Category: Happiness

Happiness is acquired after the successful achievement of individual values. It is a conscious state that stems out of morality. It can also be defined as a state of satisfaction with life.

It is a joy that is not earned through guilt or which does not clash with ones values. On the other hand, morality can be defined as the state of being upright. It is acquired from living according to the moral standards and values of a society.

To be moral is to shun away immoral behaviors such as drug abuse, burglary, theft, among others. There exist a positive relationship between morality and happiness. Many philosophers hold that happiness results from morality. It is a virtue that is achieved after living uprightly.

Most immoral people find it difficult to be happy because they live with fear of what might happen to them or to their families. This paper will look at the meaning of happiness and morality, the relationship between morality and happiness and why many philosophers hold that in order to be happy, one has to be moral.

Happiness

Happiness is the satisfaction of rational wishes; it is a state of joy which is achieved after being successful with ones mission in life. It is achieved at the clutch of emotional whims. Happiness is a state of being contented with life and the progress one is making in life.

One can never be happy if he lives in denial of who he/she is or if he/she is not ready to accept the kind of life he is living. It is not something that is given but it is earned. No one can give us the satisfaction we want unless we are ready to do something so as to achieve our values and purpose in life.

When one is happy, one feels good and at peace with himself, and with other members of the society. If a person does not recognize his purpose in life, he can never be happy with what he does (Annas 75). Everyone has a vision or a dream that he want to accomplish in life, if he finds himself on the path of achieving this dream, he feels contented and happy with his efforts.

A robber can never be happy with the injuries sustained or the fear he lives with. This is because he tries to live in an unjust manner by taking other people’s property. One can never be happy at the expense of another person. In happiness there should be no victims or conflict of interest.

According to Annas (117), an individual’s life is surrounded with suffering and happiness. While happiness is a state of being successful, suffering is a signal of failure.

Suffering comes about when one feels disappointed with life or when one fails to achieves his values. Happiness is measured by the success of productive work whereas suffering results from destruction of values. If one tries to live beyond what he can afford, he can never be happy because he will always be aiming at high goals which may not be achievable.

It is good to understand that, for one to be happy, he must set realistic and achievable goals which he will be able to achieve within a given time limit. Happiness is the highest purpose that one can ever live up to. It is the ultimate value of life which is pursued as one tries to maintain his life. It is a reward earned after achieving rational goals that makes life worth living.

Morality

Morality is a good judgment of behavior that distinguishes between good and bad decisions, actions, and general way of life. A moral is a good teaching within a moral code that defines how people should live.

On the other hand, immorality is an opposition of what is moral or of the morality. It is a violation of the expected behavior in a society or community. Morality refers to cultural value or code of conduct that differentiates between what is good or bad.

It also refers to what is right or wrong irrespective of what other people think. People are expected to follow the moral code regardless of what they think should be right or wrong. Not all people are able to live to the expectations and more often than not most of them divert from the morals (Hare 56).

If all people lived according to the moral codes, there would be no immorality in the society. The term morality is derived from societal norms; it cannot be defined in definite terms because it depends on the circumstances surrounding a particular situation. Morality is defined in three concepts, that is, in terms of behavior, responsibility, and identity.

Today, morality has become a complex issue that has become difficult to understand or comprehend. It defines how we should behave in the society without causing harm to ourselves or others. There are certain behaviors that are not only detrimental to ourselves but also to the people who live around us.

All of us are expected to be responsible and accountable for our actions so that they do not harm anyone. We should follow our conscience in all our actions and decisions.

It is in morality that we get the principles that help the society to survive. Many people believe that, morality is a religious act although that is not true because everyone is supposed to observe a certain moral doctrine.

Morality ensures that, people live in harmony with one another and treat each other with respect. It is also through morality that we are able to maintain a good relationship with our creator. Morality plays a huge role in our everyday decisions, it makes us good not only to ourselves but to the people around us (Hare 60).

These decisions originate from our conscience which directs us to do good. We should therefore let our conscience decide for us and we should never go against it. Morality creates a happy society, one that respects the rights of people. If we all follow our conscience, then there would be no trace of immorality because people would always be living to their expectations.

Morality and Happiness

As we have seen above, morality results from doing the right things, things that matter to us and those that give us satisfaction. We should all aim at pleasing ourselves and the people related to us.

By doing this, we become happy and contented with our lives. Happiness is as a result of success that is earned after working tirelessly. One can never be happy if he does not want to work. Through moral codes and societal values, we learn how we should behave and this gives us satisfaction.

One cannot be moral and expects to be happy. Some behaviors such as drug abuse interfere with our conscience making us do some actions that we would not do if we were sober. These actions haunts us when we become sober depriving us off the opportunity to be happy.

A person may think that, by taking another person’s property, he will acquire the satisfaction he needs, but this is not the case, because one is left with guilt that haunts him for the rest of his life making him unhappy (Adams 27).

Many philosophers hold that, in order to be happy we must live our life. Life existed before we came into being, and it will be there long after we are gone. We should therefore live as we are and transmit the consecrated live to others. We all have a desire to live and the fear of death.

We feel as if we will live a void after we die and that’s why we find ourselves working hard to ensure that such a void will not be left. Every one of us has a very short period to live; we should therefore ensure that we live happily. This cannot be achieved if our actions and decisions are not thoughtful of others.

Happy living is associated with morality; this has resulted into human civilization. Human beings have created an ideal idea of what it means to be happy. It is not living according to our ancestors that will make us happy but according to human civilization.

