness, and the relevance of happiness to decision making. Over time, philosophers have mulled over human happiness, with Aristotle and Kant taking opposing stances. Aristotle believes happiness is the goal of human activity. Kant argues that the purpose of human activity is to uphold universal law without taking happiness into consideration. Acting out of respect for duty leads to a […]

Can Money Buy Happiness Speech

"Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference" – Barack Obama. Although it is injustice to poor people when we say that money can buy happiness. But still money is the basic amenity for each and every individual. As we can clearly see that average number of people are more than satisfied when they have money while comparing to the situation when they don’t have it. According to Blanchflower and Oswald (2011) review of international happiness they […]

Modern Society Limits

Today's modern society limits an individual's ability to achieve happiness because of increased pressures placed upon an individual. The pressures placed upon an individual, by parents, limit their ability to attain happiness. In today's modern society, parents want their child to be the most perfect and outstanding as possible in order for them to be immeasurably successful. In order for their child to be the best, parents inflict an abundance of pressure. According to the article Best, Brightest-and Saddest written […]

Money Can T Buy Happiness

Since happiness is a unique experience, the factors that promote happiness can of course be different for everyone. However, scientific research in the last 20 years has come a long way to identify many common factors that contribute to our happiness. Money (or income) is one of them. When we encounter the questions if feeling happy is related with money or not, some will use their opt in favour of money. However, the others, including me, claim money has a […]

Pursuit of Happiness Summary

"The Pursuit of Happiness" is a biopic that recounts a man named Chris Gardner, a destitute sales rep. In the wake of putting for his entire life investment funds in purchasing compact bone thickness scanners, which what should bring him wealth, rather transforms into his life support as numerous clinical businesses felt no requirement for such clinical gadgets. As monetary weights creep up on him simultaneously, it made him lose the two his significant other and home. Even in the […]

Happiness Depends Upon Ourselves

The other day I was asked why I looked so youthful. (I am sure this person was trying to sell me something). My immediate reply was “because I am happy”. And I am. This got me thinking. Is happiness a choice? And if so, how do we become happy and how does it affect our mental health. I am not talking about the Snow White and Seven Dwarfs type of happiness where everyone is singing and dancing all day. Rather […]

A Brave New World Essay: Truth and Happiness

One of the greatest and most important human virtues is truthfulness. Society uses the truth to live in harmony. There is no justice without truth; no love, faith, or integrity without truth. In Brave New World, a novel by Aldous Huxley, everyone is living in illusion created by the government. Set in a dystopian future, Huxley constructs a manufactured and artificial world greatly influenced by Henry Ford’s mass-production and consumerism of cars. Throughout the book Huxley uses the juxtaposition between […]

The Ethics of Animal Experimentation

1. Background Information 2.1 What is animal testing? An animal test is any scientific experiment or test in which a animal is forced to undergo something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting damage. In animal experiments, animals would be injected or feed with probably harmful substances, exposed to radiation and forced to inhale toxic gases. Also, the lab resistant may surgically removing animals' organs or tissues to deliberately cause damage and subjecting animals to frightening […]

What is Real Happiness

“Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling” the words of Margaret Lee Runbeck. Happiness, a subjective concept itself, is the goal of every human being. It is a feeling. It is an emotion. It is a state of mind that revolves around contentment. Mentioned by the Oxford learners dictionary happiness is defined as “the state of feeling or showing pleasure”. The idea of happiness is different for many people, but the only path that […]

Aristotle about a Perfect Happiness

As a consequence of having an active component of happiness is the possibility of differentiating and valuing it. Accordingly, the highest and most precious happiness can be obtained by those activities which "are desirable in themselves from which nothing is sought beyond the activity." For Aristotle, examples of such activity are the virtuous actions because "to do noble and good deeds is a thing desirable for its own sake." The philosopher goes further in his distinguishing the hierarchy of happiness, […]

Oppression, Freedom and Happiness in “The Allegory of the Cave”

What is freedom and are we free? Freedom. A word redolent with benevolence. People like being ""free"". It is regularly introduced to society as an extremity: free articulation, free decision and majority rules system, versus suppression, restriction and absolutism. The idea of regular rights assumes a conspicuous job in legitimate and political talk of freedom. Philosophical discussions encompassing the idea have concentrated on three unmistakable inquiries. The illustrative inquiry asks how it is or could be conceivable that individuals hold […]

Steve Jobs: Money and Happiness

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., was a man of wealth and power whose companies played a key role in the advent of the modern digital age as we know it. In a culture that links prosperity to happiness, we may be inclined to reflect on Jobs’ successes and consider his life a happy one. However, what if we judged his life by a different criterion that undermines the presumption that wealth and power grant happiness? In “The History of […]

Principle One could

Some people might say happiness is caused by success or achievement. This is not the truth in our society today. Having success or achievement does not automatically transfer into happiness all the time. Granted, it will turn into happiness and enjoyment sometimes, but not a consistent number of occurrences. Also, happiness is not that your personal life and everything surrounding you must be great and fantastic. As Shawn Achor wrote in The Happiness Advantage, the joy one feels striving for […]

Happiness is a Choice Essay

Happiness is a condition of circumstance. Whether you have an excess of money or are limited in funds there is a place for happiness in your life. Regardless of circumstance we humans make the choice consciously or unconsciously to live life being happy. When it comes down to it, we all have a choice to be happy or not. Our level of happiness is a condition of what we have had in the past compared to what we have now […]

Is Money a Source of Happiness or the Evil

There are a lot of sayings, truisms and clichés when it comes to money. There are those that refer to the fact that it is to be considered the “root of all evil”. There are others that try to point to different views like the ones in the articles written by, David G. Myers. Elizabeth Warren, and Charles Murray. That would be that money cannot buy happiness. It is true that many people that are rich and powerful are also […]

Does Money Can Buy Happiness

When someone asks us what makes us happy? Many of us will say that it’s their family, friends and some of us will answer with pets. Some of us might say money, but does money last forever? No, because in our generation loves the luxury life and they take the rappers as their influence, money means a better life it doesn’t mean that it can makes you happy. The essay “The funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy people” states “Even […]

How being Successful Can Bring Happiness

“A week ago, my family and I were going to Atlanta from Chicago,” writes Kelly Flanagan. - It takes about twelve hours by car. We have been looking forward to this trip! In Atlanta, the children were supposed to see their cousin. I wanted to meet my best friend, I haven't seen him for 7 years. My wife was preparing to speak at a conference in honor of the publication of her first textbook. And so, getting ready for the […]

Participating in Physical Activity

Participating in physical activity results in an increase in happiness and brings more joy into your life. People have different reasons for participating, or choosing not to participate, in exercise. For some, the motivation comes from having health issues or being overweight. For others, the motivation may simply come from the fact that they participate in a sport. But, regardless of what the possible underlying causes may be, an increase in physical exercise will result in a directly proportional relationship […]

Self-Deception Can be the Key to Human Happiness

"Many people may have thought once about whether self-delusion is good or bad. Although self-deception might be probably a wrong thing, a little self-deception might be just what people need to get through the day. Self-Deception can be the key to human happiness or will self-deception might lead people to ruin and misery, at least in the long run. I suspect that self-deception, like many facets of human life, has both a light side and a dark side. Perhaps the […]

Happiness Depends on Mental Health

Imagine yourself dead without dying. Sounds crazy, right? In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller through his choice of title, ironically tells the reader the salesman dies. Death of a Salesman is a play that is centered around an older respected salesman name Willy Loman and his family. Like any man, Mr. Loman wants to have the best for his family, he wants them to experience the American Dream. The American Dream is believed to be achieved by one working […]

Materialism and Happiness

At one moment in our lifetime we have felt the feeling of happiness. Happiness can come into our lives through many ways such as spending time with family and friends, getting hired at a facility or even something as small as eating your favorite dessert. Many people can tell another person about the times that they have felt happy but, what really is happiness? According to Psychology Today, the meaning of happiness is defined as, “someone who experiences frequent positive […]

Additional Example Essays

• Symbolism in the Great Gatsby
• Why Is It Better To Live In A Small Town
• Dweck's Fixed and Growth Mindsets
• Self-awareness as the Main Factor of Emotional Intelligence
• What Of This Goldfish Summary
• Rhetorical Analysis of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address
• How the Roles of Women and Men Were Portrayed in "A Doll's House"
• Positive Effects of Social Media
• Importance Of Accountability
• Oedipus is a Tragic Hero
• Dogs Are Better Than Cats Essay
• Medieval Romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

A block party during Carnival in Belo Horizonte, Brazil; 11 February 2024. Photo by Washington Alves/Reuters

Learning to be happier

In order to help improve my students’ mental health, i offered a course on the science of happiness. it worked – but why.

by Bruce Hood   + BIO

In 2018, a tragic period enveloped the University of Bristol, when several students killed themselves related to work stress. Suicide is usually the ultimate culmination of a crisis in mental health, but these students weren’t alone in feeling extreme pressure: across the campus there was a pervasive sense that the general student body was not coping with the demands of higher education. My own tutee students, whom I met on a regular basis, were reporting poor mental health or asking for extensions because they were unable to meet deadlines that were stressing them out. They were overly obsessed with marks and other performance outcomes, and this impacted not only on them, but also on the teaching and support staff who were increasingly dealing with alleviating student anxiety. Students wanted more support that most felt was lacking and, in an effort to deal with the issue, the university had invested heavily, making more provision for mental health services. The problem with this strategy, however, is that by the time someone seeks out professional services, they are already at a crisis point. I felt compelled to do something.

At the time, Bristol University was described in the British press as a ‘toxic’ environment, but this was an unfair label as every higher education institution was, and still is, experiencing a similar mental health crisis. Even in the Ivy League universities in the United States, there was a problem, as I discovered when I became aware of a course on positive psychology that had become the most popular at Yale in the spring of 2018. On reading about the course, I was somewhat sceptical that simple interventions could make much difference until I learned that Yale’s ‘Psychology and the Good Life’ course was being delivered by a colleague of mine, Laurie Santos, who I knew would not associate herself with anything flaky.

That autumn term of 2018, I decided to try delivering a free lunchtime series of lectures, ‘The Science of Happiness’, based on the Yale course. Even though this pilot was not credit-bearing, more than 500 students gave up their Wednesday lunchtimes to attend. That was unusual as, in my experience, students rarely give up time or expend effort to undertake activities unless they are awarded credit or incentives. There would be 10 lectures, and everyone was requested to fill in self-report questionnaires assessing various mental health dimensions both before and after the course, to determine whether there had been any impact and, if so, how much.

The Science of Happiness had clearly piqued interest as indicated by the audience size, but I was still nervous. This was not my area of academic expertise and there was heightened sensitivity following the media attention over recent tragic events on campus. What were the students’ expectations? Talking about mental health seemed hazardous. Would I trigger adverse reactions simply by discussing these issues?

