happiness

Adaptation

The process by which people's reactions to good or bad events dampen over time, returning them to their original level of subjective well-being.

Bottom-up causes of happiness

Situational factors outside the person that influence subjective well-being, such as health, wealth, and external events.

Happiness

A popular term for subjective well-being that can encompass feeling good, being satisfied, or causes of high subjective well-being.

Life satisfaction

The degree to which a person judges their life as going well according to their own standards.

Negative feelings

Undesirable emotions such as depression, anger, and worry that people tend to avoid.

Positive feelings

Desirable emotions such as enjoyment and love.

Subjective well-being

The scientific term for happiness; feeling that one's life is going very well.

Subjective well-being scales

Self-report surveys or questionnaires in which participants rate their levels of subjective well-being.

Top-down causes of happiness

Internal factors such as a person's outlook or temperament that influence their happiness.