Many things have changed which requires an upright mind to recognize them and to act positively to them (Annas 45). With technology, some moral codes have eroded and others have come up, for instance, we do not have to give a seat for an elderly man in a bus because there are so many buses carrying people.

Happiness is the food to our life and it gives us direction. When we are happy, we get motivated to work more productively in order to be even happier. It is through happiness that we get the desire to help other members of the society to achieve their goals. It also directs us on the path to follow for more satisfaction hence we become successful in life.

It is the significance which we affix to happiness that causes our life to be splendid. The moral pretense we live in creates in us a concealing outfit that directs the contemplation of our acts.

“With rare hypocrisy, we find moralities upon principles of duty, of justice, of love, of the fear of heaven, and of hell” (Anon 8). By stripping them, we find the factual purpose of life; that is the look out for happiness. There is a certain group of people in our communities who have not been able to find happiness because of immorality.

They indulge themselves in immoral behaviors such as robbery and prostitution to earn a living. Even though they are able to meet their basic needs, they can never be happy because they are not fulfilling their purpose in life.

Conclusion

In authenticity, man feels affection for and lives in this world only through and in support of happiness. By changing his responsiveness, he develops his feelings and does well instead of being immoral which turns out to be one of the indispensable states of his happiness. If the standard of happiness gushes out from personal awareness, it will protect us from dissatisfactions.

The belief of happiness from time to time occasions decent frustrations but at least happiness has a positive discrimination towards honesty and the vigor of a universal and unavoidable law.

Happiness depends primarily on the honest thoughts, for that reason, let us grant happiness candidly the foremost place, since, triumphantly, it has refused to accept and is defying all the endeavors to suppress it. I am happy because I believe I am moral. However, this does not mean that I have fully succeeded in life.

I am in the process of fulfilling my purpose in life and this gives me satisfaction. The desire of my life is to achieve the highest level of education which will enable me acquire a decent job with a decent salary. With this, I will be able to look after my family and the less privileged members of the society.

Works Cited

Adams Merrihew Robert. Finite and infinite goods: A framework for Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Anon. The morality of Happiness, 1914. Web.

Annas, Julia. The Morality of happiness, Oxford Scholarship online. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Hare, John. The Moral Gap: Kantian Ethics, Human Limits, and God’s Assistance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Introduction

Social discrimination is one of the oldest vices that have spurned all ages of human civilization. The concept of social class has continuously evolved from the ancient feudal system of social discrimination to the modern day social class discriminations. People are victimized based on their social status in society. Parameters, such as education levels, economic status, and political status, are used to classify people into various groups. Persons are categorized into three groups, i.e., low, middle, and high classes (Savage, 2000).

The low class has people who occupy the least privileged positions in society, while the high class is typified by persons who occupy the most privileged positions in societal ladder. Within these stratifications, there are many inequalities because the upper-class people oppress the low and middle classes (Rothman, 1999).

The constant conflicts among the classes are responsible for the social unhappiness that is prevalent across the world. This research paper seeks to answer the following question: What is the relationship between one’s social class and his or her overall happiness?

Literature review

Injustices associated with social stratification are galore. Many authors have delved into this area of research, trying to understand what leads to social classes and the effect of such classes on the social well-being of society. Eitzen and Johnston (2007) argue in their book, Inequality: social class and its consequences, that low class people are always under oppression by the high class members.

The book authors contend that the oppression of the low class leads to limited access to basic human needs, such as healthcare and education. Upon analyzing the book, one gets the impression that social inequalities keep on rising exponentially, with the gap between the rich and the poor widening at an alarming rate.

Eitzen and Johnston (2007) claim that society seems to be blind to the social injustices faced by low class members of society. The high class has adopted attitudes that put the low class at the risks of total suffering, while putting the middle class on the verge of extinction.

The problem of social stratification is rampant in the developed nations, just as it is in the developing world. In the United States, for instance, the gap between the rich and the poor has been on the rise and the government seems to be doing very little to curb the sad realities of the situation.

In his book, Race, Gender, sexuality and Social Class: Dimensions of inequality, Ferguson (2012) takes a step to give a relatively wide perspective on the concept of social class and class inequalities. The book alludes to the other realities of social class, whereby people are subcategorized on the basis of their gender, race, and sexuality. Racial discrimination is a problem that people have been experiencing since the beginning of humankind. Sadly, the problem continues to negatively impact current societies.

In the United States, for example, race is a reality from which no one can hide. Racial discrimination forms the main basis for social stratification among people within the same economic class. The racial conflict between the African-Americans and the whites is a classic example of the social discrimination that exists between people of different racial descents.

The new gilded age: the critical inequality debates of our time by Grusky and Kricheli-Katz (2012) provides literature that highlights the worsening situation in the United States as far as the gap between the rich and the poor is concerned. The book provides possible solutions to the problems of economic inequality in the United States of America. Grisky and Kricheli (2012) identify other socio-economic concepts that are related to social inequalities, such as imbalances in wealth distribution and limited access to social amenities.

Many schools of thoughts have explained the causes of social class and social injustices. Rothman’s book, Inequality & Stratification: Race, Class, and Gender, gives a clear view of the causes of class systems and inequalities. It clearly outlines that race and gender differences are not only some of the causes of class stratifications, but the main causes of the many problems that typify citizens. The book also highlights some of the implications of social inequalities, especially in the context of economic growth of nations.

