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SUBMITTED TO:
Mam Faryal Shah
SUBMITTED BY:
Sana Ziab
19308
Faisal Kareem
19173
Jawad Anwar
Mohammad
Faizan
18373
19402
Introduction
How happy are you with your life at this moment? Are you better than ever
before, dont care, or very unhappy? Before answering this question, how
would you define happiness?
Most of us probably dont believe we need a formal definition of happiness;
we know it when we feel it, and we often use the term to describe a range of
Literature Review
The idea of and search for happiness has intrigued thinkers for thousands of
years, starting with the Ancient Greeks (e.g. Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics),
but it has only been studied and measured in a systematic way within the
last few decades.
Aristotle sought to define the ultimate end or good in life. He held that all
our pursuits as humans were meant to achieve a final, ultimate good; that
of happiness: Let us resume our inquiry and state, in view of the fact that all
knowledge and every pursuit aims at some good, what it is that we say
political science aims as and what is the highest of all goods achievable by
action. Verbally there is very general agreement; for both the general run of
men and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness, and identify
living well and faring well with being happy; but with regard to what
happiness is they differ, and the many do not give the same account as the
wise (Ross 1998). Aristotle continued his analysis of happiness: Now we
call that which is in itself worthy of pursuit more final than that which is
worthy of pursuit for the sake of something else... and therefore we call final
without qualification that which is always desirable in itself and never for the
sake of something else. Now such a thing is happiness, above all else, is held
to be; for this we choose always for itself and never for the sake of
something else, but honor, pleasure, reason, and every virtue we choose
indeed for themselves (for if nothing results from them we should still choose
each of them), but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, judging
that through them we shall be happy. Happiness, on the other hand, no one
chooses for the sake of these, nor, in general, for anything other than itself
(Ross 1998).
In other words, according to Aristotle, happiness is the ultimate human
purpose of life on Earth.
In 1776, over 2,000 years after Aristotle, the United States Declaration of
Independence argued for certain inalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. As such, America was formed on
the basis of the search for happiness, and this inalienable right was deemed
equal with the rights to life and freedom.
days? or, Taken all together, would you say that you are very happy, pretty
happy, or not too happy? The results of these SWB measurements display
moderately high levels of cross-situational consistency and temporal
stability [and] show adequate validity, reliability, factor invariance, and
sensitivity to change (Diener 1994).
Happiness itself has two distinct manifestations: ephemeral and authentic
happiness. Ephemeral happiness refers to brief and emotional episodes
marked by pleasure (such as the joy an individual may feel when they have
made a new purchase), whereas authentic happiness refers to an underlying
state of satisfaction with ones life marked by pleasure, engagement and
meaning (Seligman 2002). Often, what leads to ephemeral happiness at a
given moment in time may not be the same as what produces authentic
happiness, or long-term positive SWB.
The field of positive psychology has also developed a more nuanced formula
for defining happiness that supports the notion that authentic happiness (vs.
ephemeral happiness) is a more holistic and valid measure of true happiness
and that ephemeral happiness (or pleasure) is only one of three components
(and the least important of the three) in determining an overall measure of
happiness. The formula used by positive psychologists is: Pleasure +
Engagement (the depth of involvement with ones family, work, romance and
hobbies or flow: the feeling we get when we loose track of time because
we are utterly engrossed in what we are doing, or) + Meaning (using
personal strengths to serve some larger end, doing something worthwhile) =
Happiness. According to Seligman (2002) This is newsworthy because so
many Americans build their lives around pursuing pleasure. It turns out that
engagement and meaning are much more important.
A wealth of evidence exists demonstrating that happiness has numerous
positive byproducts (Lyubomirsky and others 2003). For example, happy
people have stronger social relationships (Hansen 1996,), superior work
outcomes (Pelled 1995), and more activity, energy, and flow (Seligman
2002,) and more likely to show better coping abilities
Further evidence for the association between happiness and positive mental
health, physical health, and general success in life comes from research on
positive emotions. Happiness involves the experience of frequent positive
affect and infrequent negative affect (Ross 1997), and these chronic positive
emotions yield numerous benefits. Beyond making people feel good,
Determinants of Happiness
what is known about the conditions, lifestyles and behaviors that lead to
happiness? In order to better understand the etiology of happiness, it is
important to first examine the characteristics of individuals who rate
themselves highly in SWB surveys. According to Diener (1996), these
individuals tend to have high levels of self-esteem; viewing them as
healthier, smarter, easier to get along with, more ethical and less prejudiced
than others. They feel in control of their lives and are both optimistic and
extroverted.
