Explain how and why each of the following factors influences one's happiness: (a) life events; (b) one's personality; (c) one's personal goals; (d) income, including the effects of "instant riches"; (e) education; (f) marital status; (g) religion; (h) age; (i) gender; and (j) work

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that (a) happiness is related to good and bad life events, but the impact is smaller than you might imagine. The reason for this is that happiness tends to come from within a person. Subjective well-being is affected by our goals, choices, emotions, values, and personality. The way events are perceived,, interpreted, and managed is as important as the nature of the events themselves. People who are good at dodging life's hard knocks tend to create their own "luck.". As a result, they are happier and seem to negotiate life's demands more smoothly. (b) To a degree, some people are more temperamentally disposed to be happy, regardless of life events. In general, happier people also tend to be extraverted (outgoing), optimistic, and worry-free. This combination probably influences the balance of positive and negative emotions a person feels. (c) The goals people choose vary widely. Nevertheless, one generalization we can make is that people tend to be happy if they are meeting their personal goals. This is especially true if you feel you are making progress, on a day-to-day basis, on smaller goals that relate to long-term, life goals. The importance of personal goals helps explain why specific circumstances tell us so little about happiness. It is often difficult to know if an event is good or bad without knowing what a person is trying to achieve in life. (d) More resources can bring happiness to people living in poverty. However, the overall association between money and happiness is weak. In fact, people who win lotteries are often less happy than they were before. New life stresses that instant riches usually bring into a person's life tend to cancel out any positive effects of wealth. (e) More educated people tend to be a little happier than the less educated. However, this is most likely just another way of saying that there is a small connection between wealth and happiness. Higher education generally results in higher income and more social status. (f) Married people report greater happiness than people who are divorced, separated, or single. It could be that happier people are simply more likely to get married. But a better explanation for this association is that happy people are more likely to get married and stay married. Most people get a small boost in happiness immediately after getting married. However, most eventually return to about the same level of happiness they had before they tied the knot. (g) There is a small but positive association between happiness and holding spiritual beliefs. Religious beliefs may add to feelings of purpose and meaning in life, resulting in greater happiness. Another possibility is that church membership may simply provide social support that softens the impact of life's negative events. (h) Life satisfaction and happiness generally do not decline with age. People are living longer and staying healthier, which has greatly delayed age-related declines. When declines do occur, older people today seem better able to cope with them. (i) Overall, men and women do not differ in happiness. However, women do have a tendency to experience higher emotional highs and lower lows than men do. Thus, more women are found among those rare individuals who are extremely happy or unhappy. (i) People who are satisfied with their jobs tend to be happier, but the association is weak. If fact, it probably just reflects the fact that job satisfaction is a large part of greater life satisfaction.