D espite my initial reservations, the final feedback after the course ended was overwhelmingly positive. That was gratifying but, as a scientist, I like hard evidence. What would the questionnaires tell us? The analysis of the before and after scores revealed that there had been a 10-15 per cent positive increase in mental wellbeing across the different measures of wellbeing, anxiety and loneliness. That may not sound much but it was the average, and a significant impact in the field of interventions. Who wouldn’t want to be 15 per cent happier, healthier or wealthier? I was no longer a sceptic; I was a convert. I would stop focusing on developmental psychology, my own area of research, and concentrate on making students happier. Even a 15 per cent improvement might lead to a degree of prevention that was better than dealing with a student who was already struggling.

The following year, we launched a credit-bearing course for first-year students who had room in their curriculum schedule to take an open unit, which has now been running for five years. These psychoeducational courses are not new and predate my efforts by at least a decade. But what makes the Bristol psychoeducational course unique (and I believe this is still the case) is that we persuaded the university to allow a credit-bearing course that had no graded examinations but was accredited based on engagement alone. Not only was I convinced by compelling arguments for why graded assessment is the wrong way to educate, but it would have been hypocritical of me to lecture about the failings of an education system based solely on assessment, and then give students an exam to determine if they had engaged. Rather, engagement required regular weekly attendance, meeting in peer-mentored small groups, but also undertaking positive psychology exercises and journaling about their experiences so that we could track progress. Again, to test the impact of the course, students were asked to fill in the various psychometric questionnaires to give us an insight to impact.

Meditation stops you thinking negative thoughts. Not exactly a scientific explanation

We now have five years’ worth of data and have published peer-reviewed scientific papers on evaluation of the course. As with the initial pilot, the consistent finding is that there is, on average, a 10-15 per cent significant increase in positive mental wellbeing over the duration of the course. The course improves mental wellbeing but there are limitations. Our most recent analysis over the longer term shows that the positive benefits we generate during the course, and the two months after, are lost within a year, returning to previous baseline scores, unless the students maintain some of the recommended activities. However, in those students who kept practising at least one of the positive psychology interventions (PPIs) such as journaling, meditation, exercise, expressing gratitude or any of the other evidence-based activities, they maintained their benefits up to two years later.

Why do interventions work and why do they stop working? As to the first question, there are countless self-help books promoting PPIs, but the level of explanation is either missing or tends to be circular. Acts of kindness work because they make you feel better. Meditation calms the mind and stops you thinking negative thoughts. Not exactly a scientific explanation or revelation. Even though I had largely put my experimental work with children on hold because of the demands of teaching such a large course, I was still intellectually intrigued by the same basic theoretical question that has always motivated my research. What is the mechanism underlying positive psychology?

T here are several plausible hypotheses out there from established academics in the field that explain some of the activities, but they lack a unifying thread that I thought must be operating across the board. I started considering the wide and diverse range of PPIs to see if there was any discernible pattern that might suggest underlying mechanisms. Two years ago, I had an insight and I think the answer can be found in the way we focus on our self.

In my role as a developmental psychologist, I see change and continuity everywhere in relation to human thought and behaviour. For some time, I have been fascinated by the concept of the self and how it emerges but must change over the course of a lifetime. I believe earlier childhood notions lay the foundation for later cognition which is why development is so critical to understanding adults. My most recent work concentrated on how ownership and possessions play major roles in our concept of self, and I was particularly interested in acts of sharing among children. Specifically, we had completed a set of studies demonstrating that, when children are instructed to talk about themselves, they thought about their own possessions differently and became less willing to share with others. Emphasising their self had made these children more selfish. This got me thinking about the role of self-focus in happiness.

The most pernicious aspect of self-focus is the tendency to keep comparing ourselves to others

Infants start off with an egocentric view of the world – a term and concept introduced by the psychologist Jean Piaget. Egocentric individuals tend to perceive the world from their own perspective, and many studies have shown that young children are egocentric in the way they see the world, act, talk, think and behave with others. Normal development requires adopting a more allocentric – or other-based perspective in order to be accepted. The sense of self changes from early ebullient egocentrism to an increasing awareness of one’s relative position in the social order. Children may become more other-focused but that also includes unfavourable comparisons. They increasingly become self-aware and concerned about what others think about them – a concern that transitions into a preoccupation when they enter adolescence that never really goes away. As for adults, like many features of the human mind, earlier ways of thinking are never entirely abandoned. This is why our self-focus can become a ‘curse’, as the psychologist Mark Leary describes , feeding the inner critic who is constantly negatively evaluating our position in life.

One reason that self-focus can become a curse is that we are ignorant of the biases our brains operate with that lead us to make wrong decisions and comparisons. When it comes to happy choices, we want something because we think it will make us happy, but our predictions are inaccurate. We think events will be more impactful than they turn out to be, and we fail to appreciate how fast we get used to things, both good and bad. This is called a failure of affective forecasting which is why the psychologist Dan Gilbert explains that our tendency to ‘stumble on happiness’ is because our emotional predictions are so way off. We don’t take into consideration how future circumstances will differ because we focus on just one element and we also forget how quickly we adapt to even the most pleasurable experiences. But the most pernicious aspect of self-focus is the tendency to keep comparing ourselves to others who seem to be leading happier lives. Social media is full of images of delicious plates of food, celebrity friends, exotic holidays, luxurious products, amazing parties and just about anything that qualifies as worthy of posting to bolster one’s status. Is it any wonder that the individuals who are the most prone to social comparison are the ones who feel the worst after viewing social media? As Gore Vidal once quipped: ‘Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.’

If egocentric self-focus is problematic then maybe positive psychology works by altering our perspective to one that is more allocentric or ‘other-focused’? To do so is challenging because it is not easy to step out of ourselves under normal circumstances. Our stream of conscious awareness is from the first-person, or egocentric, perspective and, indeed, it is nigh-on-impossible to imagine an alternative version because our sensory systems, thought processes and representation of our selves are coded as such to enable us to interact within the world as coherent entities.

M any PPIs such as sharing, acts of kindness, gratitude letters or volunteering are clearly directed towards enriching the lives of others, but how can we explain the benefits of solitary practices where the self seems to be the focus of attention? The explanation lies with the self-representation circuitry in the brain known as the default mode network (DMN). One of the surprising discoveries from the early days of brain imaging is that, when we are not task-focused, rather than becoming inactive, the brain’s DMN goes into overdrive. Mind-wandering is commonly reported during bouts of DMN activity and, although that may be associated with positive daydreaming, we are also ruminating about unresolved problems that continue to concern us. According to one influential study that contacted people at random points of the day to ask them about what they were doing, what they were thinking and how they were feeling, people were more likely to be unhappy when their minds were wandering, which was about half of the waking day. Probably because they were focusing on their own predicaments.

If you focus on your problems, this can become difficult to control. There’s no point trying to stop yourself ruminating because the very act of trying not to think about a problem increases the likelihood that this becomes the very thought that occupies your mind. This was first described in an 1863 essay by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, when he observed the effect of trying not to think; he wrote: ‘Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.’ My late colleague Dan Wegner would go on to study this phenomenon called ironic thought suppression , which he explained resulted from two mechanisms: the tendency to increase the strength of the representation of a thought by the act of trying to suppress it, and a corresponding increased vigilance to monitor when the thought comes to the fore in consciousness. Ironic thought suppression is one reason why it can be so difficult to fall asleep. This is why one of our recommended activities on our Science of Happiness course is to journal on a regular basis because this helps to process information in a much more controlled and objective way, rather than succumbing to the torment of automatic thinking.

Could the long-term benefits be something to do with altering the ego?

Other recommended activities that calibrate the level of self-focus also attenuate DMN activity. For example, mindfulness meditation advocates not trying to suppress spontaneous thoughts but rather deliberately turning attention to bodily sensations or external sounds. In this way, the spotlight of attention is directed away from the internal dialogue one is having with oneself. It is during such states that brain imaging studies reveal that various solitary interventions we recommend on the course – such as meditation or taking a walk in the country – are associated with lowered DMN activity and, correspondingly, less negative rumination. This is why achieving absorption or full immersion during optimal states of flow draws conscious awareness and attention out of egocentric preoccupation. To achieve states of flow, we recommend that students engage in activities that require a challenge that exceeds their skill level to an extent that they rise to the task, but do not feel overwhelmed by it. When individuals achieve flow states, their sense of self, and indeed time itself, appears to evaporate.

There are other more controversial ways to alter the egocentric self into one that is more allocentric. Currently, there is a growth in the use of psychedelics as a treatment for intractable depression and, so far, the initial findings from this emerging field are highly encouraging. One clinical study has shown that psychedelic-assisted therapy produced significant improvement in nearly three-quarters of patients who previously did not respond to conventional antidepressants. The primary mechanism of action of psychedelics is upon serotonin (5-HT 2A ) receptors within the DMN which, in turn, produce profound alterations of consciousness, including modulations in the sense of self, sensory perception and emotion. Could the long-term benefits be something to do with altering the ego? One of the most common reports from those who have undergone psychedelic-assisted therapy, aside from euphoria and vivid hallucinations, is a lasting, profound sense of connection to other people, the environment, nature and the cosmos. Across a variety of psychedelics, the sense of self becomes more interconnected, which is why a recent review concluded that there was consistent acute disruption in the resting state of the DMN.

I f chemically induced states of altered consciousness through psychedelics (which is currently still illegal in most places) is not your thing, then there are other ways to redress the balance between egocentrism and allocentrism. Engaging in group activities that generate synchronicity – such as rituals, dancing or singing in choirs – alter the sense of self and increase connection with others. But if group activities or psychedelic trips don’t work for you, then take a rocket trip. One of the most moving emotional and lasting experiences, known as ‘ the overview effect ’, occurs to those lucky individuals given the opportunity to view our planet from outer space. As the astronaut Edgar Mitchell described it, it creates an ‘explosion of awareness’ and an ‘overwhelming sense of oneness and connectedness … accompanied by an ecstasy … an epiphany.’

Back down on Earth, we can be happier when we simply acknowledge that we are all mortal, interconnected individuals who suffer personal losses and tragedies. No one’s life is perfect, and indeed you need to experience unhappiness in order recognise when things are going well. As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus put it: ‘Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.’ In other words, it’s not what happens to you, but how you respond, that matters, and that’s where positive psychology can make a difference – but only if you keep reminding yourself to get out of your own head.

Happiness hack

How to shift your egocentric self to one that is more allocentric using language

Consider a problem that is currently bothering you. A real problem – not a hypothetical one or a world problem beyond your control. Find something that makes you unhappy and then say to yourself: ‘I am worried about [whatever it is] because [whatever the reason may be] and this makes me upset.’ Now repeat the exercise but this time don’t use egocentric or first-person terms such as ‘I’ or ‘me’. Rather use your name and non-first-person language such as: ‘Bruce is worried about his [whatever it is] problem and this makes him upset.’

