Sources of happiness

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How happy are you? Photo: www.coproduktion.ch Attempts at solving this conundrum have fuelled more than 2000 years of debate among the world’s top thinkers. While consensus continues to be elusive, some modern-day experts suggest that personal satisfaction is the key to happiness. Ed Diener, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, has been studying happiness, or what he terms “subjective well-being,” for more than 30 years. “Subjective well-being is the scientific name for how people evaluate their lives,” explains Diener. “It is an umbrella term that includes the various types of evaluation of one’s life that one might make – it can include self-esteem, joy, feelings of fulfilment, and more. The key is that the individual is making the evaluation of life – not experts, philosophers, or others. Thus, the individual is the expert, who must ask: ‘Is my life going well, according to the standards that I choose to use?’” So, how does one determine his or her current subjective well-being? One key factor is to determine how satisfied one is with life, from a cognitive, rather than emotionally driven level. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), developed by Ed Diener and colleagues in 1985, is a five-item tool designed to measure life satisfaction as a whole. “Life satisfaction refers to a cognitive evaluation or judgment of one’s life. For example, ‘Is my life overall going well?’ People use information to make conscious judgments when they report satisfaction, whereas moods and emotions occur as ongoing reactions to current events,” says Diener. “The scale does not assess satisfaction within life domains such as health or finances, but enables subjects to integrate and weigh these domains in whatever way they choose.” Global Investor Focus asked five people of varied ages and backgrounds to complete the SWLS and to answer eight of our own questions about happiness. How satisfied are you with your own life? We invite you to take the SWLS to find out. Meyliana Ng Jim Rogers Burkhard P. Varnholt To the Satisfaction With Life Scale Sister Christine Gonzalo Arregui
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Sources of happiness

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