Basic Concepts in Positive Psychology

“Subjective well-being is defined as life satisfaction, the presence of positive affect, and a relative absence of negative affect.” When measuring subjective well-being psychologists will access an individual’s life satisfaction level and the frequency of positive and negative emotions. Psychologists use self-reports to measure subjective well-being by having individuals do self-reports and questionnaires that range on a scale how much or little they are satisfied with their lives. “In current research, SWB is widely considered to have three primary components that are assessed by multi-item scales and inventories. These three components are life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect.” Satisfaction with life plus a positive or negative affect equals subjective well-being.
“What if we could be hooked up to an “experience machine” that would keep you in a constant state of cheerful happiness, or whatever positive emotion you desired, no matter what happened in your life.” As tempting as this machine and constant happiness seems I would not do it. Yes I do like being happy and cheerful, but I also think we must endure the negative to enjoy the positive. My first thought when I read this was; what if something happened to someone I love, would I be happy even though I am supposed to be in pain? I would much rather go through the pain and negativity of life to be grateful and happy in the end.
The hedonic concept of happiness is “a major element of what we mean by happiness in everyday terms: We enjoy life, we are satisfied with how our lives are going; and good events outnumber bad events.” On the other hand, “Eudaimonic concepts of happiness define happiness as a self-realization, meaning the expression, and fulfillment of inner potentials.” The difference between hedonic and eudaimonic concepts of happiness are: hedonic is when an individual experiences a high positive affect and a low negative affect; eudaimonic is when an individual experiences a...