Happiness Research

Anomie, irritation, and happiness in the Chilean society post-social outbreak

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On 18 October 2019, the Chilean people witnessed an unprecedented social outbreak across most of their country. We argue that a state of anomie is a factor associated with the weakening of states, and an anomic state might negatively influence people’s well-being through an increased feeling of irritation. Convenience recruitment via social networks allowed us to form a sample of 194 Chilean participants from the center-south region of the country (M = 36.53 years old, SD = 17.48; 56.7% women). All participants completed testing instruments to measure anomie, irritation, happiness, and political beliefs. Descriptive scores suggest situating Chile in the quadrant of high anomie. Two mediation analyses were conducted. The main results showed a negative indirect effect of the breakdown of the social fabric and leadership on happiness through irritation, although the findings for the former dimension were more robust. Additionally, the breakdown of the social fabric was positively related to the belief that left and right-wing democratic governments are helpless when it comes to fighting delinquency. The breakdown of leadership, on the other hand, was negatively related to political interest. The results should be interpreted with caution due to the limitations of the sample type and the construction validity of some instruments.

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Rick Hanson: Compassion is a kind of superpower. Here’s what research says it can do.

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Compassion makes us more resilient and less anxious or depressed, and it increases self-worth and happiness, research tells us.

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Self-Actualization Myths: What Did Maslow Really Say?

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Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Ahead of Print. Maslow’s theory of self-actualization is one of the most well-known theories both in psychology and to the public. It is also frequently misunderstood or misinterpreted. This article presents myths about self-actualization theory and myths about Maslow’s thoughts on science. Maslow’s own writings are used to refute the myths. The myths cover topics such as the following: empirical support for the theory, the composition of and movement through the needs hierarchy, the “self” in self-actualization, hidden elitism in the theory, and happiness in self-actualizing people. The relevance of Maslow’s self-actualization theory for contemporary psychology is also discussed.

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Toward an Expanded Taxonomy of Happiness: A Conceptual Analysis of 16 Distinct Forms of Mental Wellbeing

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Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Ahead of Print. Recent decades have seen a surge of scientific interest in happiness. However, its theoretical conceptualization is a work in progress. Much of the literature focuses on two main forms: hedonic (encompassing life satisfaction and positive affect) and eudaimonic (encompassing phenomena such as character development and meaning in life). However, this binary has been critiqued as being incomplete, in part because it reflects a Western-centric perspective that overlooks forms emphasized in non-Western cultures. As a result, scholars have begun to highlight other forms besides hedonia and eudaimonia. This article surveys the literature to identify 16 potential forms in total, classified according to whether they primarily pertain to feelings (hedonic, contented, mature, chaironic, and vital), thought (evaluative, meaningful, intellective, aesthetic, and absorbed) or action (eudaimonic, masterful, accomplished, harmonic, nirvanic, and relational). This article thus offers a more expansive, albeit still just provisional, taxonomy of this vital and still-evolving topic.

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Social media use and adolescents’ well-being: A note on flourishing

Leave a Comment / Anxiety in Young People / Adolescents, Anxiety Research, Communication Research, Depression Research, Happiness Research, internet / digital living, News, research, Social Anxiety Research, Technology and Anxiety /

BackgroundSeveral large-scale studies and reviews have reported both negative and positive associations of social media use with well-being, suggesting that the findings are more complex and need more nuanced study. Moreover, there is little or no exploration of how social media use in adolescence influences flourishing, a more all-encompassing construct beyond well-being, including six sub-domains (i.e., happiness, meaning and purpose, physical and mental health, character, close social relationships, and financial stability). This paper aims to fill this gap by understanding how adolescents might flourish through social media activities by fulfilling the basic needs pointed out by the Self-Determination Theory, i.e., relatedness, autonomy, and competence.MethodsThe study is drawn on cross-sectional data collected from 1,429 Swiss adolescents (58.8% females, Mage = 15.84, SDage = 0.83) as part of the HappyB project in Spring 2022. Self-reported measures included the Harvard Adolescent Flourishing scale, positive and negative online social experiences, self-disclosure on social media, and social media inspiration. Control variables included, among others, self-esteem, ill-being, and personality.ResultsAfter applying Bonferroni’s correction, results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that positive social media experiences (β = 0.112, p 

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