According to Butler (2007), inequality can be associated with politics and poverty. The author argues that politics bring about inequality. In his book, Understanding social inequality, the author contends that inequality culminates in poverty. Without access to factors of production, people in low class are further marginalized, and this sustains a vicious cycle. Butler (2007) has summed up the ideas of influential people on this topic, bringing out the issues more vividly.

Data and Methods

Sample Size

The proposed study should have a sample size of two thousand (2,000) participants, who will be selected randomly from a cosmopolitan city, such as New York. The city of New York is a perfect place in which to carry out the research because it can act as a sample to the entire US population dynamics.

Methods of data collection

The most appropriate methods of collecting data in this type of study would be interviews and questionnaires. Questionnaires are particularly useful because they are easy and cheap to administer. However, questionnaires cannot be applied when respondents are illiterate. Interviews can be very expensive because they require traveling to collect data.

Theories of social injustices

Sociologists have devised different approaches in an attempt to understand various social phenomena. The analysis of social problems can be viewed from a micro-perspective or a macro-perspective, depending on the approach taken by sociologists. Today, three main theoretical perspectives have been identified as the tools for analyzing social phenomena.

These are the “symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalists’ perspective, and the conflict perspective” (Bottero, 2004, p. 123). In relation to the question of social class and inequalities, the conflict perspective becomes the most appropriate paradigm to be used in the analysis of the phenomenon (Bottero, 2004).

Conflict perspective

The paradigm gained popularity after the introduction of the Carl Max’s theory of class struggles. Unlike the other three perspectives, the conflict perspective challenges the status quo by advocating for social change by whatever means possible, even if it takes a social revolution to achieve the goals.

The theory states that rich people impose social order on low class people. Hence, conflict will always erupt between the two social classes. The current version of the conflict perspective has been expanded to include other sources of social discrimination, such as gender, race, religion, political affiliation, and sexuality (Savage, 2000).

Conclusion

In conclusion, with an in-depth analysis of class systems and social classes, it is clear that human beings are social beings that behave the way they have been oriented. It is also apparent from the discussion that high levels of poverty that are experienced today are due to social stratifications. Finally, it is worth to note that gender and race are core causes of inequality and class systems.

References

Bottero W. (2004). Stratification: Social division and inequality. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Butler, T. (2007). Understanding social inequality. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Eitzen, D. S., & Johnston, J. E. (2007). Inequality: Social class and its consequences. London, United Kingdom: Paradigm Pub.

Ferguson, S. J. (Ed.). (2012). Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Social Class: Dimensions of Inequality. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Grusky, D., & Kricheli-Katz, T. (Eds.). (2012). the new gilded age: the critical inequality debates of our time. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Rothman, R. A. (1999). Inequality & Stratification: Race, Class, and Gender. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice.

Savage, M. (2000). Class analysis and social transformation. New York, NY: Open University Press.

The World Happiness Index (WHI) was created by the United Nations to measure the distribution of happiness, or subjective well-being, across the world [1]. Six variables are used to evaluate the level of well-being in every country, including log GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support, generosity, freedom to make life choices, and perceptions of corruption [2]. This paper seeks to address the influence of these factors on the distribution of happiness.

To what extent does GDP affect the happiness index?

It is well-recognized that the log GDP per capita data is useful to assess economic prosperity of any given country. This variable allows the researchers to evaluate the status of the economy since it is the estimation of the value of all products and services a company creates. GDP levels have a direct impact on people’s lives and the WHI as a result. The higher log GDP per capita is, the healthier the country’s economy is. In this paper, the researcher evaluates the effect log GDP per capita has on people’s well-being.

To what extent does life expectancy affect the happiness index?

Life expectancy is used to assess the quality of life and the accessibility of healthcare. Higher life expectancy means healthy populations, accessible healthcare, and higher quality of life in general. As such, this variable introduces physical well-being and health as the determinants of countries’ happiness index. Countries with higher healthy life expectancy are rated higher in the WHI.

To what extent does the social support affect the happiness index?

For people, social support is another major factor which determines the level of happiness. This factor implies that social ties, or having relatives and friends one can rely on if needed, are among the factors which determine happiness [1]. If an individual has no one to count on in times of trouble, they are likely to feel depressed and miserable. The researcher’s aim is to evaluate the effect of social ties on the country’s performance in the WHI.

To what extent does generosity affect the happiness index?

In the context of the WHI generosity is understood as the readiness of people to donate money to charities in relation to GDP per capita [1]. Generosity is directly related to prosperity and is one of the factors which can be used to evaluate people’s happiness. Therefore, this paper seeks to address the relationship between prosperity, generosity, and the WHI.

To what extent does the freedom to make life choices affect the happiness index?

Freedom is one of the fundamental factors which affect happiness in different countries. Each person wants to have some level of control over their life and make their own life choices. Freedom means opportunity: opportunity to travel, to vote and be elected, to participate in demonstrations, to choose a carrier, etc. The more opportunities there are, the better. In this paper, the researcher seeks to address the impact of this variable on the WHI.

To what extent do perceptions of corruption affect the happiness index?

Corruption in business leads to increased transaction costs and establishes such environment which negatively affects business performance due to inefficient nature of investments. Corruption in the government may lead to violations of human rights, social injustice, and poor economic performance. As such, both the government and business corruption is directly related to reduced economic performance and lower levels of individual happiness. Using statistical data, the researcher aims to assess the gravity of corruption in relation to the decreased WHI.

