The Science Behind Positive Emotions

        We are not the only ones trying to get to the bottom of what it means to be happy. There is a whole new field of social science called positive psychology. In this study, the things that make life worth living are determined, and thus the things that make us happy. 

    The science of happiness has two main founders, psychologists Dr. Martin Seligman and Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

    Some studies of positive psychology focus on the individual. These utilize the acronym PERMA:

P- positive emotion

E- engagement of flow

R- positive relationships

M- meaning and purpose

A- accomplishment

This theoretical development focuses on the domains of life, including school, work, family, health, etc. All of these categories are analyzed in significance to how they impact the individual mentally. 

    Further studies have been conducted on this topic, and several conclusions have been determined. According to a study conducted by Kahneman and Deaton in 2010, money can make one happy to a certain extent, however it has no significant impact on an individual's emotional well-being. A different study conducted by Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade in 2005 determined that our happiness does not stem from genetics, but from our daily experiences. Note that daily experiences has come up several times; from this we can come to the conclusion that what occurs during our day-to-day is significant to whether or not we are happy, not necessarily the money we possess. 

    Think about it this way: imagine you choose a profession that would guarantee great wealth in your future, however you are not necessarily passionate about the job; would you be happy going to work everyday to a job you did not like? I know my answer; I would not be able to truly be happy at a job I was not passionate about, no matter the salary. 

    We can further discuss this question by going back to the 2010 study completed by Kahneman and Deaton. They describe two important factors that one must consider when reading about this topic: emotional well-being and life evaluation. They define emotional well-being as the emotional quality of a person's daily experience- frequency and intensity of their positive emotions. Life evaluation refers to an individual's thoughts and perspective on his/her life. It is easy to confuse the two when analyzing one's happiness. An individual could observe their life and be satisfied with the success they have achieved, however this does not mean they are happy in the place they are at. This goes back to having the high-paying job, but the individual lacking the passion for their occupation. This individual may be satisfied with an accomplished life, however this is not necessarily enough to fill certain voids; and it is important to acknowledge that this is not true for everybody. Some people are fine with working in a position they are not a fan of, as the money may be worth it for them. Back to Kahneman and Deaton's study, they link money issues such as low household incomes to a sense of unhappiness. This brings them to the conclusion that to a certain extent, money can impact the contentment of an individual. However, this comes with a limit, as beyond a certain threshold people obtain little to no psychological benefit from their income.

    Overall, our life evaluation contributes to our emotional well-being. This is why many often think money will solve their issues with feeling unhappy. Life evaluations often consist of how successful one is in their job; two main factors help in this analysis: how an individual is ranked in his/her field of work, and his/her salary. When one is not content with their income, they have a poor life evaluation, which contributes to a sense of unhappiness. So in conclusion to this post, money can contribute to good or bad life evaluations that impact our contentment, however it is not the key to our happiness.