Happiness among young adults: An exploratory study

Abstract

Throughout history philosophers considered happiness to be the highest good and ultimate motivation for human action, though its meaning and ambiguities have been the subject of intense philosophical and psychological debate (Halbfass, 1997). For instance, happiness can mean pleasure, life satisfaction, positive emotions, a meaningful life, or a feeling of contentment, among other concepts.One of the earliest thinkers on the subject of happiness, the pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus, maintained that the life was enjoyable, not because of what the person possessed, but because of the way the person reacted to his/her life circumstances (Tatarkiewicz, 1976). Incorporated in Democritus's definition of happiness were ideas about disposition, pleasure, satisfaction, and subjectivity. However, this view was buried for centuries as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle championed the eudaimonic (a worthwhile life) definition of happiness in which happiness consisted of possessing the highest goods available. Although there was little agreement among classical thinkers as to what the highest goods were, for Aristotle, they involved realizing one's fullest potential. Most important, this view defined happiness according to objective standardsliving a virtuous life according to standards set by other people. In contrast, Aristippus advanced an extreme form of hedonism, the unrestrained pursuit of immediate pleasure and enjoyment. This form of hedonism, of course being undesirable and impractical, led to a more moderate form of hedonism when the Epicureans sought to maximize pleasures, but with some degree of prudence. Stoics, on the other hand, sought to minimize pains. Jeremy Bentham's term 'utility', also with its roots in hedonism, later widened the meaning of pleasure to include benefits, advantages, profits, good or happiness and the absence of failure, suffering, misfortune or unhappiness (Tatarkiewicz, 1976). Borrowing from Bentham, modem economists believe that people make choices designed to maximize utility and happiness, and thus various productsfrom automobiles to soft drinksare advertised and sold as means to achieve happiness.Happiness is one of the great and pervasive themes of Indian thought, evidenced in the Vedic literature. Upanishadic sages understood ananda (bliss) as the original condition of human beings. Let all people be happy (Sarve bhawantu sukhinal) has been the highest ideal of human life. Sukhamthe Sanskrit equivalent of happiness (su = plenty, kham = space), indicates that the state of happiness is a natural state of (limitless) space. The Caraka-Samhita (or Ayurveda), the ancient work on the Hindu system of medicine, described the concept of sukhswarup (happy life). In daily life the younger1 greetings are responded with the blessings as khush raho' (be happy) by the elders (Srivastava & Misra, 2003). Thus the Indian tradition, in general, has recognized the natural desire of all human beings to be at every stage and in every aspect of life.The western philosophical views have also been paralleled in Indian thought. For example, there is an exclusively materialist view in the Indian tradition, popularly known as Chaarvaaka Philosophy, according to which fulfilment of desires, particularly of sensory nature, is the sole criterion of well being that leads to pleasure orientation (Kirankumar, 2003). This is the 'hedonistic perspective', which is quite similar to Greek philosopher Aristippus and such practice can still be seen in contemporary times. This system of philosophy never gained prominence in ancient India. However, in contemporary times we see that there are many indicators to say that it is taking hold of the Indian psyche.A second perspective, which is quite opposed to this, is the 'transcendent perspective' (Kirankumar, 2003). It is the ideal upheld by the Indian tradition as the ultimate in well being. Happiness and well being according to this view is subjective in the sense that they do not depend on any objective conditions of reality, including one's state of body-mind also. …