Emotions and emotional expressions

Emotions and emotional expressions are among the essential characteristics of human experience that are currently being thoroughly investigated. Although these features are difficult to define and frequently dynamic, no one can avoid conveying emotional feelings or expressions. Happiness is one of these qualities, and it is a feeling that, despite having a same description, is defined differently by different people. Happiness is something that everyone wishes for. A person can be successful or have a lot of riches in terms of property or money, but it all means nothing if they are unhappy.  Most people do not believe that there is a need to have a formal definition of happiness because one knows they are happy when they feel it. The term happiness is often used to describe several positive emotions like gratitude, joy, contentment, and pride. For this reason, there is a dire need to know the real meaning of happiness to avoid confusing it with the other positive emotions, and the various definitions are given below.

Diverse definitions of happiness

Happiness can simply be defined as the state of being happy, state of contentment and well-being. Since people experience happiness differently, there is a possibility of coming up with several definitions, especially guided by experience. Among the other various definitions of happiness is that it is living a fulfilling life both personally and while at work. It involves living comfortably, being proud of the work that one does, and having sufficient time to enjoy the nature with people one loves most (Capaldi, Dopko & Zelenski, 2014). Another definition is that it is the result of overwhelming since it represents the power and strength to choose the things that make us smile. To some other people, happiness is a way of life; a choice for everything people do or undergo. It comes from doing or encountering something that one enjoys or feels happy doing, and for this reason, it is all around us as a choice and more specifically as a way of life.

Happiness is a journey rather than a destination; it is what makes us get out of bed easily each morning. That feeling inside one’s soul that makes life worth living and no one can tell another individual how to feel it, but each feels it because they know its worth. It is being contented with everything regarding the past, the present or the future. Happiness has also been defined as the state of consciousness that results from the achievement of some values. It is something that requires some actions to achieve (Donaldson, Dollwet & Rao, 2015). For me, I can say that happiness is a decision; one’s happiness is a decision to make since it requires actions that come from decisions.

To sum up, according to various researchers, happiness is simply the combination of how good one feels on a daily basis and how satisfied they are with their life. These two aspects are both stable; the moods and lives of individuals change, but their overall happiness is determined more genetically than anything else (Sarre et al., 2014). For instance, if one wants to watch their weight, they can achieve it through changing the diet and mode of exercise. If one eat how they desire and also become active as they like, their body will settle at a given weight. Eating less and exercising more at the same time makes one’s weight to adjust accordingly. When the new way of exercising and eating is made to be a daily way, a person will be able to stay again in the new weight. Going back to how the two used to will make the weight also go back to where it started. This pattern is true for happiness too; it depends on how one controls oneself (Crowley & Knowles, 2014). Every individual can control how they feel, and when one does so consistently, it can lead to the outcome of life-long habits for a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

Varied Importance of Happiness

Happiness is a universal goal for every individual, and it has very many benefits in our daily life. It is the source and determinant of great appreciation in the life of an individual. This benefit is considered to be the most important among the benefits of being happy. Another importance of being happy is that happiness is always good for our health. When people are happy, their immune systems become stronger and therefore have a longer lifespan compared to those of unhappy and depressed individuals. Happiness also instills in us the act of giving (Kahneman, 1999). When people are happy, they are more contented with what they have and will tend to share what they have with other people. Being happy also help us in handling stress better. This fact is true since when one is happy, they tend to recover faster from any form of trauma.

It has also been discovered that happiness is beneficial to relationships among various groups of people. Happy people always have high chances of having successful relationships and getting married. They also have a more meaningful and broad network of friends. Happiness also encourages success in the life of an individual. It is a feeling that instills energy and creativity in the daily life of individuals enabling them to perform best in their work. It has also been reported being happy increases the years in which a person lives. Happy people can increase the number of years in which they live by 7 to 10 (Sarre et al., 2014). This amount of years translates to about 14 percent longer life compared to individuals who are not happy.

Comparing the levels of happiness as far as gender is concerned, there are no significant differences between men and women. The level of happiness of an individual is only dependent on how an individual handles their lives. Whether one is male or female, there are equal opportunities for achieving the things that make them happy (Crowley & Knowles, 2014). The level of happiness among various ethnic groups is dependent how the people of a given group understand and have faith in each other. If the individuals are given a chance to understand the value of diversity that it contributes to the building of a happy team, they will be willing to appreciate themselves (Ford et al., 2015). They are therefore more productive, have a high level of well-being and happier.

What makes humans happy?

Psychologists have found out that human beings are very happy when they have some specific features in their lives (Nelson, Kurtz & Lyubomirsky, 2014). These features have also been evident throughout the discussion of the meaning and importance of happiness. Among these features is the accomplishment. Most people feel happy when they achieve the goals they have set in their lives. People also tend to be happy when they feel they have a meaning in life, that is, when they have a sense of belonging to something bigger than self. Relationships with various people, especially healthy ones are what also make a lot of people happy. The social ties that are propagated by these relationships are the most reliable aspects of happiness. Engaging in stimulating, enjoyable as well as challenging activities also gives individuals a good experience of happiness. Finally, there is the feature of pleasure that has been seen to be a great aspect of happiness. This pleasure is as a result of eating delicious meals, sleeping in a warm and comfortable bed and other factors that are pleasing to the senses of an individual.

Summary

As far as the subject of psychology is concerned, happiness is an emotional or mental state of well-being. Happiness is a feeling that cannot be just found, but it comes as a result of other activities, and the only individuals that seek it are depressed patients with the help of mental health workers. It can be described by the pleasant or positive emotions that range from intense joy to contentment. Mental states of happiness can reflect a person’s judgments about their well-being in general. Happiness is fundamental in the life of every individual since it leads to a good life which exceeds just the moral goodness. Well-being, on the other hand, is sometimes measured by income and health, things that can never be used to measure happiness. For one to be full-filled in life, happiness is the key. It is a feeling of achievement and wholeness that all individuals desire in their lives.

References

Capaldi, C. A., Dopko, R. L., & Zelenski, J. M. (2014). The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in psychology, 5.

Crowley, J. P., & Knowles, J. H. (2014). Gender differences in perceived happiness and well-being of individuals who engage in contemptuous communication. Communication Reports, 27(1), 27-38.

Donaldson, S. I., Dollwet, M., & Rao, M. A. (2015). Happiness, excellence, and optimal human functioning revisited: Examining the peer-reviewed literature linked to positive psychology. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(3), 185-195.

Ford, B. Q., Dmitrieva, J. O., Heller, D., Chentsova-Dutton, Y., Grossmann, I., Tamir, M., ... & Bokhan, T. (2015). Culture shapes whether the pursuit of happiness predicts higher or lower well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(6), 1053.

Kahneman, D. (1999). Objective happiness. Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology, 3, 25.

Nelson, S. K., Kurtz, J. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). What psychological science knows about achieving happiness. Health, Happiness, and Well-Being: Better Living through Psychological Science, 250.

Sarre, S., Redlich, C., Tinker, A., Sadler, E., Bhalla, A., & McKevitt, C. (2014). A systematic review of qualitative studies on adjusting after stroke: lessons for the study of resilience. Disability and rehabilitation, 36(9), 716-726.