Happiness
What makes a person happy? If people want to be happy— and few people proclaim their desire to be sad
—should they seek money and professional success? Many experts in fields such as sociology, psychology,
and public policy are attempting to answer this seemingly simple question of what makes people happy
and how communities, social organizations, and employers can facilitate happiness by implementing a few
simple strategies. In this new field of happiness studies, some intriguing answers are beginning to emerge
about what makes people happy. Surprisingly, they support the longstanding hypothesis that money
cannot buy happiness.
One of the chief obstacles to happiness is referred to as social comparison. When people compare
themselves to other people, they prefer to see themselves as in some way superior. In an experiment,
social scientists asked whether people would prefer earning $50,000 per year while their peers earned
$25,000 per year, or whether they would prefer earning $100,000 per year while their peers averaged
$250,000 per year. Even though people would earn more in the latter scenario, most chose the former as a
consequence of their desire to see themselves as more successful than others. Thus, a simple way to
increase happiness is for people to reject the urge to compare themselves to others based on their finances
and to live within their means.
Another way to increase people’s sense of personal happiness is for them to be true to themselves and
keep their personal sense of integrity. While this advice may seem rather trite, people who respect and
follow their authentic desires generally report being happier than people who do not. At its core,
authenticity implies discovering and pursuing what we care about most deeply. He further explains the
reciprocal relationship between happiness and authenticity: As much as authenticity contributes to the
pursuit of happiness, then, happiness in turn contributes to identifying our authentic selves. When people
limit their personal desires in order to obtain certain goals, they may achieve greater financial success but
actually end up unhappier
Finally, sometimes people benefit from social rules that encourage them to improve their lives, even when
these laws cost more money. While few people enjoy paying taxes, some taxes make people happier
because they improve the overall quality of people’s lives. In their study of smoking and cigarette taxes,
Gruber and Mullainathan conclude that taxes may affect the happiness of former smokers (by making it
easier to resist the temptation to resume smoking) or prospective smokers (by making it easier to never
start smoking in the first place)”. This example demonstrates how a society’s rules can lead to the general
happiness of its populations, even though the apparently negative practice of increased taxation. Taxes also
contribute to the funds available for other social purposes, which proves further justification for their use.
These are merely three ways that scholars of happiness studies
KELLY LAZO KL have determined that people can employ to enhance their
personal happiness. People should avoid comparing themselves to
AUTHOR
TEACHER others financially. They should seek to live as their authentic
selves in their personal and professional lives. Furthermore, they
Sep 16 7:03pm should welcome rules, laws, and even taxes that increase the
Discussion general happiness of the population. Everyone says they want to
Discussion Topic:
CAUSE/EFFECT Essay
be happy, and happiness studies are helping people learn how to
ARW3sampleEssay.docx lead happier lives rather than to passively expect happiness to
This topic is closed for comments. find them.
Monday, September 16, 2024