Speaking in non-first-person language should automatically transpose you out of the egocentric perspective to one that is other or allocentric, making the problem seem less.

Political philosophy

C L R James and America

The brilliant Trinidadian thinker is remembered as an admirer of the US but he also warned of its dark political future

Harvey Neptune

Neuroscience

The melting brain

It’s not just the planet and not just our health – the impact of a warming climate extends deep into our cortical fissures

Clayton Page Aldern

Thinkers and theories

Rawls the redeemer

For John Rawls, liberalism was more than a political project: it is the best way to fashion a life that is worthy of happiness

Alexandre Lefebvre

Anthropology

Your body is an archive

If human knowledge can disappear so easily, why have so many cultural practices survived without written records?

Helena Miton

Seeing plants anew

The stunningly complex behaviour of plants has led to a new way of thinking about our world: plant philosophy

Stella Sandford

Sex and sexuality

Sexual sensation

What makes touch on some parts of the body erotic but not others? Cutting-edge biologists are arriving at new answers

David J Linden

The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

What most people wish for in life is how to remain happy. However, being happy and remaining satisfied with one’s life is a great challenge. Today, people associate happiness with having money and the ability to afford world pleasures. Many studies have shown that happiness is affected by different factors and money may not be among the top factors. For example, a study by Lingnan University’s Centre for Public Studies (2015) showed that there was an increase in the happiness index for people with a monthly household salary ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 by 7% while those with a monthly income less than $10,000 rose by 3%. Interestingly, those with high-income brackets of between $20,000 and $30,000 had their happiness index drop by 4.7%. These figures denote that happiness is not solely dependent on one’s wealth. Being surrounded by people especially friends and family is the key to happiness because they provide moral and social support, directs an individual in doing what pleases him, and provides real and lasting contentment with life.

Happiness has been mainly associated with moral and social support. Citing the sentiments of St. Aquinas and Aristotle, Mills (2014) pointed out that belonging to a tight-knit society enhances the feeling of being wanted which is a key factor in being happy. Even though the arguments by Aquinas and Aristotle were mainly based on the sense of belonging to a religious community and trusting in a Supreme being, their sentiments depict the importance of moral and social support. In modern society, such support can be realized if people have supportive families and friends. The social bonds between an individual and the family or friends provide a system where one feels protected and comfortable (Shannon, 2016). This is based on the understanding that compassion and the feeling of closeness between two or more people lead to a genuine and happy union in general life (Wu, 2014). It is in this regard that Mills (2014) states, “New friends expand your world by providing an entrance to new interests, opportunities, and activities and can be an invaluable source of support and information – and, just as happiness-inducing, you can play the same role for them” (p. 10).

Family members can guide individuals in the carrying out of the activities that please them. According to Shannon (2016), living well and happily is mainly dependent on one’s relationship with a spouse, other family members, and friends. For example, in the documentary ‘Happiness,’ the hunters and gatherers of Namibia in Africa were found to be having a high happiness index (Belic, 2013). This is despite their poor living conditions in the forest. Their happiness can be attributed to the family ties and support system that they use in the course of hunting and gathering. In the documentary, Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor at the University of California, advises that people should have the intention to be happy irrespective of the prevailing situation. For instance, the hunters have the intention to stay happy because they do not worry about material things. Their meaning and purpose in life are tied to getting daily food.

In conclusion, happiness is not defined by having material things. From the examples provided in the documentary “Happiness” and the assertions by Aristotle and Aquinas, the aspect of compassion that emanates from belonging to a social network, such as the family, leads to the feeling of satisfaction. Thus, friends and a supportive family are invaluable sources of happiness.

Belic, R. (2013). Happy: Happiness & its causes [Video file]. Web.

Lingnan University’s Centre for Public Studies. (2015). Happiness index for Hong Kong. Web.

Mills, R. (2014). A study of happiness. Journal of Undergraduate Research , 13 (1), 5-7.

Shannon, V. (2016). The keys to happiness. The New York Times . Web.

Wu, Z. (2014). Family is the most influential factor on happiness in high school students. Health , 5 (1), 336-341.

• Aesthetical Beauty's Understanding
• The Meaning of Happiness
• R.Descartes' and T.Aquinas' Views on God Existence
• Abortion in Thomas Aquinas’ Religious View
• Charles Russell: "Wild Horse Hunters" and "The Medicine Man"
• Happiness and Its Influence on Decision-Making
• History and Psychology in Proust’s “The Cookie”
• Acts of Kindness and Happiness in Human Life
• Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions
• Money and Happiness in Poor and Wealthy Societies
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, September 17). The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-to-happiness-and-satisfaction-with-life/

"The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life." IvyPanda , 17 Sept. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-to-happiness-and-satisfaction-with-life/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life'. 17 September.

IvyPanda . 2020. "The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life." September 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-to-happiness-and-satisfaction-with-life/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life." September 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-to-happiness-and-satisfaction-with-life/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Key to Happiness and Satisfaction with Life." September 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-key-to-happiness-and-satisfaction-with-life/.

Happiness Essay

Our activity

Finished orders

Professional writers

Writers online now

Operators are online

Of 5 average writers' score

While learning, there are times you will encounter the most peculiar types of assignments and exams, and not because they are weird but mostly because they are personal. One of those moments will demand you to know how to write a happiness essay. The incredible thing about such topics is their flexibility in terms of creativity and vocabulary. Writing such an article will take you on a spiritual journey and will help you discover more on the social aspects of life than any school could teach you. The important thing when writing any essay is to put your effort into it no matter how demanding it can be.

A quick rundown on happiness essays is that we have all encountered moments of highs and lows in our lives. We are never pleased all the time, and yet we can learn to be. You will discover more about true happiness researching materials from philosophers, psychologists, and authors from all around the world. We know the task may be tedious and may be out of your abilities for now. However, in good time, you will learn all there is to know on writing happiness essays.

We have taken the liberty to highlight the crucial guidelines that will set you apart as an excellent student as you write a short essay about happiness in life. You will learn how to explore controversial statements such as money can’t buy happiness in great detail. Here is the blueprint for your perfect essay.

Choosing the Topic

Before beginning to write your paper, follow the instructions on the essay. This prompt from your teacher can be the very difference between a pass and a fail. The prompt will specify on word count, format and perhaps even allocate a topic for your essay. Be sure to ask for help understanding the instructions if in doubt. Sometimes, the teacher will demand creativity by letting you choose the topic for discussion under the happiness essay.

A great way to choose a topic is self-reflection and by meditating on it. The question will be something you are passionate to write about and explore further with your audience. People face a lot of fears and anxieties in life, and they’ll understand your topic better if it resonates with them. A good subject clicks with the audience or is personal to the writer. It may have been a heartbreak, the death of a loved one or even the importance of therapy. All these may be put under a happiness essay because they speak on what happens when one is happy or when one is not happy. You may write about something that makes many people happy, an example being how pets prolong the life of their owners. It should be a creative guess, something your teacher or audience may have never read before.

Happiness essays are a fascinating topic and maybe convenient to earn you good grades. People are curious to know more about it will pay great attention if you’re creative from the start to the finish line.

Writing the Thesis Statements

The thesis statement is the core generator of your spaceship. The heart of your paper that breathes life into it. This is because it should give the reader a general idea of what your paper purposes to do and explain. It is vital to the paper and should be executed well enough to start your essay with a bang.

The topic of your paper is based on a subjective sentiment that is happiness is different to many people. Thus, you should make your thesis statement something that is disputable and is your own opinion. It is not a research paper. Therefore you won’t have to argue for a particular point if it does not apply to anyone. Be objective and straight to the point when stating your main idea. Preferably, place it at the end of your introduction paragraph for a smooth transition to the main body paragraphs.

There are a few different ways of stating the main idea of your happiness essay, and here they are. First, you may choose to use phrases that show a cause and effect relationship on the topic. An example would be, “Whenever people lose a loved one, it is often difficult to express happiness even amidst friends.” Thus, either use happiness as the subject or the object, relating the thesis with happiness on the frontline. Support your thesis statement with some information. Reclassify your data into two groups. One should be arguing for the factor that affects happiness, and the other group should be the effects it has on happiness. Or the first group should have details supporting the causes of happiness and the other supporting the impact happiness has on an individual. Give citations from material researched from psychologists, philosopher, professor, and even online sites.

Check Our Samples

Argumentative Essay

New Technology: Beneficial or Dangerous?

Academic level: Bachelor

Subject: Communication

Paper format: MLA

Corporate Social Responsibility

Subject: Management

Paper format: Harvard

Master’s Prepared Nurse Interview

Academic level: Master

Paper format: APA

Research Paper

The Maya Tribe

Academic level: Undergraduate

Subject: History

Sample Thesis Statements on Happiness

Wealth is not the key to a happy life as we would not need therapy or rich people.

The paycheck should not determine happiness from our workplaces but rather from how we are respected and appreciated there.

Happy marriages are not based on love, wealth, or sex but rather on a good friendship, trust, and respect.

Our happiness should not be measured by our wealth but by our self-progress and the achievement of our goals.

Contentment is the doorway to true happiness because coveting what we don’t have is as bad a not appreciating what we do have at the moment.

The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human right, as stated by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of independence. It should, therefore, be as important to us as breathing purified air.

How to Write and Summarize the Essay

There’s a way that makes your conclusion easy and remarkable at first glance.

Create an outline for your essay that makes it easier to write on the first draft.

Remember to proofread your document for any grammar and spelling errors.

Follow the prompt provided by your teacher. These are the instructions that will guide you when writing your paper.

Follow the structure of a good essay and adhere to the rules of Literature. Make your first paragraph the introduction that includes the thesis statement. The main body paragraphs should legitimize your thesis statement and should consist of illustrations and examples. A minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 sections should do.

Write about things that are close to your heart. That way you won’t mess up.

Helpful Pointers for Crafting a Happiness Essay

Once you’ve determined the topic worth discussion, there are a few more helpful tips that you need to know before embarking on the quest before you. Writing a short essay about happiness has never been easier than this.

Pick a group of people with similar characteristics and discuss how the topic is related to the. For example, ‘How depression may have set into the relatives of the people who died in the 9/11 attack.’ Or you could pick an individual, including yourself and talk more about how you or they define happiness. An example would be,’ How Lexi my pet snake changed my life when I had leukemia.’

Juggle with bright ideas on how happiness is defined and what are its effects. Cover most of your ground from having necessities to appreciating the little things in life. Good research will also be of help in documenting how different groups, cultures, and people view happiness and experience it.

Create an outline with your main points explaining the main idea from your introduction paragraph . Use a bubble map to sketch out these ideas into cardinal points.

Be creative within your main body paragraphs. Maturely express yourself and your ideas, giving reasons for the thesis statement in each paragraph. The topic sentence of each paragraph should be an explanation of the thesis statement. Follow through with a logical explanation that supports your opinion. The more creative you get, the better your grades, and the more interested your essay would be.

