{"id":584,"date":"2021-12-22T09:34:45","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T09:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alliance.edu.in\/blog\/?p=584"},"modified":"2023-12-19T21:57:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T16:27:09","slug":"are-happiness-and-well-being-the-same-or-are-they-mutually-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/are-happiness-and-well-being-the-same-or-are-they-mutually-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Happiness and Well-being the Same or Are They Mutually Exclusive?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pic credits: Unsplash<\/em><\/p>\n

The rising number of interpersonal issues and mental health concerns during the pandemic has made the world debate on issues related to well-being and happiness. Such discussions on happiness and well-being demonstrate a glaring issue. Many a time, the terms happiness and well-being are discussed\u00a0separately,\u00a0and sometimes interchangeably. But are they the same?<\/p>\n

Research on well-being understands psychological well-being as a combination of \u201cfeeling good and functioning effectively.\u201d Let us decode what \u2018feeling good\u2019 and \u2018functioning effectively mean\u2019. \u2018Feeling good\u2019 include emotions of happiness, satisfaction, curiosity, engagement, conviction, and affection. \u2018Functioning effectively\u2019 involves developing ones\u2019 potentials to the fullest, having control over ones\u2019 life, imbibing a sense of purpose, and experiencing positive relationships. This understanding of well-being means that its scope is much beyond happiness. Then why are these two terms, happiness, and well-being, used interchangeably?<\/p>\n

Happiness can be understood as an emotional state that is\u00a0characterized\u00a0by feelings of joy, satisfaction,\u00a0contentment,\u00a0and fulfillment.\u00a0When\u00a0people say that they are happy, it is about their present state of mind. Happiness is\u00a0related\u00a0to experiencing more positive feelings than\u00a0negative ones. However, sustainable well-being does not mean individuals have to be happy and always feel good, it\u00a0recognizes\u00a0painful emotions, including disappointment,\u00a0grief,\u00a0and failure, as a part of anybody\u2019s normal life. It is one\u2019s\u00a0capacity\u00a0to manage these painful emotions that becomes an essence of the long-term well-being of the individual. However, when negative emotions become extreme or long-lasting, then they may interfere with the day-to-day functioning of the individual and thereby their well-being.<\/p>\n

Psychology of Happiness<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psychologists assess happiness with varying measures. When some of them assess it based on the cognitive components (including high life satisfaction) others tend to look at\u00a0it\u00a0in terms of affective components (experiences of positive and negative emotions). Although there are assumptions that stem from quotations like \u2018our pains greatly exceed our pleasures,\u2019\u00a0many report to be \u2018fairly happy\u2019 in happiness surveys. Except for a few populations, including those\u00a0hospitalized\u00a0for substance abuse or newly incarcerated persons, homeless or sex workers, or students living under political suppression, people across the world have reported being \u2018happy\u2019\u00a0in various surveys that measured happiness.\u00a0Although the indicators of happiness would vary demographically (based on age,\u00a0gender,\u00a0and race), studies have revealed certain traits of happy people. Such traits include extraversion, self-esteem, optimism, a sense of personal control, etc. A work and leisure balance,\u00a0indicating\u00a0somewhere between the anxiety of being overwhelmed and the boredom of being underwhelmed,\u00a0is considered to what constitutes a\u00a0happy\u00a0life.\u00a0Studies also\u00a0observe\u00a0that\u00a0a person who invests more in social life settings,\u00a0building relationships with family and friends are found to be much happier than their counterparts. Surveys also show increased levels of happiness among those who attend religious services.<\/p>\n

Researchers also examined the relationship between money and consumption to one\u2019s happiness. Although results\u00a0indicate\u00a0a tendency to find more happy and satisfied people in prosperous nations, data also shows that this correlation tapers off after a certain level, when being plotted in a graph. Studies also show a weak relationship between wealth and happiness, the associations between them tapering off once people have secured sufficient wealth to\u00a0attain\u00a0control over one\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Psychological Well-Being<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psychological well-being involves positive relationships that people develop with others, feelings of autonomy,\u00a0proficiency\u00a0over self and resources, and personal growth and development. It involves all those that add purpose to life and makes it meaningful. As mentioned earlier, psychological well-being is achieved by\u00a0attaining\u00a0a balance between challenging and rewarding life events. The science of well-being tries to understand it from a multi-disciplinary approach, which defines certain typologies of well-being.\u00a0These typologies are listed:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Hedonic well-being<\/strong>: It refers to subjective feelings of happiness that\u00a0comprise a cognitive\u00a0component\u00a0and an affective\u00a0component. According to this typology, individuals experience happiness when they feel emotionally positive and their satisfaction with life is high.<\/li>\n
  2. Eudaimonic\u00a0well-being<\/strong>: This form of well-being can be understood through six factors. Self-acceptance<\/strong> (positive attitude towards oneself), environmental mastery<\/strong> (when the person attains a sense of mastery over everyday life affairs), positive relationship with others<\/strong> (relationships that involve reciprocal empathy, intimacy, and affection), personal growth<\/strong> (when the individual experiences growth and improvement in self and\u00a0behavior\u00a0over time), purpose in life<\/strong> (goal-oriented responses and conviction on the meaning of life),\u00a0and\u00a0autonomy<\/strong> (control over one\u2019s\u00a0behavior\u00a0and is independent of social pressures) are those factors. A high score in each of these factors\u00a0indicates\u00a0the well-being of the person.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Why is Psychological well-being important<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

