Expanding on the article entitled What Makes People
Happy from
Prevention Magazine that I posted in my discussion post for the week; I present
to you the idea of Positive Psychology. Penn State's (where this field of study
was founded) website states that positive psychology
is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals
and communities to thrive. The field is founded on the belief that people want
to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within them,
and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. This, my friends, is
the science of happiness. It is a whole field devoted to finding out what makes
people happy and I am surprised I did not come across this in my initial
research for my two papers! The field of positive psychology suggests
that since happiness is a science, it can be manipulated and manufactured, as
you are in fact the one in control of it. Essentially it is what I
have been saying this whole time. You are the only one responsible for
your own happiness. It can't be brought on by external things. The article
mentions 3 routes to happiness: living a pleasant life, an engaged
life, or a meaningful life, but only you can decide what defines this for
you. Living a pleasant life would be living one that is full of things
you enjoy. If you enjoy reading ling books on a Sunday evening then that would
be living the pleasant life for you. Living an engaged life would be living one
that is full of activities (sort of similar to the activity theory that I
highlighted in my first paper). Living a meaningful life would be living one
where you feel accomplished. Living a life where you feel like you have
impacted someone in a positive way. Volunteering would be one way of
accomplishing this or having a meaningful relationship (friendship or
otherwise). Is it possible that one or all of these combined is actually the
equation for happiness? Proponents of positive psychology believe so.
Your blog is really interesting. I haven't heard about the theory of positive psychology and it seems very true. There are many people trying to find the real meaning of the happiness. Obviously happiness is not the same for everyone and it depends on what you value "happiness". I feel more identified for living a meaningful life. I look forward reading more information about this theory.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people need to read this blog post. So many people say that happiness isn't something you can just choose to do, but I believe it is! I have known some people who are sad all the time or depressed, and they think there is no way to be happy again. My dad the other day said that he thinks happiness isn't a choice and you cant decide to be happy, he was basically saying external things make you happy or sad and you cant control it. I disagree because if you are sad or depressed there is always something you can do about it and you can choose to change your life and be happy!
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is very interesting. Before reading your post I didn't even think about how happiness could be controlled. I think this may be the equation to happiness but it also seems like it is hard for one to achieve happiness. For one they may be pressured by others all their life's to be something they are not or to enjoy activities they hate.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this. Obviously happiness is a very subjective thing. There is never a one size fits all method, but I think that there are some things like you mentioned that most people find happiness from. It is a great way of looking at how to achieve happiness that is not usually how people think about it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this. Obviously happiness is a very subjective thing. There is never a one size fits all method, but I think that there are some things like you mentioned that most people find happiness from. It is a great way of looking at how to achieve happiness that is not usually how people think about it. Positive Psychology Program
ReplyDelete