References

J. Helliwell, H. Huang and S. Wang. (2016). The Distribution of World Happiness. Web.

J. Hrala. (2016). The World Happiness Index 2016 just ranked the happiest countries on Earth. Web.

Introduction

The happiness index is a classic national parameter of well-being that summarizes information about the quality of life, civil rights, and economic opportunities of citizens within a country. In short, citizens of regions with a higher happiness index are themselves happier, and their quality of life is higher. For the present assignment, a data set was selected that assesses the consolidated happiness index in different countries according to several criteria over the past fifteen years. Thus, the chronological data allow us to evaluate not only the countries among themselves according to this criterion but also to provide the dynamics of the change in the happiness index within the country (WHR, 2021). Nine different types of variables are represented in the array, a description of which is indicated by Helliwell et al. (2021). Each variable assesses an individual measure of perceived and objective quality of life within a country, and their consolidation yields a single happiness index.

Data

In this paper, the key research question was to determine the relationship between two variables from this data set. Specifically, the first variable is the Life Ladder, which is the perceived standard of living as assessed by respondents. To obtain it, respondents in different countries were asked how they rated their quality of life on a ten-point scale, where 10 was the maximum level. The second variable chosen was “Freedom to make life choices,” which measures the extent to which respondents feel that their civic self-determination is essential and valuable. This criterion indicates the ability to make critical decisions in their lives independently without interference. This variable ranges from 0 to 1, where 1 is the strongest self-determination. Thus, the working hypothesis is that there is a strong positive correlation between the two variables, which means that an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the other.

Since the current data set included historical information, it was decided to pre-process it. To do this, all repeated entries for each country were excluded so that only one row remained for each country, with the most recent year of measurement chosen. The total number of rows (countries) in the data set was 163. In addition, additional variables that were not measured in this paper were removed. After these operations, it was found that for several countries, no data were available for recent years, so older data were used. Thus, the final data set was a 4×164 table and contained three types of records for each country, namely Year of Measurement, Life Ladder, and Freedom.

Methods

Statistical analysis was performed in this paper using the built-in functions of MS Excel. Elements of descriptive statistics included determining measures of central tendency and characteristics of the scatter of the data. Regression analysis was also performed automatically and included not only the determination of linear regression equation coefficients between the variables but also the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Analysis

Measures of central tendency were calculated for the distribution of the two variables. The Life Ladder was found to have a mean of 5.494 (SD = 0.086), and for Freedom, 0.787 (SD = 0.010). In addition, kurtosis values were also determined to be: -0.293 for Life Ladder and 1.753 for Freedom, respectively. The skewness values were -0.210 for Life Ladder and -1.210 for Freedom. In terms of data scatter, the IQR measurement showed that the data for Life Ladder had an IQR of 1.485 and Freedom 0.169. An interesting finding concerned the year of the last measurement – for developing countries, it was found that the last measurement was taken the earliest, 2006-2014, whereas, in developed countries, studies were taken almost every year. The results of the analysis of the descriptive statistics are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Results of Descriptive Statistics for Two Variables

The working hypothesis, recall, was the possibility of the existence of a strong positive correlation between the two selected variables. In addition, it was interesting to perform a regression analysis to try to assess the relationship between them. Using both types of tests at once was expected to not only determine the strength of the association between them but also to reveal the direction of this potential relationship. The results of the consolidated analysis are demonstrated below in Table 2.

Table 2: Results of Data Regression Analysis

Results

Turning to the results shows that the Pearson correlation coefficient for the two variables is 0.628. This value indicates the existence of a high positive correlation between Life Ladder and Freedom. Consequently, it is proper to emphasize that an increase in Life Ladder value led to a natural increase in freedom to make life choices by citizens. In addition, the results of regression analysis show, first, that the model constructed is statistically significant (p<.001). However, the proposed linear regression equation had an R2 value of 0.395 – meaning that only about 40 percent of the variance of all data in the distributions was covered by the proposed equation. According to the value in Table 2, the final regression equation can be formulated as follows:

The equation clearly shows that an increase in Life Ladder values for every one unit led to a 0.075 increase in Freedom values. Consequently, there was a positive slope between the variables, confirming their consolidated growth. Referring back to Figure 1 perfectly demonstrates the relationship described: the variables grow together, with the linear model not fully capturing the variation in the data.

Conclusion

In emphasizing the conclusion, it should first be noted that a high positive correlation was found between the two variables, which supports the stated working hypothesis. An increase in the ability to make critical decisions in life is strongly related to an increase in the perception of the quality of one’s own life, according to the analysis. Regression analysis showed parameters for this growth, but it is fair to note that the linear regression only covered about forty percent of all variances. The findings mean that if national leaders want to increase the happiness of their citizens, they should grant them more political freedoms. For future research, it would be helpful to expand the input metrics and conduct multiple regression analyses.

References

Helliwell, J. F., Huang, H., Wang, S., and Norton, M. (2021) Statistical appendix 1 for chapter 2 of world happiness report 2021 [PDF document]. Web.

WHR. (2021). Data Panel [PDF document]. Web.

Introduction

The secular worldview is the humanistic approach or an individual’s view of the world today. The secular worldview is an inconsistent array of parts, which provide the weakest worldview.

It is a form of religious worldview in which man is the overall measure that is; man is the ultimate judge of truth and also evaluates the values which are to be followed.

