happiness

The term happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.[1] It is also used in the context of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, eudaimonia, flourishing and well-being.[2]

Since the 1960s, happiness research has been conducted in a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including gerontology, social psychology and positive psychology, clinical and medical research and happiness economics.

It is the subject of debate on usage and meaning,[3][4][5][6][7] and on possible differences in understanding by culture.[8][9]

The word is mostly used in relation to two factors:[10]

the current experience of the feeling of an emotion (affect) such as pleasure or joy,[1] or of a more general sense of ’emotional condition as a whole’.[11] For instance Daniel Kahneman has defined happiness as “what I experience here and now”.[12] This usage is prevalent in dictionary definitions of happy.[13][14][15]
appraisal of life satisfaction, such as of quality of life.[16] For instance Ruut Veenhoven has defined happiness as “overall appreciation of one’s life as-a-whole.”[17][18] Kahneman has said that this is more important to people than current experience.[19][20][21]