Preview

Pursuit of Happiness

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
991 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Pursuit of Happiness
Pursuit of Happiness
Antoinette Rosemin
PSY/220
February 24, 2013
Axia College of the University of Phoenix

Pursuit of Happiness
Individual all over the world have their own meaning of Happiness. Every culture has there on meaning and way of what happiness means to them. Happiness all depends on a person’s traditions, religions, and ways of living. For some, happiness could be waking up every morning spending time with family and friends and for others it could mean being loyal to their country, making money, and having nice things. Each and every person has their own perspective on happiness. It’s important to realize and note that the way of happiness is portrayed its difference.
People normally portray happiness with the perfect family setting, having a good job, and being wealthy and no one has any problems and everyone looks happy. This is what you would call a stereotype of what happiness looks like. Studies have shown that when you asks an American what is happiness or what makes you happy, people normally response is finishing school, finding and getting a job, providing and making sure their family is good, getting married, and or being successful. This would conclude that in American culture, it is more self-determination, looking out for their wellbeing, getting to know them and reaching for their own goals, positive self.
The factors were the main target of what happiness means to each different people. According to Steve R. Baumgardner and Marie K. Crothers (2009), 27% of people want to help others, those that are in need, serving their country, the other 47% said simply being happy no matter what they did make them happy because of to them happiness is there to be shared with others, as well as their own selves, and the material things are just a small part of their happiness. Being happy, having a positive attitude, and feeling good about the self are central values in American culture. The pursuit of happiness is described in the



References: Steve R. Baumgardner and Marie K (2009). Money, Happiness, and Culture. . Retrieved from eBook Collection database.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    CIS1A

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Happiness, I believe, isn’t just something that happens or comes. Roko Belic controversially argues in his documentary film Happy that poorer countries like India are easily surpassing the U.S. on a list of the happiest nations in the world. Happy begins with a poverty-stricken rickshaw puller in an Indian slum who claims to be happy, very happy, in fact. Director Belic takes us to various countries, examining different people in various economic situations, and with the help of some “happiness science,” evaluating their level of happiness. Throughout the movie, Director Roko Belic illustrates that it isn’t what we do that makes us happy, but it is the people and the relationships in our lives that brings us happiness and everlasting joy.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today’s society teaches people to be happy but in that, they focus on the material items to make them happy. Many people in the world define happiness as living a good life or exceeding the expectations of others. But happiness begins with finding what is within, what is one’s true desires in life. People focus more on the price of life than life itself, and they tend to make happiness out of material objects and then not being happy in the end.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Instead, we will look to a second definition of happiness by Miriam-Webster presenting a definition that more reasonably proposes that happiness is one’s position on life rather than a transient feeling. Miriam-Webster states that happiness is “a state of well-being and contentment.” By introducing this idea of well-being to an explanation of the inspiration of happiness, Miriam-Webster’s definition suggests that different elements, such as health and comfort, are required to create happiness. Many people over the course of history have attempted to define happiness, and some definitions are quite interesting, however, who is to say that any of the definitions are correct or incorrect? To answer the original question asked, “What is happiness?” there is no definite way to define happiness, especially not a definition that will be valid for every person. Happiness is something that is achieved, and once achieved, that person knows that something is different. It is something strived towards in our society because there are so many people facing adversity that many are unable to find their happiness due to their worries. In his book, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduces a type of society quite different from our own in which happiness…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pursuit of Happiness

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages

    "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness" by Jon Gertner was published in September of 2003. It is an essay that discusses the difference between how happy we believe we will be with a particular outcome or decision, and how happy we actually are with the outcome. The essay is based on experiments done by two professors: Daniel Gilbert and George Loewenstein. The experiments show that humans are never as happy as we think we will be with an outcome because affective forecasting and miswanting cause false excitement and disappointment in our search for true happiness.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The pursuit to happiness means different things to different individuals, such as the true key to one's pursuit to happiness. This can be a number of areas of life such as family, friends, and the true understanding of one's own self happiness. I believe that for some people material things can make them happy, but for only a short while. The true answer to an individuals happiness is knowing who you are and what really makes you happy deep down inside of your soul.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    First, what is happiness? Dictionary.com defines happiness as the quality or state of being delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing. To explain, this is an important thing to keep in mind when considering how happiness is achieved. Along with just being a feeling, happiness is the basis that this country was built on. For instance, as shown in Darrin M. McMahon’s…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Definition Of Happiness