When writing your conclusion, be sure to highlight the most critical points and restate your thesis statement for emphasis. Make a summary of the causes and effects of happiness and give an inspiring call to action for your readers. An example would be to say, ‘Happiness is a state of mind, so don’t forget to meditate every day.”

Use linking phrases and words that connect illustrations to the thesis statement or statements to each other in a synchronized way. The level of harmony in your paper should be creative and flow smoothly throughout the article. Let the readers connect to the story magically without having to use much of their thinking. They should be able to meditate on your words afterward rather than struggle to get through your paper.

Do not overextend yourself beyond the necessary word limit that is required of you simply because you may have made a mistake in understanding the instructions. This will make you have to do the task again. Save yourself the pain of a low grade by adhering to the given rules and composing a quality paper that answers the question on the teacher’s mind. High school papers are meant to see if you are learning well and sticking to instructions is one way they gauge your intellect. So don’t give them a chance to fail you as you write your essay about happiness in life.

Hot to Be Rid of Distractions as You Write You Essays about Happiness

It is fairly wise to write your happiness essay while you’re happy. And quite often we are stimulated by external forces that won’t give us a moment’s peace. Even as we conjure our brilliant happiness definition essay, the pursuit of happiness essay, or just talking about how money can’t buy happiness. And often we assume the piece until the deadline is close before we jump into a hurried frenzy to get it out of the way.

Well, this is not an excellent way to earn a perfect grade. If you procrastinate a lot, chances are you might continue this habit for a very long time. However, kudos to you if control comes natural to you and you do tasks on time. Use wise tactics such as switching off your phone or putting it on airplane mode and eating early before doing your assignment. Forget Netflix or that game that you so desperately need to watch. Come to terms with the fact that the task is essential and will earn you good grades.

Examples of Happiness Essays

Below are four examples of well-crafted essays about happiness. The first is can money buy happiness essay, and the second is the happiness definition essay, the third is the pursuit of happiness essay, and the fourth is the essay about happiness in life. All these essays are essays about happiness and are fantastic examples.

Can Money Buy Happiness Essay?

The abstract concept of happiness has been a contentious topic for the longest time. For many, the journey towards happiness is higher than the destination of happiness. Every single person has their sources of joy. Others draw it from their achievements, others from seeing their fellow man becoming successful while other choices see controversial. Happiness is a state of mind more often than not. It is usually not the expression of joy or laughter, as some might think. Studies on depression have shown that even sad people mask generally their emotions with these outward expressions of happiness. The source of happiness has different foundations based on biology, physiology, religion, and psychology of the human psyche. This essay works to explore more on the economic aspect of this profoundly puzzling topic.

The very thought of happiness may trigger superficial expectations of a stable life. It may be idealized as the American dream of an excellent suburban home. A picket fence and children playing freely around the house while the parents have a good talk in the living room. The reality is, money cannot buy all the necessary components that will make up a delighted individual. A Polish researcher once identified the four essential values for happiness. The first is a state of profound joy, possession of the best goods, pure luck, and a sense of self-actualization with life satisfaction.

It is common knowledge that humanity is economically classed into some different categories. We have the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class citizens. So does this make any class happier than the other? Obviously, as with any other philosophical question, the answer lies more in-depth than the surface. Hunger, disaster, and suffering may be a fate of the poor. But in some outcomes, the rich also have their version of this, and their money does not make them any happier. Happiness may not be fully explained by one’s pleasure and prosperity, seeing that all humans go through stages of highs and lows. Happiness is an immaterial possession, and even the lowest class of citizens may find pleasure in such commonplace things as life and contentment.

Then arises the question of why even the richest people still work. It’s not about maintaining their billionaire statuses but rather for the feeling of self-actualization. The work we put ourselves to do may be the source of our greatest happiness and satisfaction. What’s more, people who are most motivated to work because of money are usually very problematic at work and fatigued by the end of the day.

In all honesty, happiness can only be truly understood and felt by having moments of deep sadness and dissatisfaction. Our ability to overcome these dark moments is what distinguishes happiness from deep depressive states. The pleasure we feel after overcoming a difficult task, healing from a significant illness, or being promoted after years of hard toil are all ways we can experience true satisfaction. Money may buy away our moments of sadness, but it cannot buy happiness.

Happiness Definition Essay

Happiness is a versatile and multifaceted subject worth exploring and defining. Is it perhaps the things money can buy or is it the pleasure we get from the things we treasure. I mostly believe that happiness is a personal affair that can be defined in different ways. In most cases, humans can’t pick out the moments of happiness because we think it is based on material things and the opinions of others. Especially in the age of social media where happiness is mediated by the number of likes and comments on the things we post to our accounts. Whatever the case, happiness is evasive and can change definitions depending on our expectations and our long term goals.

However, most people agree that happiness is an overwhelming emotion that is generated from a fate of well-being or fulfillment. It is the culmination of your thoughts, feelings, achievements, wealth, spirituality, philosophies, and relationships in your life. Somehow, different people may have common definitions of happiness. A great example is that we all love going to amusement parks, riding rollercoasters, going to the movies, and playing with children or pets in the park. These are all commonplace activities that fill us with a sense of fulfillment by human interaction and giving access to simple pleasures. These feelings fill our body with feel-good hormones such as adrenaline, oxytocin, serotonin ad dopamine that wash over us with an overwhelming wave of happiness. Whenever we feel low, these activities return us to our better, happier state of mind.

By another definition, happiness is fleeting and involves momentary feelings of pleasure. Comics and stand-up comedians have learned the value of telling jokes as they help people relate to the dark moments in a happier way. People laugh for different reasons such as funny pranks, well-written jokes, and moments of stimulating social interaction and to alleviate anxiety in public places. Therefore, laughter can be one of the more straightforward definitions of happiness.

Achievements in our lives give us a general sense of joy and maybe equated to real happiness. Whether they are promoted, finally go out on a date or learn to ride a bike, people usually feel happy about these things. Achievements define an improvement of our social standing or personal progress, and it is a way to be satisfied.

Sometimes, happiness is about being content with whatever is happening in your life. It means being happy and jovial without any real achievement or wealth of any form. This may be the actual form of happiness as it is not an outward emotion but based on a feeling of satisfaction with who you are at that point in time. Inner peace is the most accurate definition of lasting happiness.

Lastly, happiness can be found in having material wealth. This does not go against any moral laws and should be encouraged as it promotes hard work, patience, and even contentment with what you have achieved so far. When all is said and done, happiness is satisfying your desires in the way that you feel is best.

Pursuit of Happiness Essay

America is founded on a system that allows their citizens to pursue achievement and happiness with freedom and honor. The founding father, Thomas Jefferson famously included the phrase ‘pursuit of happiness’ in the U.S. Declaration of independence as a human right. By that definition, happiness is, therefore, a fundamental truth and a human right that should be pursued until one’s dying breath.

Most philosophers and scientists have agreed that it is human nature to follow their heart’s desires and aim to achieve them. This free will and independence is what makes happiness unique to each person and redefines happiness from every person’s perspective. The truth is that most human inventions and discoveries have been founded on the idea that humanity could avoid particular misfortunes. An example would be vaccinations in the field of medicine, and even space exploration is meant to find new homes for humanity in case Earth becomes uninhabitable.

Happiness is based on evolution, and once we have a sense of achievement, most people seek a higher state of that feeling. An example would be buying a new pair of shoe, then matching it up with some good socks and hen a new tie plus a striking blazer and finally a new car for yourself. With every achievement, our standards of happiness keep evolving and improving. This is what defines the pursuit of happiness and causes either contentment or social pressure to achieve something big. Generally, people will know when they feel happy or when they are dissatisfied with the direction of their life and their achievements.

Seeing that happiness is a state of mind, a person must always convince themselves to be happy despite the troubles they might be facing. You must expect and affirm your happiness each day for it is as visible yet elusive as smoke. Most people do this by meditating, doing yoga, exercising, reciting positive affirmations, and assessing their state of mind constantly. These are all healthy ways of coping with the constant pressure of pursuing material wealth, relationships, and achievements despite the mishaps that always occur. They help one to appreciate and celebrate little to considerable achievements in their lives and encourage a spirit of contentment.

An accurate way of pursuing happiness is by doing t others as we wish done unto us. Showing kindness, forgiveness, and other complementary virtues all give us a sense of peace and joy. These actions help us to be grateful and appreciate the little things in life. We should lose our focus on the negativity that is accompanied by the pursuit of happiness. Some of these things include; pending bills, car loans, mortgages, relationship issues, and even health issues. The ore we focus on them, the more they feed away on our happiness. As a ritual, we should meditate on the things that give us happiness and even share them with our friends and family.

In conclusion, the pursuit of happiness is a right that we get to enjoy at our pleasure. The truth is, we can achieve happiness and enjoy it every single day. Happiness is not an end goal, but the culmination of our thoughts and attitudes towards life’s crazy cycles of joy and sadness. Make it a habit to be grateful every day and stay positive.

Essay about Happiness in Life

Legends and fairy tale stories of fiction usually have a particular n formula that leaves the reader satisfied at the end. It is when the frog finally becomes a prince, when the dragon is slain, went the prince rescues and marries a princess and when the kingdom is restored to its true glory. The line is usually too famous to even repeat, but here it goes, “And they lived happily ever after.” It defines one of humanity’s greatest pursuit and forms an excellent line for ending stories.

Happiness is a psychological state. It has been sought after by monks, philosophers, and scientists from all around the world. But is there a formula or secret to happiness that we do not know about? I think not, simply because we all can find joy wherever we are in the stations of our lives.

It is a big world that has been existent before since any of us was here. The confusion is imminent when we are faced with advertisements and easy-going options for finding happiness. Therefore, it is no one’s fault when happiness becomes an illusion too hard to capture in their hands. It almost seems impossible to be simply happy and content with the blessings that they already have. Anyone willing to find they can always discover the solution for this. One should always stay motivated despite any challenges they face because everyone is facing some form of mishap to another. No one is perfect in this big bad wolf world.

The only way to achieve happiness is to be content with the environment we find ourselves in. Be grateful for the people in your life, the friends keeping you company and the family that is more loyal to you than you might notice. Pick out a hobby or visit amusement parks and movie theatres for an enjoyable time. Find whatever gives you purpose and pursue it without restrictions and permission.

Be willing to build happy relationships and friendships based on similar characteristics and mutual love from each other. Whatever relationship you might find yourself in, know your worth and leave whenever it becomes too toxic to bear. This is because close relationships might cause us depression and anxiety in the long run. Simply put, your loneliness can be very detrimental to your health, and you should find the birds of your feather and happily flock together. Also, make time for your loved ones, even with busy schedules and jobs. Your employment should not drag the happiness out of your life but should be a fountain of happiness as you achieve the goals and dreams of your youth.