The secular worldview focuses on realism, and the secularists do not believe in supernatural or immaterial outcomes in their lives. Secular humanism, therefore, promises what it cannot achieve, since it centers on attaining earthly happiness only.

Discussion

Secularists mainly base their arguments using the scientific inventions and discoveries as their basis. This can be evident from the evolution and the discovery of other planets apart from earth.

Secularists try and give their case as to why they do not believe in the religious or Christian who believe God as the creator of the earth, and also believe that humans have a soul and spirit.

Today, there are many inventions and discoveries, from weapons of mass destruction to brain surgery, better farming methods and genetically modified organisms.

Weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons and the atomic bombs threaten the future nation peaceful coexistence. Why do we need to create weapons which are so destructive that we cannot be able to destroy?

Governments and countries all over the world are making bioweapons as if gearing up for a war. It has become evident that for a country to become a true super power, it must have nuclear and atomic weapons, and shut any other country that seems to have such technology.

This scenario does not leave an optimistic view in anyone’s mind of the world today. These weapons only show everyone’s obsession with the war that threatens to cause the highest number of casualties; incase war broke out.

In contrast, there are some remarkable, positive inventions with many breakthroughs in the medical field, computer world, the transport and many other fields. The many satellites in space, brain surgery, electric trains, and revolution in the agricultural industry just argue one’s case.

The world is working hard in trying to enhance the lives of its people. People have much fun nowadays due to the many discoveries in the world day. This shows that people have an optimistic attitude towards their future.

There has been a revolution in the political field, with the world moving away from the self-proclaimed leaders to leaders elected democratically. This has ensured that leaders are now answerable to their people for their actions; therefore, enhancing more order and sanity in the world.

People have moved from following blindly what their leaders say, to questioning the negative decisions if they believe them to be so. There is a court to try people suspected of committing war crimes, to help in enhancing peace all over the world both in the developed and the developing countries.

This paper helps argue the case that the world is trying as hard as it can, to ensure a brighter future for everyone; therefore, we are more optimistic.

Conclusion

In conclusion, secular world today is more optimistic than pessimistic. In this paper, it can be seen that, although we may be trying to self-destruct; we have so many other projects and self-determination to make the world a better place for future descendants.

Despite this positive progression, man is building weapons of destruction such, atomic weapons, and nuclear weapons that could further implicate man’s happiness.

Introduction

One of the most important inner feelings in a person is happiness, mainly because happiness makes a person feel good and satisfied. Indeed, happiness is one of the emotions that people can find in many things, for example, in relationship with their families. Again, it is always obvious that when people do something good, they automatically tend to become happy.

People prefer to be happy because happiness provides them with many good results. To begin with, when one is happy, his or her health will improve, and this positive effect on health will probably lead to prolonged life. Happiness also provides protection against some serious diseases, for example, those who are always happy are less likely to suffer from diseases like heart attack or depression. Lastly, when someone is happy, it is always easy for him/her to make new friends, since happiness makes people look very attractive (Helliwell, 2008).

Besides, it is always true that those who are happy can easily help others, mainly because happiness brings satisfaction to people. Various factors make one to become happy. In most cases, people always consider money as one of the things that will provide happiness; however, this is not always the case.

In the subsequent sections, this paper will provide discussion on how gender, education level and the number of children influence happiness. Therefore, the paper will try to establish whether happiness is directly related to gender or education level and whether the number of children an individual has can influence the degree of his or her happiness.

Literature Review

Gender

Most of the recent studies have shown that there is great influence of gender on happiness (Simon, 2008). Happiness is a state of mind that many researchers always argue about – that anybody can be happy. Contrary to this statement, researchers have found that females nowadays are less happy than males (Helliwell, 2008).

In addition, studies have shown that married men tend to be happier than married women are (Easterlin, 2008). This is attributed to the fact that nowadays, the expectations put on women have increased, mainly due to the extensive and numerous empowerment programs accorded to women.

In the past, women were happy compared to men, but this has changed currently especially due to various marital conflicts facing women and men. Another factor that makes women less happy than men is the responsibility of taking care of children, which has always been reserved for women; this role increases stress in women, especially those whose jobs or careers are very demanding.

One of the arguments is that women have more intensive workload due to their empowerment; as a result, today’s women tend to work extra hard and extra hours, leading to no or limited time for others and their families, and consequently bringing less happiness to them.

According to Helliwell (2008), suicides, depressions, and self-destructive behaviors have risen among females recently, mainly due to the stressful life they tend to live. The argument is that as they play double roles of professional engagement and caring for family, they become very stressed and unhappy; indeed, those living in single parenthood are even more unhappy, as they do not have anyone to share family responsibility with.

Education Level

Most researchers have found that there is direct link between education and happiness. According to Roberts (2013), high level of education results to good living environment in terms of income, status, and even wealth which brings happiness. High level of education allows one to attain significant status in the society, leading to respect and happiness, which in turn leads to enjoyment of societal goods and resources.

In addition, those who have high level of education have more knowledge and they are more aware of their surroundings, thereby tending to enjoy most of the available resources. Besides, high education leads to possibilities of good employment and income, thereby making those who can afford education to be happier than those who are less educated (Verducci, 2013).

Overall, high level of education leads to higher income, which allows an individual to access most of things he or she desires, thus increasing happiness. Education level again has direct impact on the degree of happiness, mainly because high education is highly valued in the society, leading to self-confidence, and consequently raising the status of those who have high learning status (Verducci, 2013).

