{"id":1053786,"date":"2013-02-20T12:15:58","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T17:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.immortalitymedicine.tv\/neurology\/formula-for-happiness-s-set-range-personal-biology-c-circumstances-v-voluntary-control.php"},"modified":"2024-08-17T18:55:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T22:55:00","slug":"formula-for-happiness-s-set-range-personal-biology-c-circumstances-v-voluntary-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/neurology\/formula-for-happiness-s-set-range-personal-biology-c-circumstances-v-voluntary-control.php","title":{"rendered":"Formula for Happiness = S (Set range, personal biology) + C (Circumstances) + V (Voluntary control)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, has proposed a formula for the causes of happiness that accounts for stable and variable components of long-term happiness; H (enduring level of happiness) = S (personal set range) + C (circumstances) + V (factors under personal voluntary control).<\/p>

Voluntary\/intentional activities have similar level of influence (40%) compared to genetic set-point for happiness (50%)<\/b><\/p>

The happiness set-point (estimated influence 50 %) “is genetically determined and assumed to be fixed, stable over time, and immune to the influence of control”.<\/p>

Circumstances' estimated influence is only 10 %. These include the geographical region where a person resides, demographic factors such as age and gender, and major life-status factors such as marriage, and being sufficiently wealthy.<\/p>

Intentional Activities' estimated influence is 40 %. Activities are more controllable than genetic factors, personality and most circumstances and offer the greatest potential to sustainably increase happiness. They have similar level of influence (40%) compared to the genetic set-point for happiness (50%).<\/p>

Happiness enhancing strategies fall into 3 activity types:<\/b><\/p>

1. Behavioral activity<\/b> reflects a person’s actions:<\/p>

- physical activities
- meditation and mindfulness
- social activities such as deliberate acts of kindness and gratitude <\/p>

2. Cognitive activity<\/b> indicates a person’s attitudes:<\/p>

- cultivating gratitude
- forgiveness
- cognitive approaches to coping with adversity<\/p>

3. Volitional activity<\/b> is motivated towards achieving goals:<\/p>

- pursuing goals that are concordant with one’s values and interests
- maintaining hope
- meaning in life <\/p>

The dominance of social relationships for happiness<\/b><\/p>

In a recent study, the most striking finding was the dominance of the Social Relationships dimension. People are happier when they are around others and relationships are necessary for happiness.<\/p>

Therefore, individuals pursuing happiness should spend time and energy developing and maintaining their relationships. Does that involve online relationships developed via Twitter and Facebook?<\/p>

A recipe for long-lasting happiness<\/b><\/p>

Happy people are those who:<\/p>

- are involved in a number of close relationships and practice their social values
- do not overrate the importance of circumstances or spend undue energy striving for circumstantial change
- enjoy satisfying and active leisure pursuits
- pursue (behavioral) activities and (cognitive) attitudes that are rewarding and in line with their broader sense of purpose
- have a philosophy of living that helps them to navigate life’s complexities<\/p>

“Optimism is the belief that good things will happen to you and that negative events are temporary setbacks to be overcome” - a classical definition from the Mayo Clinic (http:\/\/goo.gl\/wZ6Rh<\/a>)<\/p>

References:<\/b><\/p>

Exploring the Causes of Subjective Well-Being: A Content Analysis of Peoples’ Recipes for Long-Term Happiness. Journal Journal of Happiness Studies, 2012. http:\/\/goo.gl\/kN5OQ<\/a>
Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.<\/p>

Posted at Clinical Cases and Images<\/a>. Stay updated and subscribe<\/a>, follow us on Twitter<\/a> and connect on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>

Source:
http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/CasesBlog\/~3\/hSFS_BrcgKY\/formula-for-happiness-s-set-range.html<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, has proposed a formula for the causes of happiness that accounts for stable and variable components of long-term happiness; H (enduring level of happiness) = S (personal set range) … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1246864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1053786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neurology"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}