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages

    First happiness helps helping. People who are happy tend to want to help other people than a person who is not. They are more likely to have spent some of their time or money helping others (Post). A way to increase happiness is by volunteering. People who donate to charity or spent money on gifts for others were found to be happier than those who did not spend money on others, and this was regardless of income level (Anik). While it has been assumed that giving also leads to greater happiness, this has only recently been started to be scientifically proven. For example according to actionforkindess.org, “when participants in a study did five new acts of kindness one day per week over a six-week period, even if each act was small, they experienced an increase in well-being compared to control groups.” Also “In another study, participant who were given five dollars or twenty dollars to spend on others or donate to charity experienced greater happiness than people given the same amount to spend on themselves” (Let’s put the things). The amount of money that the people were given did have anything to do with how much happiness they had. When someone is happy it makes them want to give more to others than when they are sad. This can lead to a higher tendency to give and so on (Vallant). This not only affects Americans but it is consistent across many different cultures as well. It makes sense…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    pursuit of american dream

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The pursuit of happiness is the American dream that every person in this country is driven to achieve. To succeed, this dream may take a few years of luck, or a lifetime of hard work. No matter what happens in this journey, the learning experience of gaining that happiness is what will be remembered the most.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pursuit Of Happ

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Jeffrey Kluger’s “The Happiness of Pursuit” published in Time Magazine, the author explains the American dream and how it’s based on money and success. Kluger also goes through a little of American history and what boosted their happiness back then. I believe that Kluger has some very strong opinion on happiness maters and I agree that happiness comes not from sowing but from reaping.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Pursuit of Happiness

    • 1888 Words
    • 8 Pages

    For countless ages the human race has had a deep connection with the wilderness, and many have found their way back to live off the land. It can be an escape for peace, and for introspection. For Chris McCandless, recently graduated from Emory University, it was not just a journey but more of a test of his self-worth. It was in testing himself that McCandless found his peace, but at a grave cost. His obsessions, with Jack London 's romantic wilderness and Leo Tolstoy 's moral standard, ultimately blinded him to the harsh and unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Chris McCandless found his happiness not in the trivial aspects of 'modern society ' but in escaping and losing his inner self.…

    • 1888 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Good Life Definition

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Happiness is a trivial term. Although the dictionary has a definition, happiness is an emotion which is similar to love, no matter how you define it, you cannot encompass all that the word means. Happiness is a matter of individual preference, what makes…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pursuit of Happiness

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Because happiness and feeling good about oneself is a part of the American culture, American Parents rear their children to think for themselves and pursue things that make a child happy or feel good about them; this perspective is consistent with subjective well - being (SWB), and that happiness is both…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before we go any further, let us first question what truly is happiness? Socrates who is known as the spiritual father of philosophy where by all school of thought rely on him said that happiness is being kept interested in the truth, making sure that the soul is as good as possible, For getting a good soul then one must maintain all four virtues including prudence, temperance, courage and justice.Aristippus who was a student of Socrates believed that we must seek external pleasures in order to be happy and not sad. He is the founder of hedonism which is a school of taught that argues that pleasure is the most important intrinsic good. Plato another famous student of Socrates said that the human soul consists of three parts: the reason, the will…

    • 1196 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading the essays in chapter two of America Now I feel the best ways to define happiness with the example essays I have chosen is that happiness is freedom, money, simplicity, and basically just enjoying the little things in life.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I noticed for many years I myself have also questioned what is happiness? I’ve seen happiness for those with money, status, and education. Does that define the role of happiness; whereas, I’ve noticed that materialism is the American dream for most.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays