Exam 17: Psychology in Action: Well-Being and Happiness

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Answer will include that psychologist Ed Diener and his associates,who have studied subjective well-being,believe that feelings of well-being,or happiness,occur when people are generally satisfied with their lives,have frequent positive emotions,and have relatively few negative emotions.A person is high in life satisfaction if he or she strongly agree with the following statements: (1)In most ways my life is close to my ideal.(2)The conditions of my life are excellent.(3)I am satisfied with my life.(4)So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.(5)If I could live my life over,I would change almost nothing.Diener and his colleagues believe day-to-day emotional experiences are also important.Life is a mixture of rewarding and punishing events,so everyone feels both positive and negative emotions.It's possible for the same person to have lots of positive feelings and lots of negative feelings.That's why happiness is not just a matter of having good feelings.The happiest people are those who have many positive emotional experiences and relatively few negative experiences.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.People also tend to be happy if they are meeting their personal goals.This is especially true if they feel that they 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.However,attaining goals that do not express our deeper interests and values may add little to happiness.Thus,purpose and meaning are important sources of well-being at every point in life.