{"id":302,"date":"2024-03-22T22:18:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T02:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/psychologymtdisupplement\/chapter\/unlocking-happiness-is-it-all-in-your-mind-or-shaped-by-the-world-around-you\/"},"modified":"2024-08-22T17:05:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T21:05:52","slug":"unlocking-happiness-is-it-all-in-your-mind-or-shaped-by-the-world-around-you","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/psychologymtdisupplement\/chapter\/unlocking-happiness-is-it-all-in-your-mind-or-shaped-by-the-world-around-you\/","title":{"raw":"WB.4: Deep Dive - Unlocking Happiness: Is It All in Your Mind or Shaped by the World Around You?","rendered":"WB.4: Deep Dive – Unlocking Happiness: Is It All in Your Mind or Shaped by the World Around You?"},"content":{"raw":"
[pb_glossary id=\"390\"]Approximate reading time:[\/pb_glossary] 3 minutes<\/p>\nThere are external influences on people\u2019s happiness, such as the circumstances in which they live. It is possible for some to be happy living in poverty with ill health or with a child who has a serious disease, but this is difficult. In contrast, it is easier to be happy if one has supportive family and friends, plenty of resources to meet one\u2019s needs, and good health. Even here there are exceptions \u2014 people who are depressed and unhappy while living in excellent circumstances. Thus, people can be happy or unhappy because of their personalities and the way they think about the world or because of the external circumstances in which they live. People vary in their approach to happiness, in their personalities and positive or negative outlook, and this means that knowing their living conditions is not enough for psychologists or researchers to predict happiness.\n\nThe table below shows internal and external circumstances that influence happiness. There are individual differences and exceptions in what makes people happy, but, in general, the causes in the table are important for most people (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999; Lyubomirsky, 2013; Myers, 1992).\n
Table SUP WB.1. Internal and external causes of subjective well-being<\/caption>\n
\n
\n
Internal Causes<\/th>\n
External Causes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\n \t
Inborn temperament:<\/strong> Studies of monozygotic (i.e., identical) twins raised apart indicate that our genes influence our happiness. Even when raised apart, identical twins tend to be similar in their levels of subjective well-being.<\/li>\n \t
Personality and temperament:<\/strong> Personality is partly inborn and partly learned, and it influences our happiness. For example, extroverts tend to have more positive feelings, and neurotics tend to have more negative feelings.<\/li>\n \t
Outlook:<\/strong> People can develop habits of noticing the good things in life and interpreting ambiguous events in positive ways. Other people develop negative mental habits, leading to more unhappiness. One\u2019s culture also can influence whether we take an optimistic or pessimistic view of life.<\/li>\n \t
Resilience:<\/strong> Happy individuals tend to bounce back more quickly after losses and negative events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n \t
Sufficient material resources:<\/strong> People have enough money to meet their basic needs and fulfill their major goals.<\/li>\n \t
Sufficient social resources:<\/strong> People differ in their need for social contact, but everyone needs some supportive and trusted others: family, a friend, or a partner, or sometimes all three. We need other people to lead a fulfilled life.<\/li>\n \t
Desirable society:<\/strong> Our own efforts and circumstances influence our happiness, but so does the society in which we live. A society of hunger, war, conflict, and corruption is much less happy than one with material resources, high levels of trust and cooperation, and people who want to help each other.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>","rendered":"
Table SUP WB.1. Internal and external causes of subjective well-being<\/caption>\n
\n
\n
Internal Causes<\/th>\n
External Causes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\n
Inborn temperament:<\/strong> Studies of monozygotic (i.e., identical) twins raised apart indicate that our genes influence our happiness. Even when raised apart, identical twins tend to be similar in their levels of subjective well-being.<\/li>\n
Personality and temperament:<\/strong> Personality is partly inborn and partly learned, and it influences our happiness. For example, extroverts tend to have more positive feelings, and neurotics tend to have more negative feelings.<\/li>\n
Outlook:<\/strong> People can develop habits of noticing the good things in life and interpreting ambiguous events in positive ways. Other people develop negative mental habits, leading to more unhappiness. One\u2019s culture also can influence whether we take an optimistic or pessimistic view of life.<\/li>\n
Resilience:<\/strong> Happy individuals tend to bounce back more quickly after losses and negative events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
Sufficient material resources:<\/strong> People have enough money to meet their basic needs and fulfill their major goals.<\/li>\n
Sufficient social resources:<\/strong> People differ in their need for social contact, but everyone needs some supportive and trusted others: family, a friend, or a partner, or sometimes all three. We need other people to lead a fulfilled life.<\/li>\n
Desirable society:<\/strong> Our own efforts and circumstances influence our happiness, but so does the society in which we live. A society of hunger, war, conflict, and corruption is much less happy than one with material resources, high levels of trust and cooperation, and people who want to help each other.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
definition<\/span>
To calculate this time, we used a reading speed of 150 words per minute and then added extra time to account for images and videos. This is just to give you a rough idea of the length of the chapter section. How long it will take you to engage with this chapter will vary greatly depending on all sorts of things (the complexity of the content, your ability to focus, etc).<\/p>\n<\/div>