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Oct 30, 2024 · Wrapping Up. Happiness and joy are both pleasurable, but happiness is short-term, spontaneous, and tends to be linked to external factors. Joy is more long-term and tends to be linked to intrinsic factors. You can cultivate both, but remember happiness, despite what modern wellness culture says, is not a constant state, Ackerman notes.
- 10 Common Positive Emotions Beyond Happiness - Verywell Mind
Take the Quiz. Joy. Gratitude. Pride. Serenity. Harness...
- 10 Common Positive Emotions Beyond Happiness - Verywell Mind
Dec 3, 2023 · Delight: To take great emotional pleasure in something. Astonishment: A feeling of great surprise and wonder. Happiness: Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. Pleased: A feeling of pride or ...
Jul 28, 2020 · It is something one can practice, cultivate, or make a habit. Consequently, I suggest that joy is most fully understood as a virtue that involves our thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to ...
Joy is more than just a fleeting feeling; it’s a key component of positive psychology and emotional balance that can positively impact your mental and physical health. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the science of joy and its profound effects on well-being, shedding light on why it’s worth prioritizing in our day-to-day lives.
- Overview
- Joy
- Gratitude
- Pride
- Serenity
- Interest
- Amusement
- Hope
- Inspiration
- Awe
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Happiness is the subject of much psychological research. While these studies can give insight into the emotional state of individuals and groups, there are several other positive or happy emotions that contribute to one's life in a meaningful way.
While similar, each of these other happy moods or emotions is also very unique. Here are 10 emotions of happiness that can help you feel more satisfied with your life, along with a few tips for how to harness them.
In her book Positivity, psychologist Barbara Fredrickson suggests that we experience a range of positive emotions, and that each of these emotions helps us build resources or broaden our perspective in useful ways.
Studies have connected joy with increased well-being over time, also indicating that it is a very distinct emotion of happiness that is processed in our brain a bit differently than other positive emotions. But what exactly is joy and how does it contribute to a happy mood?
While the definitions of joy vary, most describe it as "a response to a 'good' object-usually a positive event or circumstance." In other words, when we are delighted with a particular situation in our life, joy follows.
Gratitude is sometimes referred to as thankfulness or appreciation. This emotion of happiness is connected to joy; in fact, the more gratitude you have in your life, the more likely it is that you will experience joy.
Thankfulness emerges when we recognize that someone or something is a positive in our life. We might feel gratitude for gifts we've received, kindnesses extended to us, or for something as simple as being able to wake up each day.
People who experience gratitude are likely to engage in prosocial behaviors and "pay it forward." An example of this is being grateful for your own financial stability, so you pay it forward by picking up a stranger's lunch check without them knowing.
One of the interesting things about this happy emotion is that the more you express gratitude, the more gratitude you are likely to experience in your life. At the same time, feeling gratitude can also sometimes lead to unpleasant emotions, such as guilt or indebtedness.
Gratitude can lead to guilt when we are unable to repay kindnesses, if we made it through a situation in which someone else was harmed (such as survivor's guilt), or if we have feelings of pride or a lack of autonomy that prevent us from feeling thankful without also experiencing negative emotions.
How to Teach Children Gratitude
Pride is another positive emotion related to happiness. When we accomplish a goal or contribute in an important way, we may feel pride in our abilities. We can also feel pride in others, such as being proud when our child takes the initiative to befriend a new student at school or when our spouse receives a promotion at work.
Recognizing our abilities, or experiencing what is sometimes referred to as "authentic pride," can enhance our motivation to continue setting and achieving goals, also leading to improved performance. We are proud of what we've accomplished so we want to accomplish more.
Serenity is defined as "the quality of being peaceful and calm." We might feel serene or content when we find ourselves in circumstances that feel right or easy. Think of a lazy Sunday morning spent with family or enjoying the calm and quiet of a peaceful walk through a garden.
According to Frederickson's broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, contentment encourages us to savor the present moment and reevaluate our priorities. This can help deepen our understanding of ourselves.
In a study involving 615 children, those that experienced the most serenity also had the most prosocial behaviors and the least amount of aggression. The children who described themselves as being serene were also more likely to extend help and comfort to others.
A well-known writing involving this happy emotion is "The Serenity Prayer," which originated in religion and is now one of the key tools used in certain recovery support groups.
Interest is a positive emotion that involves focusing our attention on something that is significant to us. You may have an interest in various psychological theories, for instance. Or you might be interested in politics, history, music, sports, or something else.
While we like things that are familiar to us, we are often interested in new or novel things. Whether it’s binge-reading articles on your favorite subject or discovering a new neighborhood in your town, interest invites us to explore and learn.
Interest energizes the learning process and, according to some researchers, is critical to academic success. This happy emotion encourages us to dive deeper into a topic not just once, but time and time again. In this way, interest serves as a motivator.
How to Learn More Effectively
Amusement is a positive emotion derived from things we perceive as being funny or entertaining. Even if we try to suppress when something amuses us—such as during a sober event, when it may not feel appropriate to laugh—we still feel this emotion fully.
Some people are amused by videos of laughing babies or pictures of pets dressed in costumes. Others experience amusement when their child says something comical or they see a funny meme. Whatever it is that makes you chuckle, this happy emotion serves a few valuable purposes.
Aristotle considered amusement a type of relaxation. He contended that it serves this purpose by offering a bit of relief from whatever has been going on in our lives. And when our laughter is with others, it strengthens our bonds with those people even more.
There are also several health benefits of laughter. It decreases stress hormone levels, improves immune system function, and increases the secretion of endorphins, the latter of which can help when we're feeling uncomfortable or depressed.
The American Psychological Association defines hope as the expectation that an experience will be positive, or that negative or threatening situations will either not materialize or work out in a favorable way. Hope is what we have when we envision a brighter future.
Hope can also help us through hard times, even improving our wellness at the same time. For example, one study involving 101 people newly diagnosed with cancer found that those with hope had greater levels of well-being and improved psychosocial outcomes.
When we see other people being the best versions of themselves, we are often inspired to be our best. Whether we witness them display high moral character or perform with excellence or mastery, we connect the greatness in them to the potential for greatness in ourselves.
Inspiration helps us grow and develop both personally and professionally. With each challenge that we face at home, socially, or at work, we are inspired to continue to push forward in an effort to meet our needs and achieve our goals.
Something may cause us to feel awe when it pulls us in and brings us a sense of connectedness to something bigger than ourselves. Grandiose goodness or beauty, like a view of the starlit sky from a remote place, can stop us in our tracks as we feel overpowered by wonder and respect. Awe transforms our view of the world and our place in it.
When you experience awe, you also likely experience:
•Altered perception of time
•A diminished sense of self
•Feelings of connectedness
•Perceived vastness
- Derrick Carpenter
It’s important to note that while both feelings are positive emotions, they stem from different sources and have varying impacts on our mental well-being. Joy often emerges from personal growth and self-realization. Happiness, meanwhile, seems more dependent on outside factors playing out favorably.
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Mar 1, 2023 · Published: March 1, 2023 12:13pm EST. Joy triggers this kind of big smile, known as the Duchenne smile. Look Studio/ Shutterstock. Read more: Joy is very different from our other emotions.