The Number of Children

Different scholars have done research on the relationship between happiness and the number of children in different families. According to Easterlin (2008), the number of children a family has is inversely proportional to the level of happiness the family will enjoy; this shows that the higher the number of children, the less happy the family will be.

However, the birth of the first child always has a strong and positive effect on females’ happiness (Luis, 2010). On the male counterparts, the degree of happiness does not vary so much with the number of children unless they are helping the females to take care of the children.

Again, according to Gobbo & Raccanello (2007), the degree of happiness always reduces during development stages of a child up to the time the child reaches around 10 years. After teenage age, the degree of happiness increases steadily again in the family when the children have grown up.

It is also found out that the increase in number of children leads to lack of love in the family and later leads to decline in the degree of happiness (Luis, 2010). In some cases, having many children gives the parents, especially the female ones, emotional benefits, leading to increased happiness. Nevertheless, it is clear that increase in number of children lowers the degree of happiness, especially on the side of females (Gobbo & Raccanello, 2007).

Overall, it is important to note that the first child normally brings joy to the family, but subsequent children increase the level of stress in parents, leading to reduced happiness. According to Gobbo & Raccanello (2007), there is always a direct link between happiness and the physical health of an individual.

Hypotheses

There are three hypotheses that need to be examined. The first hypothesis is that females especially women are less happy than their male counterparts are, because happiness is an emotional feeling and females are more likely to be emotional most of the times compared to males. This always affects their happiness and with marital conflicts and childcare issues being their predominant roles, women are always likely to face more problems and challenges than men are (Helliwell, 2008).

The second hypothesis is that the level of education has direct effect on the degree of happiness. Those who have higher level of education are more likely to be happier than those who have lower level of education.

The last hypothesis is that increase in number of children is more likely to reduce happiness in people, because many children come with extra cost that must be paid, for example, school fees, clothes and foodstuff. This generally causes the affected families to have reduced happiness as they spend most of the time figuring out how to provide for the extended number of children (Easterlin, 2008).

As discussed above, happiness is an inner feeling and it depends on various factors. Although gender, education level, and number of children contribute to some degree of happiness, it is important to realize that thoughts and other feelings enhance peace of mind, leading to happiness (Luis, 2010).

Again, it is important to understand that wealth and money do not guarantee happiness, as one may have a lot of wealth, but live a stressful life due to social and emotional factors. Moreover, although the above factors (gender, education and children) tend to influence the level of happiness, one thing is for sure, that happiness is an individual choice and since it provides good health and well-being, it is critical that people be taught on better ways to find happiness (Easterlin, 2008).

Happiness requires making the right choices; for women, it is important that they lower their degree of expectations as well as change their thinking and attitudes in order to be happy. Males on the other hand should try to change their attitudes and thoughts on the values and ideas that bring about happiness, as this will enable them to become happy (Easterlin, 2008).

References

Easterlin, R. A. (2008). Life cycle happiness and its sources: Capabilities and happiness. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gobbo, C., & Raccanello, D. (2007). How children narrate happy and sad events: does affective state count? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21(9), 1173-1190.

Helliwell, J. F. (2008). Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Luis, A. (2010). Children and Life Satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(4), 523-538

Roberts, P. (2013). Happiness, Despair and Education. Studies in Philosophy & Education, 32(5), 53-475.

Simon, R. (2008, June). Who are Happier: Men or Women? Gender Issues, 25 (2), 141-143

Verducci, S. (2013). Happiness and Education: Tilting at windmills? Educational Philosophy & Theory, 45(5), 498-501.

Introduction

Time and again, it has been said that money cannot buy happiness. This notwithstanding, a critical analysis of the article “money-can-buy-happiness”, clearly shows that when used wisely, money can actually buy happiness (White, 2014). The following is a critique of the article.

Critique of the Article Money Can Buy Happiness

In the article, the author has given enough evidence to prove that money can be used to buy happiness. To support her claims, the author makes reference to research findings, some undertaken by very experienced research professionals in the field of psychological science.

The credibility of the evidence given by the author comes from the fact that she has quoted reliable findings by researchers from distinguished universities such as Harvard University and San Francisco State University. The quality of the article is further guaranteed by the fact that the findings of some of the studies used are based on practical experiments.

In a convincing way, the author has managed to bring out a number of arguments that show how money can be used beneficially. Go start with, the author feels that money should be used to buy moments rather than material possessions (White, 2014). Arguably, the use of money in this way can result in greater happiness. Although some people have doubts about this, spending money to please other people creates happiness.

As explained in the article, this is a fact that was established by Harvard University researchers through scientific experiments. This claim may also be supported by quotes from the bible which point us to the fact that it is more blessed to give than to receive. As pointed out by the author, it is also advisable to spend small amounts of money to generate happiness at different times. This is contrasted to spending heavily on one single item that only creates happiness for a brief moment.

Apparently, the happiness created soon disappears making an individual feel that the expense was not worthwhile. In the article, the author also quotes Ryan Howell, a renowned psychology professor whose research findings indicated that spending on what one likes causes greater happiness to an individual.

Evidence presented by the author of the article further indicates that it is more beneficial for one to spend his or her money with others rather than alone. While it is possible for a person to draw some happiness in what he or she likes to do, the greatest happiness comes from shared moments (White, 2014). In making this claim, the author makes reference to a finding by Gus Cooney, another experienced research professional.

Conclusion

Despite the allegation that money can not buy happiness, the article provides enough evidence to prove otherwise. It is actually possible for an individual to find happiness using his or her money.