Additional research has shown that personal psychological factors (including
those mentioned above) account for 30% of the variation in happiness levels,
25% are attributed to life events (marriage/divorce, a birth/death, illness),
10% is attribute to social engagement (including work and marriage), and
only 10% is associated with wealth (Pusey 1998).
Many happiness studies point towards social relationships (including
marriage and relationships with friends and family) as the most critical
Methodology
Type of Research
The type of research that we will be using in this study is qualitative
research. These type of researches aim to gather an in-depth understanding
of human behavior and it aims to find the reasons that govern such kind of
behavior. Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. This type of
research is used to achieve an understanding of underlying reasons,
opinions, and motivations. Qualitative Research is also used to uncover
trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper into the problem. Qualitative
data collection methods vary using unstructured or semi-structured
techniques. Some common methods include focus groups (group
discussions), individual interviews, and participation/observations.
(snapsurveys.com)
Participants
The participants in this research will be coming from two locations- Bahria
Town Islamabad and Slum areas of sector H9; we chose these two areas
because of the conditions present in the areas that are relevant to the study
and also as it fits our time frame and resources. The participants will be
asked for their consent and approval for the interview until the desired
number of respondents which is 20 is reached.
Research Questions:
The research questions for this study were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the meaning of happiness for you and how do you define it?
What are the things that make you happy?
Are you satisfied with your life?
Do you think money is necessary to live a happy and prosperous life?
Research Objectives:
The research objectives for this study were:
1. To compare the happiness of privileged and underprivileged
2. To identify the factors associated with the happiness of privileged as
well as underprivileged.
3. Is money really playing a vital role in their pursuit of happiness?
4. To find that the meaning of happiness is same for privileged and
underprivileged or not.
Conclusion:
Our research was concerned with the happiness of privileged and
underprivileged people, The research objective was to identify the factors
associated with the happiness of privileged and underprivileged people, and
to find whether money is important in pursuit of happiness and can money
buy happiness.
We would like to conclude that Money doesnt buy happiness, neither does
poverty, and that Wealth Doesn't Make the Rich Happier, But Poverty Makes
the Poor Sadder
As the most significant sign of wealth, possessing a large sum of money has
become a pursuit of many people, especially the younger generation, around
the world. They are convinced of that happiness can be bought by sufficient
money. However, we found the fact that happiness is not just determined by
one factor but many others such as your friends, relatives, and pleasant
experiences.
It seems natural to assume that rich people will be happier than others,
But money is only one part of psychological wealth, so the picture is
complicated.
There is a strong correlation between wealth and happiness, Rich people are
happier than their poor counterparts; While there does appear to be some
correlation between happiness and income when basic needs are not yet
met, but note that moneys impact on happiness isnt as large as you might
think. If you have clothes to wear, food to eat, and a roof over your head,
increased disposable income has just a small influence on your sense of wellbeing.
So, yes, money can buy some happiness, but as youll see, its just one piece
of the puzzle. And theres a real danger that increased income can actually
make you miserableif your desire to spend grows with it. . Finally: how
people spend their money may be at least as important as how much money
they earn. Specifically, spending more of ones income on others results in
greater happiness. So go ahead, be generous. Youll be glad you did.
Recommendations
When doing research we faced difficulties in finding people and
approaching them. In future one must be proactive in searching people
to get samples.
We were not being able to get interviews of the females because they
were quite hesitant. In future they should be convinced on order to get
accurate results.
Sometimes, people do not want to share their personal life experiences
with others, so we should used those methods for research which
innovate people to share their life experiences with others whether to
hesitate. So in this way we can get accurate answers from people.
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