The document discusses theories of happiness and presents a new model called the construal model of happiness. The key points are:
1) Traditional theories view happiness as determined either by life circumstances (bottom-up) or temperament (top-down), but the construal model integrates both by proposing that objective circumstances only impact happiness through subjective construals and interpretations.
2) The construal model holds that people are happier when they interpret their life circumstances in an optimistic way, regardless of the actual circumstances. Subjective appraisals correlate more strongly with well-being than objective factors.
3) While temperament contributes to happiness, the document argues that intervention studies show unhappy people can increase their happiness