Stay positive throughout your day and find positive affirmations that keep you connected to your inner strengths. Every single thought we have either eats away on our happiness or gives us a positive spin on life. Reinforce your joy with a purpose and satisfaction that is not based on the wealth you have or the way you are but the way you want to feel.

Nothing is as good as tackling a giant to the floor and cutting its head off. And that’s what we have done today as we explored the fantastic world of happiness essays. The instructions and guidelines provided are simple enough to answer all your problems and provided more solutions than one. We hope that this article will be of great help in your essay writing endeavors and that you will have an easy time as you tackle your next essay on happiness.

All the best as you write more pieces about happiness and discover for yourself why money can’t buy happiness. For more information and essay writing services, contact us.

• Call to +1 844 889-9952

89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples

📝 happiness research papers examples, 🏆 best happiness essay titles, 🎓 simple research topics about happiness, ❓ happiness research questions.

• Self-Esteem, Behaviors, and Life Satisfaction Psychology essay sample: Self-esteem and autonomy correlate with life satisfaction. These traits eventually improve it and eliminate negative behaviours, making a person significantly happier.
• Self-Esteem and Happiness Analysis Psychology essay sample: Happiness in psychological terms that refers to the mental well-being, it consists of a cognitive element called life satisfaction, and two affective components, positive affect and negative affect.
• Psychoanalytically Interpreting Creation Stories Psychology essay sample: The aim of this paper is to advance the psychoanalysis theory to three creation stories. The paper will take an analytical look at all the stories.
• Money Cannot Bring True Happiness Psychology essay sample: The modern world is materialistic as the defining principle of capitalism. Consequently, most people confuse life satisfaction derived from material things with true happiness.
• Fallacies: Non-Sequitur, Faulty Analogy, Hasty Generalization Psychology essay sample: This essay examines common logical fallacies such as non-sequitur, faulty analogy, hasty generalization, and equivocation and provides an example of each one.
• Positive Psychology. Wealth and Joy Psychology essay sample: If looking at a value point of view on materialism, it brings happiness, but when perceived as a behavioral trait then the opposite would result.
• The Happiness Tips and Examples from Real Life Psychology essay sample: There are universal tips from psychologists, which can help any individual to improve their life quality and satisfaction.
• Christianity and Negative and Positive Psychology Psychology essay sample: There are key differences between negative psychology and positive psychology, which are based on the focus of each discipline.
• Money and Gifts: Things Create People as Much as People Make Them Psychology essay sample: Monetary gifts should not be viewed as inappropriate because new generations need to learn about money as early as possible to adapt quickly to this fast-changing world.
• Emotions as Adaptive Devices in Psychology Psychology essay sample: This paper’s purpose is to research the response of the autonomic nervous system to stressful stimuli as an indicator of emotions as adaptive devices.
• How To Achieve Well-being and Enjoyment in Life Psychology essay sample: Happiness is easy to reach, and there are simple methods that can suit anyone no matter their income, living conditions, family status, and other differences.
• Does Your Personality Predict Your Happiness? Psychology essay sample: “Does Your Personality Predict Your Happiness?” article analyzes claims that there is a connection between specific personality types and the levels of happiness experienced.
• Low Self-Esteem and Unhealthy Relationships Link Psychology essay sample: This research seeks to study the hypothesis that people with low self-esteem are more likely to stay in unhealthy relationships.
• Moral Development: Rationalist and Intuitionist Perspectives Psychology essay sample: This paper’s goal is to dwell on the two major approaches to the fundamentals of moral development within a human being: the Rationalist and Intuitionist theories.
• How Emotions Motivate Human Behavior Psychology essay sample: Happiness is the greatest emotional motivator because it makes people behave in a particular manner they believe will result in happiness.
• Polling Exercise: Self-Fulfillment Over Self-Indulgence Psychology essay sample: The polling exercise shows that most people would choose self-fulfillment over self-indulgence. Eudaimonic affairs have more value in one’s life than hedonic ones.
• Argumentative Essay: I Have a Good Life Psychology essay sample: People interpret life differently; what constitutes a good life may be unsatisfying to another. From birth to death, people’s needs and preferences change.
• Happiness and Academic Success Relationship Psychology essay sample: The purpose of the study is to explore the relationships between childhood happiness and the academic success of students.
• The Concept of Psychological Well-Being Psychology essay sample: This paper aims to discuss the history, measurement, and perception of well-being in different cultures and address the impact of wellness on individuals and society.
• Does Birth Order Affect Personality? Psychology essay sample: Birth order can impact the development of intellect, emotional maturity, and overall well-being, but it does not influence life satisfaction, locus of control, etc.
• Influential Psychologists: Sigmund Freud and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Psychology essay sample: This paper seeks to discuss a few of the psychologists that have made a considerable contribution to the current practice of psychology.
• How Psychologists Define a Good Life Psychology essay sample: Researchers conclude that a good life can be without constant happiness and a sense of meaning. This approach is called psychological richness.
• Distortions of Dopamine Functions During COVID-19 Psychology essay sample: The news article offered for discussion describes the current state of fatigue and apathy among communities during COVID-19.
• How to Increase Happiness Across All Three Types of Subjective Well-Being Psychology essay sample: Some essential benefits of happiness include reduced stress, boosted immune system, a healthy lifestyle, and the maintenance of healthy relationships.
• Forgiveness for a New Progressive Society Psychology essay sample: A person acquires the strength to survive the most terrible catastrophes. The thirst for freedom should make people free from revenge and the desire to blame offenders.
• Psychology Answers Whether Money Buys Happiness Psychology essay sample: Money buys happiness to an extent since scholarly studies have established the correlation between the increase in personal income and individuals' happiness.
• Is Happiness the Beginning or the End? Psychology essay sample: Contrary to popular belief that happiness is something one has to work hard to earn, it should be taken as a starting point, not a goal.
• Positive Psychology and Mental Well-Being Psychology essay sample: Mental well-being is crucial for personal development and social interactions and can be enhanced through positive psychology.
• Daily Habits to Maximize Your Happiness
• Love Languages: Understanding How We Give and Receive Love
• The Science of Happiness
• The Power of Gratitude: Transforming Your Well-Being Through Appreciation
• Exploring the Link Between Gratitude and Happiness
• The Role of Social Connections in Cultivating Joy
• The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Your Well-Being
• Finding Happiness in the Midst of Adversity: Stories of Resilience
• Transforming Stress Into Joy: Using Your Hobby as a Therapeutic Outlet
• Joyful Creativity: Unleashing Your Inner Artist for Increased Happiness
• Mindfulness and Meditation: A Pathway to Inner Happiness
• The Impact of Positive Psychology on Employee Satisfaction and Productivity
• The Influence of Physical Health on Emotional Well-Being
• Understanding the Impact of Positive Psychology on Happiness
• Happiness at Work: Strategies for Creating a Positive Work Environment
• Cultivating Happiness in Relationships: Building Strong and Fulfilling Connections
• Hobbies and Happiness: Understanding the Psychological Impact
• The Impact of Exercise on Overall Well-Being: A Comprehensive Guide
• The Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs for Promoting Happiness at Work
• The Power of Self-Care in Nurturing Joy and Contentment
• Exploring Cultural Perspectives on Happiness Around the World
• Exploring the Connection Between Nutrition and Emotional Well-Being
• Finding Joy in the Little Things: A Guide to Practicing Mindfulness
• Embracing Joy in Challenging Times: Finding Resilience and Hope in Adversity
• Overcoming Mental Barriers to Happiness: Breaking Free From Negative Thought Patterns
• From Passion to Happiness: Nurturing Your Hobby for Emotional Well-Being
• Exploring the Connection Between Creativity and Joy in Hobbies
• The Connection Between Work-Life Balance and Employee Well-Being
• The Art of Finding Joy in the Little Things: Embracing Everyday Moments of Happiness
• Science-Backed Strategies for Boosting Happiness in the Workplace
• Understanding the Role of Sleep in Supporting Your Well-Being
• Exploring the Link Between Nature and Well-Being
• Self-Care Strategies for Supporting Your Emotional Well-Being
• Cultivating Resilience: Strategies for Nurturing Your Well-Being
• Exploring the Connection Between Gratitude and Happiness
• The Role of Dopamine and Serotonin in Influencing Our Happiness and Love Life
• Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Personal Happiness
• The Connection Between Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being in Happiness
• Rising College Costs and Happiness of Students
• Simple Ways to Find Happiness Through Your Hobby
• Exploring the Impact of Travel and New Experiences on Happiness
• How Neuroscience Can Help You Live a Happier Life?
• How Minimalism Can Lead To Greater Happiness?
• How to Foster Healthy Relationships for Improved Well-Being?
• How Hobbies Can Contribute to Overall Happiness?
• How Workplace Design and Layout Can Influence Employee Happiness?
• How to Create a Positive Home Environment?
• How Relationships Impact Our Well-Being?
• How Forgiveness Can Lead To Inner Peace and Happiness?
• How Optimism Can Enhance Your Relationships and Overall Happiness?
• How to Use Your Hobby to Elevate Your Mood?
• How Positive Psychology Can Transform the Workplace?
• How Sharing Your Passion Can Bring Joy?
• How Positive Psychology Can Improve Your Well-Being?
• How to Create a Home Environment That Nurtures Happiness?
• How to Create a Positive Work Environment?
• What the Role of Leadership in Fostering a Happy and Healthy Work Environment?
• What the Link Between Work Happiness and Employee Retention Rates?
• How to Builde Strong Teams for Greater Work Happiness?
• What the Role of Communication in Family Happiness?
• How to Find Happiness in a Fast-Paced, Modern World?

Cite this page

Select style

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

PsychologyWriting. (2024, May 23). 89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples. https://psychologywriting.com/topics/happiness-research-topics/

"89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples." PsychologyWriting , 23 May 2024, psychologywriting.com/topics/happiness-research-topics/.

PsychologyWriting . (2024) '89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples'. 23 May.

PsychologyWriting . 2024. "89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples." May 23, 2024. https://psychologywriting.com/topics/happiness-research-topics/.

1. PsychologyWriting . "89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples." May 23, 2024. https://psychologywriting.com/topics/happiness-research-topics/.

Bibliography

PsychologyWriting . "89 Happiness Research Topics & Essay Examples." May 23, 2024. https://psychologywriting.com/topics/happiness-research-topics/.

IELTS Essay: Happiness

by Dave | Real Past Tests | 25 Comments

This is an IELTS writing task 2 sample answer essay on the topic of happiness from the real IELTS exam

Please consider supporting me on Patreon.com/howtodoielts to receive my exclusive IELTS Ebooks – you can even sign up for private live lessons with me!

Some people think personal happiness is directly related to economic success, while others believe this depends on other factors.

Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

Many are of the belief that happiness is a result of financial success, while others feel there are more crucial factors. In my opinion, a certain degree of financial stability is a basic requirement for happiness but is less important overall than one’s family and health.

Those who claim that happiness correlates highly with earnings argue that it affords individuals a higher standard of living. A person with a considerable salary is able to buy a nice house, provide for their family, and purchase luxuries ranging from good food and frequent holidays to expensive vehicles and fashionable clothing. Each item taken on its own only contributes a small degree of pleasure, however, such purchases add up to a generally content, comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle. If a person is inclined to equate pleasure with happiness, then there is a legitimate argument to be made for the pursuit of happiness being the pursuit of money.

However, the majority of individuals, wealthy and otherwise, would state that happiness is more a consequence of quality time with family and good health. A comfortable home filled with luxuries is enjoyable but the most sustained happiness comes from relationships. Someone who has lost touch with their family and has frayed interpersonal bonds with their relatives, is not likely to be able to fill such a void with physical possessions. Anecdotally, towards the end of life most people recognize that their happiest moments were spent in the presence of loved ones. Additionally, good health is a more powerful pre-condition for happiness since no amount of wealth can buy relief from chronic suffering.

In conclusion, happiness depends more on one’s relationship with their family and physical health rather than financial success. There are, naturally, exceptions as happiness is subjective and can be defined differently.

1. Many are of the belief that happiness is a result of financial success, while others feel there are more crucial factors. 2. In my opinion, a certain degree of financial stability is a basic requirement for happiness but is less important overall than one’s family and health.

• Paraphrase the overall essay topic.
• Write a clear opinion. Read more about introductions here .

1. Those who claim that happiness correlates highly with earnings argue that it affords individuals a higher standard of living. 2. A person with a considerable salary is able to buy a nice house, provide for their family, and purchase luxuries ranging from good food and frequent holidays to expensive vehicles and fashionable clothing. 3. Each item taken on its own only contributes a small degree of pleasure, however, such purchases add up to a generally content, comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle. 4. If a person is inclined to equate pleasure with happiness, then there is a legitimate argument to be made for the pursuit of happiness being the pursuit of money.

• Write a topic sentence with a clear main idea at the end.
• Explain your main idea.
• Develop it with specific or hypothetical examples.
• Keep developing it fully.

1. However, the majority of individuals, wealthy and otherwise, would state that happiness is more a consequence of quality time with family and good health. 2. A comfortable home filled with luxuries is enjoyable but the most sustained happiness comes from relationships. 3. Someone who has lost touch with their family and has frayed interpersonal bonds with their relatives, is not likely to be able to fill such a void with physical possessions. 4. Anecdotally, towards the end of life most people recognize that their happiest moments were spent in the presence of loved ones. 5. Additionally, good health is a more powerful pre-condition for happiness since no amount of wealth can buy relief from chronic suffering.

• Write a new topic sentence with a new main idea at the end.
• Explain your new main idea.
• Include specific details and examples.
• Continue developing it…
• as fully as possible!

1. In conclusion, happiness depends more on one’s relationship with their family and physical health rather than financial success. 2. There are, naturally, exceptions as happiness is subjective and can be defined differently.

• Summarise your main ideas.
• Include a final thought. Read more about conclusions here .

What do the words in bold below mean? Make some notes on paper to aid memory and then check below.

Many are of the belief that happiness is a result of financial success , while others feel there are more crucial factors . In my opinion, a certain degree of financial stability is a basic requirement for happiness but is less important overall than one’s family and health.

Those who claim that happiness correlates highly with earnings argue that it affords individuals a higher standard of living . A person with a considerable salary is able to buy a nice house, provide for their family, and purchase luxuries ranging from good food and frequent holidays to expensive vehicles and fashionable clothing . Each item taken on its own only contributes a small degree of pleasure , however, such purchases add up to a generally content , comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle . If a person is inclined to equate pleasure with happiness, then there is a legitimate argument to be made for the pursuit of happiness being the pursuit of money.

However, the majority of individuals, wealthy and otherwise , would state that happiness is more a consequence of quality time with family and good health. A comfortable home filled with luxuries is enjoyable but the most sustained happiness comes from relationships . Someone who has lost touch with their family and has frayed interpersonal bonds with their relatives , is not likely to be able to fill such a void with physical possessions . Anecdotally , towards the end of life most people recognize that their happiest moments were spent in the presence of loved ones . Additionally , good health is a more powerful pre-condition for happiness since no amount of wealth can buy relief from chronic suffering .

In conclusion, happiness depends more on one’s relationship with their family and physical health rather than financial success. There are, naturally , exceptions as happiness is subjective and can be defined differently .

For extra practice, write an antonym (opposite word) on a piece of paper to help you remember the new vocabulary:

result of caused by

financial success making money

crucial factors important elements

certain degree some amount of

financial stability have enough money

basic requirement minimum

overall generally

claim argue

correlates highly relates directly to

earnings argue money say

affords can pay for

higher standard of living good quality of life

considerable major

provide for allow for

purchase luxuries ranging from buy nice things including

frequent often

expensive vehicles pricey cars

fashionable clothing nice fashion

item taken on its own thing by itself

contributes adds to

small degree of pleasure a little enjoyment

add up contribute to

generally content overall happy

comfortable easy and nice

enjoyable lifestyle nice living standard

inclined likely to

equate pleasure make enjoyment equal to

legitimate argument clear case

pursuit of happiness trying to satisfy yourself

majority most of

otherwise or this will happen

consequence result

quality time good time spent with

filled with full of

most sustained constant

relationships interpersonal connections

lost touch not talking to, estranged

frayed interpersonal bonds not on good terms with

relatives family members

void absence

physical possessions things

anecdotally from stories

recognize know

spent in the presence of loved ones around family

additionally also

pre-condition minimum requirement

since no amount of wealth as no level of money

buy relief purchase a reprieve

chronic suffering constantly hurt by

depends more on has more to do with

rather than instead of

naturally of course

exceptions cases outside the norm

subjective can be judged individually

defined differently described in different ways

Pronunciation

Practice saying the vocabulary below and use this tip about Google voice search :

rɪˈzʌlt ɒv   faɪˈnænʃəl səkˈsɛs ˈkruːʃəl ˈfæktəz ˈsɜːtn dɪˈgriː   faɪˈnænʃəl stəˈbɪlɪti   ˈbeɪsɪk rɪˈkwaɪəmənt   ˈəʊvərɔːl   kleɪm   ˈkɒrɪleɪts ˈhaɪli   ˈɜːnɪŋz ˈɑːgjuː   əˈfɔːdz   ˈhaɪə ˈstændəd ɒv ˈlɪvɪŋ kənˈsɪdərəbl   prəˈvaɪd fɔː   ˈpɜːʧəs ˈlʌkʃəriz ˈreɪnʤɪŋ frɒm   ˈfriːkwənt   ɪksˈpɛnsɪv ˈviːɪklz   ˈfæʃnəbl ˈkləʊðɪŋ ˈaɪtəm ˈteɪkən ɒn ɪts əʊn   kənˈtrɪbju(ː)ts   smɔːl dɪˈgriː ɒv ˈplɛʒə æd ʌp   ˈʤɛnərəli ˈkɒntɛnt ˈkʌmf(ə)təbl   ɪnˈʤɔɪəbl ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl ɪnˈklaɪnd   ɪˈkweɪt ˈplɛʒə   lɪˈʤɪtɪmɪt ˈɑːgjʊmənt   pəˈsjuːt ɒv ˈhæpɪnɪs   məˈʤɒrɪti   ˈʌðəwaɪz steɪt   ˈkɒnsɪkwəns   ˈkwɒlɪti taɪm   fɪld wɪð   məʊst səsˈteɪnd   rɪˈleɪʃənʃɪps lɒst tʌʧ   freɪd ˌɪntəˈpɜːsən(ə)l bɒndz   ˈrɛlətɪvz vɔɪd   ˈfɪzɪkəl pəˈzɛʃənz ˌænɪkˈdəʊt(ə)li ˈrɛkəgnaɪz   spɛnt ɪn ðə ˈprɛzns ɒv lʌvd wʌnz əˈdɪʃənli priː-kənˈdɪʃən   sɪns nəʊ əˈmaʊnt ɒv wɛlθ   baɪ rɪˈliːf   ˈkrɒnɪk ˈsʌfərɪŋ dɪˈpɛndz mɔːr ɒn   ˈrɑːðə ðæn   ˈnæʧrəli ɪkˈsɛpʃənz   səbˈʤɛktɪv   dɪˈfaɪnd ˈdɪfrəntli

Vocabulary Practice

I recommend getting a pencil and piece of paper because that aids memory. Then write down the missing vocabulary from my sample answer in your notebook:

Many are of the belief that happiness is a r__________f f_______________s , while others feel there are more c__________________s . In my opinion, a c________________e of f_____________________y is a b___________________t for happiness but is less important o________l than one’s family and health.

Those who c________m that happiness c__________________y with e________________e that it a________s individuals a h_____________________________g . A person with a c_______________e salary is able to buy a nice house, p__________r their family, and p__________________s r________________m good food and f__________t holidays to e___________________s and f____________________g . Each i______________________n only c________________s a s_________________________e , however, such purchases a________p to a g______________________t , c_____________e and e____________________e . If a person is i__________d to e_________________e with happiness, then there is a l_________________________t to be made for the p____________________s being the pursuit of money.

However, the m_________y of individuals, wealthy and o___________e , would s______e that happiness is more a c______________e of q______________e with family and good health. A comfortable home f____________h luxuries is enjoyable but the m________________d happiness comes from r_______________s . Someone who has l_____________h with their family and has f__________________________s with their r__________s , is not likely to be able to fill such a v______d with p__________________________s . A________________y , towards the end of life most people r____________e that their happiest moments were s___________________________________s . A_______________y , good health is a more powerful p______________n for happiness s____________________________________h can b______________f from c______________g .

In conclusion, happiness d______________________n one’s relationship with their family and physical health r_____________n financial success. There are, n______________y , e____________s as happiness is s_____________e and can be d_____________________y .

Listening Practice

Learn more about this topic by watching videos from The New York Times YouTube channel below and practice with these activities :

Reading Practice

Read more about this topic and use these ideas to practice :

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/the-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world

Speaking Practice

Practice with the following speaking questions from the real IELTS speaking exam :

Happy Occasions

• How do people in your country celebrate happy occasions?
• Why do occasions usually make people happy?
• How important is the money spent on the occasion for making people happy?
• Is it a good idea to spend a lot of money on a birthday party?
• Is happiness today the same as it was in the past?

Writing Practice

Practice with the related IELTS essay topic below:

In recent times, economic growth has helped many become richer, both in developed and developing countries. However, those in developed countries are not as happy as they were in the past.

Why is this?

What can be learned from this?