To support her claims, the author of the article has provided convincing evidence based on solid and reliable research findings by different scholars. While it is practically impossible to get things done without money in the contemporary world, it is imperative to ensure that money is used to positively influence how we live and interrelate with one another.

It is, however, important to be cautious in the way that we use money to get things done. To a large extent, money must be used wisely if happiness is to be realized. Based on the evidence presented in the article, it is obvious that proper utilization of money can buy happiness. Consequently, people should be advised on how best to use money to gain happiness while benefitting others.

Reference

White, M. C. (2014). 5 Ways Money Can Buy Happiness, Backed by Science. Web.

The objective of the study was to determine whether the elderly in the nursing homes would prefer the introduction of gambling as a happiness stimulant. In addition, the researchers hoped to observe the effects of happiness brought about by gambling. According to Dixon, Nastally and Waterman (2010), researchers have proved that people are nowadays living more years than they used to live before. However, there is a need to identify some factors that promote the mental and emotional conditions of the elderly. Research conducted has shown that there are positive effects of gambling on the health of an elderly person. They noted that those who frequently gambled had good physical health, lower rates of depression and had a well supporting social life.

Yale News (2004) noted that there are relationships between good health and gambling among the elderly. This is because the elderly gamblers, unlike the younger gamblers who mix gambling with other activities like drug abuse and alcoholism, participate in gambling as a form of exercising. Therefore, gambling is a very important activity in the mental health of the elderly as it requires problem-solving skills and a higher level of concentration. In addition, elderly gamblers are active socially and this reduces rates of depression.

The actual research on the effects of gambling activities on the happiness of the elderly in nursing homes was conducted in a nursing home facility with a capacity of 159 people. Among the participants were four known gamblers. None of the four had previously shown signs of any mental illness despite all being above 80 years old. In the measure of happiness, expressions such as smiling and laughing were taken to mean happiness while others such as yelling, frowning and crying showed that the participant was unhappy.

The effects of gambling were assessed under four different conditions each day. The four conditions are baseline, stimulated gambling, 10 minutes after gambling, and 30 minutes after gambling. Each participant participated in gambling for 5, 10, and 20 minutes intervals. Observers recorded data in ten-second intervals. After the 10 minutes baseline, participants were allowed to play a simulated gambling game of their choice. The procedure was continued until all participants had been engaged in all four conditions.

The results indicated that three of the participant’s Donna, Lily and Fred chose gambling games most of the time. The three were observed to prefer gambling stimuli to people stimuli. The results further revealed that under the baseline condition the measure of happiness was almost zero. During the gambling process, all participants were observed to be very happy. The happiness was observed to remain during the first ten minutes after participating in the stimulating gambling game. 30 minutes after the game, the measure of happiness of the participant was observed to be near zero. However, no sign of unhappiness was observed among the three participants.

The findings of this research were important in measuring the happiness brought about by gambling. First, the gambling activities that the participants participated in were nonmonetary. Winning or losing had no emotional effect on the participant. According to Grant and Potenza (2004), elderly people are more likely to be affected negatively by gambling if they lose money while playing. To avoid such cases the researchers engaged the participants in free gambling games that only stimulated their minds. The methods of measurement of happiness used further stressed the need to introduce stimulating gambling games into nursing homes. This is because the results observed proved that old adults are happy when engaged in gambling games. To support this objective, the participants were known to be active in gambling and were old. Additionally, despite their old age none of the participants had a mental problem. The research failed to determine the effects of gambling on participants who had no gambling history. Further, the results showed that the participant was socially active while participating in gambling. Some of the activities that the participants were involved in while not gambling, were unhealthy, for instance, Dixon, Nastally and Waterman (2010) noted that the participants just sat and watched TV while others smoked. The elderly should exercise more at old age and avoid some behaviours which are unhealthy such as smoking.

Pierce and Cheney (2004) suggested that gambling is high-rate behaviour that stimulates and strengthens a person. When the activity is stopped the person continues to feel the effects of gambling. In addition, they also noted that losing during gambling makes one irrational and may lead to depression. However, the problem identified is not gambling, losing money is the main cause of unhappiness among gamblers. The introduction of gambling in nursing homes would bring about stimulating behaviour to the elderly.

In conclusion, the research recommends more researches to be carried out to identify activities in which the elderly can be involved to maintain good mental health. One of the activities identified is gambling. All the participants of this research were over 80 years old and none of them had a mental problem. However, the research failed to involve participants who had no gambling history.

References

1. Dixon, M.R., Nastally, B.L., and Waterman, A. (2010). The Effect of Gambling Activities on Happiness Levels of Nursing Home Residents.
2. Grant, J.E. and Potenza, M.N. (2004). Pathological gambling: a clinical guide to treatment. United States of America: American Psychiatric Pub
3. Pierce W.D. and Cheney, C.D. (2004). Behaviour Analysis and Learning. USA: Routledge
4. Yale News. (2004). Recreational Gambling Appears to be Associated with Good Health in Older Adults. Web.

The article written by Robert Biswas-Diener is aimed at examining the factors that influence a person’s life satisfaction. This term has often used as a substitute to the word happiness. Overall, this topic has been of concern to various researchers. In particular, the author argues that the influence of intelligence has often been overlooked by psychologists. In the writer’s opinion, people prefer to focus on those aspects that they can improve or at least change in some way (Biswas-Diener).