    From the earlier discussion, it may be deduced that well-being and happiness are two different concepts and must not be used interchangeably. Then what should individuals aim at? Being happy or towards well-being?<\/p>\n

    Studies show that people with high scores in psychological well-being tend to live longer and healthier. Such people are found to enjoy a better quality of life and have fewer social problems. They are also observed to be less prone to indulge in substance-abuse\u00a0behaviors\u00a0and\u00a0tend to\u00a0exhibit\u00a0more pro-social\u00a0behaviors\u00a0like volunteering.\u00a0They are those who have learned to balance their emotions and bring positivity to themselves and others. I would like to emphasize the word \u2018learn\u2019, which also means that \u2018individual well-being\u2019 can be cultivated.<\/p>\n

    Cultivating Psychological Well-Being<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    From the eudaimonic model of well-being,\u00a0we can infer\u00a0that many factors can enhance one\u2019s well-being. For example, self-acceptance or a positive attitude can be developed\u00a0through\u00a0a purpose in life. Having realistic goals set\u00a0could contribute to a sense of self-acceptance when the goals are achieved.\u00a0Establishing goals that are achievable and working towards the fulfillment of those goals would add more meaning to our lives. Many\u00a0a time, life\u00a0is\u00a0meaningless when there are no goals set.<\/p>\n

    Another determinant of psychological well-being is by cultivating the feeling that\u00a0\u2018one has control over the world and is powerful to make\u00a0changes.\u2019\u00a0One may not be able to change the entire world but can contribute towards making the world a better place by being empathetic, or by taking smaller actions to protect the environment. This could also be achieved by\u00a0exhibiting\u00a0kind gestures. Such actions would cultivate confidence\u00a0in oneself where individuals\u00a0realize\u00a0that they have the\u00a0power to make a difference in the world. Charity and volunteering are small gestures that could lead to positivity and a good feeling.<\/p>\n

    Positive thinking<\/strong> is proved to have an impact on an individual\u2019s psychological well-being and enhance the \u2018good\u2019 feeling. Planning for\u00a0one\u2019s future and cherishing the best memories of life could also bring positivity to life.<\/p>\n

    Mindfulness<\/strong> is another skill that could be cultivated for staying happy and building resilience. Mindfulness means nothing but being in the present<\/strong>. Studies show that mindfulness can help individuals to manage stress, cope with illnesses, and reduce anxiety and depression. Studies also\u00a0indicate\u00a0that individuals who practice mindfulness\u00a0can\u00a0relax better and have improved levels of self-esteem and\u00a0possess\u00a0an overall enthusiasm over life. Another method of cultivating well-being is through\u00a0identifying\u00a0one\u2019s strengths, expressing\u00a0gratitude,\u00a0and practicing forgiveness.<\/p>\n

    The model of psychological well-being also\u00a0emphasizes the importance of building and fostering healthy relationships. Studies also show that the quality of relationships matters more than the quantity of the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Although social media could be used to\u00a0stay connected that cannot replace face-to-face communication and relationships. Strong social support is also found to be a contributor to staying psychologically healthy.\u00a0Therefore,\u00a0the key to improving social support could be to invest in\u00a0face-to-face\u00a0interactions and nurture relationships with others, in terms of having coffee with a friend, or dinner with family, getting acquainted with\u00a0neighbors, reaching out to old friends, etc. In short, psychological well-being can be attained with small changes that can be brought to our lives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Vineetha Sivakumar
    \n<\/strong>Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Pic credits: Unsplash The rising number of interpersonal issues and mental health concerns during the pandemic has made the world debate on issues related to well-being and happiness. Such discussions on happiness and well-being demonstrate a glaring issue. Many a time, the terms happiness and well-being are discussed\u00a0separately,\u00a0and sometimes interchangeably. But are they the same? … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-humanities","tag-psychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3177,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions\/3177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.pinklemonadedigital.com\/alliance_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}