IELTS Essay: Developed Countries & Happiness

Recommended For You

Latest IELTS Writing Task 1 2024 (Graphs, Charts, Maps, Processes)

by Dave | Sample Answers | 147 Comments

These are the most recent/latest IELTS Writing Task 1 Task topics and questions starting in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and continuing into 2024. ...

Recent IELTS Writing Topics and Questions 2024

by Dave | Sample Answers | 342 Comments

Read here all the newest IELTS questions and topics from 2024 and previous years with sample answers/essays. Be sure to check out my ...

Find my Newest IELTS Post Here – Updated Daily!

by Dave | IELTS FAQ | 18 Comments

IELTS Cambridge 16 Essay: Advertising New Products

by Dave | Cambridge 16 | 9 Comments

This is an IELTS writing task 2 sample answer essay from the newly released Cambridge 16 on the topic of businesses nowadays emphasising that their products ...

Cambridge IELTS 16 – The Complete Guide!

by Dave | Cambridge 16 IELTS Cambridge 16 | 0 Comment

The latest Cambridge IELTS 16 book of past tests just came out and I have collected some tips and materials to help you get the most ...

100 Real IELTS Essay Questions and Topics

by Dave | Sample Answers | 6 Comments

If you're interested in real IELTS writing essay questions and topics, you have found the perfect place! Scroll down to see the IELTS ...

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

25 Comments

Wonderful website

Thanks a lot!

Hello, in first body paragraph, the sentence ‘contributes a small degree of pleasure…..’ so, in such kind of sentence, when can we use contribute/contributes something or contributes to something? Do both have same meaning?e.g. contributes something and contributes to something?

They are similar – contributes to is adding to a bigger whole – contributes to the economy.

But contributes is the actual thing – contributes resources to the economy.

Great question, Sandra!

Thank you sir for making this clear!

No problem!

In 1st body paragraph, last sentence, if person is inclined to equate pleasure with happiness….. so, aren’t both same? Pleasure and happiness? Should not there be pleasure and wealth instead of pleasure and happiness?

That is a part of the question.

I think most people would say that pleasure is a part of happiness, but not the full equation.

That there are other, more satisfying elements that make up happiness.

It’s a topic for a longer essay, like most IELTS essays, so you can really just touch on it and give an opinion.

Thank you. Your website contains all topics and top notch vocabulary. Best essays .

You’re welcome as always Sandra!

There is an argument about whether individual happiness depends on being rich in money or not. In my opinion, I consider that money is not the main reason for happiness. Although wealth can solve many problems, hope is the core of happiness.

It is not necessary for rich people to worry about their survival. Money can buy more than enough commodities, such as food, clothes, or even an estate, which results in lives without being hungry or homeless. Moreover, rich people can also entertain themselves with powerful computers, new styles of wind coats, and global trips. They enjoy the toppest entertainment in the world, which can bring them happiness indeed. However, rich people may consider money so important that any single missing coin may lead to depression.

A positive attitude decides the happniess from the root. If we consider that a bright future will come, we are not fatigue. For example, a poor young graduate who just received an offer from his first selected company leads to pleasure in the mouth because his future is promising and hopeful. It is also the reason why people with huge fortunes feel happy. Furthermore, a boss of a monopoly may feel pessimistic if the company appears to be breaking apart. It is clear that money does not determine happiness, but hope does.

In sum, money can bring happiness in some cases, but hope is the origin of happiness. As a result, we should try our best to have better lives and fill ourselves with a positive attitude.

Could be a little more academic, Gakki but strong overall.

Also the phrase to begin the 3rd paragraph is a little strange…

Thanks for your feedback! I’ll keep trying.

The root cause of Happiness is TRUTH. If you back to truth Happiness , Health , Wealth success much more back to you!

Sounds about right!

Please give feedback-

People have had different views about the definition of happiness. While some assert that joyousness in life is linked to the level of success a person has achieved, others are of opinion that other possibilities play an important role in determining happiness. This essay will discuss both perspectives in the forthcoming paragraphs. I, however, side with the latter view.

On the one hand, it is nearly irrefutable to say that money can create joyfulness. In other words, money is an instrument which helps people to purchase things which can generate happiness and gratification. It allows people to be content through things, be it material possessions like cars, houses and jewelry, or buying wonderful experiences, such as vacations. Furthermore, when people’s physiological needs have been met, they would likely have achieved contentment in life. Unlike impoverished people, rich people do not have to worry about the means of meeting their basic needs. Therefore, the wealthy populace are assumed to be full of felicity since they have enough opulence to spend on things that bring happy feelings to them.

On the other hand, many people feel that loving familial relationships and excellent health are imperative for people to be joyous. People who have strong family ties are less stressed and generally in better moods because family members are not only caring but also supportive. If someone is going through any difficulties, it is the family that will stand behind them as a strong supporter and try to eradicate the problem. Secondly, people’s health is very significant. A healthy person will not be constantly bothered by pain in various body parts. Despite the fact that money can help to buy medical treatments, it does not guarantee a complete cure. For instance, if a billionaire is suffering from chronic ailments such as cancer, in spite of spending an inordinate amount of wealth, he may or may not be cured fully. Thus, having robust health is essential for people to be happy from within.

In conclusion, although financial success can assist in acquiring materialistic items engendering personal happiness, in my opinion, harmonious family relationships and a healthy body are stronger alternatives that make people’s lives happy.

Sure, Ram – a littl on the long side – try to get it down to about 275 words.

Also some vocabulary is being mis-used like joyous.

Love your examples!

Thanks Dave.

Does happiness is owned nowadays? Although, few people supports that the economic growth drives-in joy in an individual’s lives, others put forward several other sources of happiness. In my view, definitely money is paramount to happiness but certainly, there are few other requisite needs to be fulfilled in human life in order to achieve satisfaction more than happiness alone. 

Supporters of the thought that “money can buy happiness” are generally mistaken for the over assumptions than reality of life. Money is needed in every transaction of materialistic items that is pre-requisite for the survival. Although, happiness is sum of the difference between the expectation and reality to be true, in general. It puts ones at very ease in life when he holds wealth in abundance. Capability to fulfill not just basic needs but also desires brings loads of excitements. But the problem with this approach is that the factors that define happiness keeps changing with time. 

Opponents of the thought that “wealth is happiness” are more likely has defined joy with some other intrinsic caliber of an individual to possess satisfaction. Though, being poor or facing misery is not noble for anyone but to pertain needed balance of everything as a whole is something leads ones to satisfaction. Certainly, there is no match to love for Lord that outweighs any materialistic needs. Moreover, social and emotional support are largely the dominant factor to define satisfaction, therefore the happiness. For an instance, Elon Musk had made a statement on social media that him despite of being a richest person in

In conclusion, Joy cannot always buy or measured with economic development of the person but that comes from inside a character of the person in different forms like satisfaction. 

Opponents of the thought that “wealth is happiness” are more likely has defined joy with some other intrinsic caliber of an individual to possess satisfaction. Though, being poor or facing misery is not noble for anyone but to pertain needed balance of everything as a whole is something leads ones to satisfaction. Certainly, there is no match to love for Lord that outweighs any materialistic needs. Moreover, social and emotional support are largely the dominant factor to define satisfaction, therefore the happiness. For an instance, Elon Musk had made a statement on social media that him despite of being a richest person in the world, feels despaired when not able to make home at dinners with his family.

Good work, Anubhav!

Careful with capitalizing words that are not proper nouns. Nice examples too, but some little grammar mistakes will bring your score down.

Keep working hard!

What is the band score of this essay approximately?

I have written all these essays so they are band 9 examples, Sasan!

Superb! Thanks.

You’re welcome!

Exclusive Ebooks, PDFs and more from me!

Sign up for patreon.

Don't miss out!

"The highest quality materials anywhere on the internet! Dave improved my writing and vocabulary so much. Really affordable options you don't want to miss out on!"

Minh, Vietnam

Hi, I’m Dave! Welcome to my IELTS exclusive resources! Before you commit I want to explain very clearly why there’s no one better to help you learn about IELTS and improve your English at the same time... Read more

Patreon Exclusive Ebooks Available Now!

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

How Does Your Personality Affect Your Happiness?

Many of us don’t necessarily have the kind of lives we want. We may not enjoy intimate relationships, jobs that fulfill us, the ideal home, or enough income to do what we want to do.

But do these circumstances dictate our happiness? According to a new study led by René Mõttus of Edinburgh University and the University of Tartu in Estonia, they don’t—at least not exclusively. Instead, our personalities play a significant role in determining how satisfied we are with our life, and changing our circumstances doesn’t really matter as much as we think.

“You can think, Oh, if I get these 10 papers published and I get this promotion, that’ll make things much better , but probably not,” says Mõttus.” You will be happier if something more broadly changes in you.”

What personality traits lead to happiness

In this study, over 21,000 European and British adults (many of them Estonians or ethnic Russians living in Estonia) reported on how satisfied they were in different domains of their lives (like their work, health, relationships, and finances). They also filled out a detailed personality survey that measured several aspects of personality, including the “Big Five” traits or how extroverted (outgoing and energetic), conscientious (efficient and organized), neurotic (sensitive and nervous), agreeable (friendly and compassionate), and open to experience (inventive and curious) they were. And the survey measured other aspects of personality, such as how envious, competitive, loyal, narcissistic, or spiritual someone was.

To get a less biased view of each person’s personality, participants designated someone they knew well to assess their personality traits, too, and the researchers used these to verify self-reports. Ultimately, Mõttus and his team found that people who were less neurotic, more extraverted, and more conscientious tended to be more satisfied with life in all domains, while agreeableness and openness to experience were hardly related to life satisfaction at all.

To Mõttus, these results weren’t too surprising, especially how life satisfaction was higher in people who were less neurotic and more extraverted. But, by looking more granularly into their data, he found that certain specific traits were much more strongly associated with life satisfaction than the Big Five.

For example, people who were risk takers, found it easy to apologize, felt committed to their family, were loyal, respected authority, liked to visit new places, and were working on self-improvement tended to be more satisfied with life, whereas the opposite was true of people who made enemies easily, told lies, often forgot things, and cried easily.

In fact, when they looked at scores on just three of the more nuanced personality factors—how much someone felt understood, excited by life, or able to make decisions easily—they found that these alone predicted life satisfaction with 80% accuracy. Of the three, though, feeling understood was the most strongly predictive of all.

“The single most important thing from which you can recognize somebody with low life satisfaction is if they feel that other people don’t understand them,” says Mõttus. “That’s the thing that really stood out. . . . It was by far the most consistent predictor.”

Does this mean that creating greater understanding between people might increase life satisfaction more widely, then? Maybe feeling understood could help people feel less lonely or isolated.

But given his findings, Mõttus isn’t willing to conclude that. Personality traits tend to be stable over our lifetimes, which is what classifies something as an aspect of personality, and that will likely still influence how people respond to social situations.