In turn, intelligence is a stable attribute of an individual (Biswas-Diener). It does not depend on the efforts of an individual. This is one of the reasons why the connections between happiness and intelligence are not examined more closely. To a great extent, this attitude can be regarded as a form of a bias. The author mentions that people, who have a low IQ, are more likely to experience significant variations in life satisfaction (Biswas-Diener).

They can also be described as mood swings. Admittedly, Robert Biswas-Diener mentions that these various can be attributed to various factors such as education and income level that are not dependent only on the intelligence level (Biswas-Diener). Nevertheless, the author argues that the relations between happiness and intelligence should not be overlooked. These are the main aspects that can be singled out.

This article can be related to several concepts that were covered in the book. In particular, one should mention such as notion as intelligence (Wade and Tavris 243). Overall, this concept can be described as the ability of a person to apply cognitive skills while using various types of information.

The examples provided in the book indicate that intelligence can be used as a predictor of a person’s future performance in various areas such as academic performance (Wade and Tavris 243). However, not much attention is being paid to its impact on life satisfaction. So, Robert Biswas-Diener’s throws a new light on this problem.

This issues discussed by the author can be discussed with cognitive psychologists who examine the nature of intelligence and its impacts on various behaviors of an individual. These professionals can tell how intelligence influences a person’s worldviews, attitudes, and his perceived well-being. Overall, the information that they provide can be of great use. This is one of the details that should be identified.

Additionally, it is necessary to examine such a notion as depression (Wade and Tavris 369). This term is used to describe the experiences of a person who is continuously overwhelmed by the feeling of anxiety, worthlessness, helplessness, and guilt. This psychological state is familiar to people who experience variability in life satisfaction (Wade and Tavris 369).

This is one of the challenges that they cannot easily overcome. Thus, this notation can be related to the content of this article. These issues can be better analyzed by clinical psychologists who study various aspects mental disorders and their underlying causes. Overall, they can tell how a person can overcome the effects of mood swings.

On the whole, these examples indicate that the chosen article can be related to various theoretical concepts discussed in the textbook. Moreover, they can be better understood by people who represent different branches of psychology. They can better explain complex connections between happiness and intelligence. These are the main arguments that can be put forward.

Works Cited

Biswas-Diener. “Does Intelligence Predict Happiness?” Psychology Today, 2014. Web.

Wade, Carole, and Carol Tavris. Invitation to Psychology, Fifth Edition, New York: Pearson, 2012. Print.

The pursuit of happiness is probably the main goal for each person on the earth. People have very different concepts on what can be considered real happiness. During the history of humanity, there existed outstanding people who put a lot of efforts into explaining this complicated notion of happiness. Among the most successful between them, Aristotle can be mentioned. In the following paper, his concept on seeing the good life in a life of intellectual contemplation will be discussed. Generally, evaluating the facts, it can be said that Aristotle’s concept of happiness is authentic, and happiness for a number of people is truly in acquiring knowledge, but this is not always true as there exist many other concepts of real happiness, and all of them are true for certain categories of people they address.

First of all, evaluating Aristotle’s conclusion that the good life is a life of intellectual contemplation, it can be said that this concept truly works for a number of people including scientists, philosophers and the other men of knowledge (Aristotle, n. d.). These people see satisfaction in acquiring more facts and understanding the world around them in a better way. In addition, knowledge and intellectual contemplation present the person with wisdom and shrewdness. These qualities, in turn, make the person’s life better, and make the person happier, as a result. This is the fact which was long ago confirmed by the person who is considered to be the wisest person of all men, King Solomon (Russell, 1930). Solomon who possessed all the riches of the world existing during those days, had hundreds of the most beautiful wives and concubines, had great and satisfying “work” so to say, had hundreds of children and saw all the wonders of contemporary world, said that happiness comes from intellectual contemplation and wisdom. However, there exist the other group of people for whom intellectual contemplation and knowledge present nothing more than burden and even grief. This is explained by their world perception and values. Of course, such people will never agree with Aristotle.

Speaking about the other ways of life that could bring happiness, the lifestyle of consumption comes in mind. This is how our modern world is built. Western values globally propagated among people assume seeing happiness in possessing material values, and the more the better. In addition, people see happiness in having good health and strong family with nice children. The other concept of happiness which is gaining its momentum nowadays is in being as beautiful as possible. People are ready to sacrifice everything including their health and even lives to look better (Baird & Kaufmann, 2007). The common concept of happiness existing among people for centuries can be seen in the following words by Baird & Kaufmann: “ most people would probably agree: for both the common run of people and cultivated men call it happiness, and understand by “being happy” the same as “living well” and “doing well” (2000, p. 56). The differences between the common person’s definition of happiness and the philosopher’s one area in their values as common people value material things, and philosophers value knowledge (Potkay, 2000). With regards to the branch of philosophy studying the issues related to happiness, it should be stated that it is metaphysics. However, the other branches also come across the problems of being happy or unhappy person. Among them are social philosophy and ethics.

In conclusion, happiness is a category which is defined individually.

References

Aristotle.(n. d.). Web.

Baird, F. E., & Kaufmann, W. E. (2000). Ancient philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Baird, F., & Kaufmann, W. (2007). Philosophic Classics, Volume III: Modern Philosophy (5th ed.). The United States: Prentice Hall.

Potkay, A. (2000). The Passion for Happiness: Samuel Johnson and David Hume. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Web.

Russell, B. (1930). The Conquest of Happiness. New York: Horace Liveright. Web.