“Relationships don’t just happen to people; people choose relationships and work for them. And they can screw up relationships by, for example, constantly going around showing that they feel misunderstood,” he says. So, personality is important to consider, even in our quest for more satisfying relationships.

Though these findings are based on a very large number of people, they don’t necessarily prove that someone’s personality causes them to have high or low life satisfaction. To get at that, Mõttus and his team looked at a smaller group of the participants who had also been surveyed about their personalities and life satisfaction 10 years earlier.

The Science of Happiness

What does it take to live a happier life? Learn research-tested strategies that you can put into practice today. Hosted by award-winning psychologist Dacher Keltner. Co-produced by PRX and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.

• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts

What they found surprised Mõttus: Even if someone’s life satisfaction had dipped a bit over time, it could still be pretty accurately predicted just by looking at personality traits measured 10 years earlier.

“Whatever the link between personality and life satisfaction is, it persists over time,” says Mõttus. “If we wanted to predict someone’s life satisfaction in 10 years, we could just as well predict it from their personality traits now.”

Of course, that’s not 100% true. Even Mõttus says that they couldn’t predict life satisfaction well for one out of four people. Perhaps in some cases, he says, a change in their life somehow knocked their stability out of whack, and their personality was no longer a strong driver of their life satisfaction.

But, in general, many of the things that happen in our ordinary lives don’t affect our happiness as much as we think, he says. And that has relevance for us all.

Can personality change?

While this message may seem disheartening—that our personalities strongly influence our happiness—Mõttus doesn’t think it’s all bad news. Sure, having certain personality traits may make you feel less satisfied with life no matter what happens. But, on the flipside, other traits may buffer you through difficult times. For example, if you are low in neuroticism, you may be able to see the silver linings and not become overwhelmed, even in stressful circumstances.

It’s also possible that people can affect their life satisfaction deliberately through specific behaviors or practices, making it less tied to their personality. For example, research has found that many well-being practices —like gratitude and self-compassion , for example—can shift people’s life satisfaction without consideration of their personality type, per se.

Similarly, even though we tend to think of personality as fixed, more and more research suggests that personalities can evolve via specific effort, says Mõttus, and this gives him some (guarded) hope.

“I’ve been very skeptical about personality change research, but I’m really changing my mind,” he says. “There is a reason we should try these things, and the initial findings are pretty encouraging.”

However, he cautions, shifting from being neurotic to not neurotic at all might be difficult. Instead, it could be more realistic to just learn to worry a little less or feel a little less misunderstood. Those more nuanced traits might be more malleable and a better target for change than the “Big Five,” he says.

To that end, he and his team have been developing a toolkit that could be widely available as a phone app and would allow people to choose personality traits to work on. He hopes to test it in the years ahead to see if it helps people make the changes they want.

In the meantime, we can keep in mind that, while getting that great job or relationship we’ve been wanting won’t necessarily make us happier, having bad things happen won’t necessarily permanently tank our happiness either. And there is some solace in that.

“Circumstances just happen—they come and go,” says Mõttus. “On the positive side of this, if negative things happen, they probably don’t matter that much. You can be happy based on your personality, and you will probably bounce back pretty quickly.”

About the Author

Jill Suttie

Jill Suttie, Psy.D. , is Greater Good ’s former book review editor and now serves as a staff writer and contributing editor for the magazine. She received her doctorate of psychology from the University of San Francisco in 1998 and was a psychologist in private practice before coming to Greater Good .

You May Also Enjoy

How Much of Your Happiness Is Under Your Control?

The Genetics of Happiness

Does Your Personality Predict Your Happiness?

Can Your Personality Change Over Your Lifetime?

Can You Change Your Personality?

How Much Control Do You Have Over Your Own Happiness?

How Happy Are You? Why Should You Know and How You Can Tell

To effectively improve your happiness, have a valid way to verify your progress..

Posted July 26, 2024 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• No one can effectively improve on anything without a way to measure and verify progress.
• To succeed as a happiness seeker, you should know how happy you are, and how much happier you want to become.
• The Edo Questionnaire is our new tool for measuring happiness, both objectively and subjectively.

Imagine enrolling in a physical fitness class and, like all the other students, you have promptly begun the daily exercises as instructed by the coach. However, you have no idea how much you currently weigh in pounds or kilograms—prompting the reasonable question: What is your target body weight?

Knowing how much you currently weigh and having a preferred target weight in mind is necessary for your determination, resilience , and perseverance to evolve and matter—as you seek physical fitness.

Similarly, imagine that you are pursuing happiness —striving day and night to become happier but have no idea how happy you currently are. A very reasonable question is: When and how will you know you are “happier” and, “happier than what” would that be?

Just like in the pursuit of physical fitness, common sense strongly suggests that before starting any new endeavor, you should self-assess to know where you currently are and where you’d like to be. Thus, pre-testing and re-testing for happiness is a must since no one can effectively improve on anything without a way to measure, quantify, and verify progress.

The Edo Questionnaire , our tool for measuring happiness—aka the PISA Scale—is now available for happiness seekers, happiness advocates, coaches, researchers, human resource directors, and wellness officers to use (Obayuwana, 2024).

The Edo Questionnaire

The Edo Questionnaire (or PISA Scale) is a 12-item self-assessment tool for measuring happiness. It can differentiate and identify happy, unhappy, very happy, languishing, or flourishing individuals in any given cohort. It is a perfect tool for rating happiness for whatever purpose or reason—when and wherever accurate measurement of happiness is desired. It is particularly suitable for testing and re-testing when monitoring progress or confirming improvements. It is short and precise, easy to administer and score, with no issues whatsoever about social desirability bias .

Its unit of measure is PHI (or P ersonal H appiness I ndex)—which ranges from 0.125 on the languishing end of the scale to 8.0 on the flourishing end of the scale. The questionnaire has good internal consistency with an alpha value of 0.88. The content validity ratio is 0.85—with five SMEs used in calculating the CVR. Test-retest reliability is 0.95

Why Know Your PHI?

PHI is a true measure of your well-being—objectively determined and subjectively verifiable. It is much like weighing yourself, determining your height, or taking your own blood pressure, and temperature—objectively performed by yourself, using the right tool.

For all adults, whether a peasant or a millionaire, rural or urban, and regardless of age, gender , language, culture, geography, annual income, or national GDP, the PHI is a valid way to tell objectively when you are “happier” and also, how much “happier than what”. The following case report is very illustrative.

The Case Report of AJ

AJ was a forty-three-year-old female who was the assistant principal of a middle school. She attended one of my presentations and subsequently privately requested one-on-one happiness coaching services from me.

During stage two of our one-on-one happiness coaching sessions, her PHI was calculated to be 0.932, which is in the “unhappy” zone. At stage four of our coaching sessions, a customized PDR (or personal daily routine) that was unique to her circumstances was designed and given to her for actualization. AJ was to return after six weeks of performing and actualizing her PDR. Instead of six weeks, she showed up three months later with copious apologies for her tardiness. When she was re-tested, she had a PHI of 2.314—a very impressive progress. She moved from the “unhappy” Zone C straight to “very happy” Zone A—bypassing the “happy” Zone B.

That was an unusual progress but much welcome. As I was quietly marveling about what an effective happiness coach I had become, AJ smiled broadly and said she had some good news to share: “I have been promoted to the rank of a full principal, and guess what? I also have a wedding engagement” as she flashed a diamond ring on her finger. At that moment, I realized why she had taken three months instead of six weeks to return for stage five of our client-coach relationship. I also realized that her impressive rise in PHI might have very little to do with my coaching efficacy.

Although it remains questionable how consequential I truly was, as a coach, in AJ’s progress; the Edo Questionnaire very accurately captured her progress. Without the use of the Edo Questionnaire, there was no way to objectively and accurately quantify the progress she made.

For Whom Is the Edo Questionnaire?

Without exceptions, we all want to be happier and there is a myriad of happiness-promoting methods and exercises recommended to us—but without any proven tool to objectively verify progress.

Therefore, the Edo Questionnaire is recommended for use by happiness seekers, happiness coaches, research psychologists, chief happiness officers, directors of human services (or resources), happiness advocates, and those policymakers, who are directly or indirectly involved in the “business” of happiness.

The Happiness Formula, A Scientific Groundbreaking Approach to Happiness and Personal Fulfillment (Obayuwana, 2024).

Alphonsus Obayuwana, M.D., Ph.D. , is a physician and retired major in the US Air Force. He has been on the faculty of Johns Hopkins and Eastern Virginia Medical School. He founded the Triple-H Project and authored The Five Sources of Human Hope and The Happiness Formula.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• International
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Sticking up for yourself is no easy task. But there are concrete skills you can use to hone your assertiveness and advocate for yourself.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• Share full article

Opinion Jessica Grose

Are We Happy Yet?

Credit... Stephan Dybus

Supported by

By Jessica Grose

Ms. Grose is a Times Opinion writer and the author of a Times newsletter on culture, social change and the American family.

• Aug. 8, 2024

Three times a day my phone pings with a notification telling me that I have a new happiness survey to take. The survey, from TrackYourHappiness.org , asks me a series of questions about what I was doing the moment right before I take it, whether I wanted to be doing it, how focused I was on my task, how productive I was being and how happy I felt about it all. I measure my emotional levels with a little toggle that slides from “bad” to “good.” Though the trackers’ authors offer a disclaimer that “correlation does not prove causation,” results from thousands of its users published in 2010 suggest that people are happier when they are focused.

After I took 100 surveys over about a month, that’s not what my results told me. I reported the most happiness when I was eating and the least when I was working. I was happier at home than I was outside or anywhere else.

My biggest takeaway, though, is that much of my life consists of things that I don’t particularly want to do, like folding laundry and struggling with the wording of a paragraph. Being reminded that most of my life is obligatory does not exactly spark joy.

As the weeks of survey-taking went by, I had another, more paralyzing thought: that this focus on my feelings was instilling a new kind of anxiety. Rather than just walking one of my kids home from school and contentedly listening to her chatter about sedimentary rocks, I was thinking about the survey’s infernal happiness toggle and where this experience ranked relative to the other moments I had tracked.

The survey is just one example from an increasingly crowded field of tools offering consumers the chance not just to contemplate their happiness but also to measure it, track it, schedule it and optimize it. Every app store is overflowing with offerings like the Happiness Planner, Happiness 360°, Daylio and more. Apple’s Health app has a mood tracker (with one of those damn toggles) built into all of its devices, and even my Fitbit offers mood tracking, with some fancy bonus features if I pay to upgrade to premium status.

According to Stephen Schueller, a psychologist who runs the technology and mental health lab at the University of California, Irvine, there are now thousands of these apps — so many that he used to run an entire site that reviewed their credibility, user experience and transparency. How-to books about boosting your happiness in measurable ways are mainstays on best-seller lists. And there is no end to online courses and expensive products that make similar promises.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Advertisement