Sustainable Happiness Research Articles

Resilience Promoting Happiness: An Attempt to Explore Interdependence

The focus of the paper was to evaluate the elements that foster resilience and also to investigate its relationship with happiness. The review of the literature was conducted using terms “resilience concepts” OR “promoting resilience “OR “promoting resiliency” andresilience and happiness.” .The literature search was conducted through online databases (Google Scholar, Research Gate and Shodhganga), keeping in consideration the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 1283 studies were reviewed and finally 57 studies were included in the systematic review after fulfilling the inclusion criteria. The existing research highlights the concept of resilience and the significance of resilience and happiness, which are essential components of positive psychology, in enhancing an individual's overall well-being. The review highlights how resilience can serve as a mediator in the attainment of sustained happiness, while happiness can bolster resilience through its impact on mental health and adaptive capacities. The findings indicate a positive correlation between the two variables. The paper also put forth many limitations while analyzing the existing literature, like use of self-made measuring scales, shortage of longitudinal studies, publication bias, etc. Furthermore, it also suggests future studies in the said areas, keeping in mind the existing limitations

Pembentukan Kecerdasan Emosional Melalui Pendekatan Sa`Adah Mutawazinah Di Sekolah

Emotional intelligence is an individual's potential to improve the individual's emotions. Meanwhile sa`adah mutawazinah is an approach to counselling that involves a balance between the world and the hereafter in an individual's life. The formation of emotional intelligence through the sa'adah mutawazinah approach in schools not only provides students with a deep understanding of the emotions of themselves and others, but also has a significant impact in strengthening the balance between aspects of the world and the hereafter. This article aims to determine the formation of emotional intelligence through the sa approach. `There is mutawazinah at school. This article is included in the library study. Data collection techniques are through books, journals and other documents. The results obtained are that with the sa'adah mutawazinah approach in schools, emotional intelligence is emphasized to achieve harmony between happiness in this world and the hereafter. This education emphasizes Islamic values, including empathy and self-control. The key to success lies in the integration of Islamic principles, the development of emotional values, and parental involvement, paving the way for sustainable happiness in this world and the hereafter.

Towards Sustainable Happiness: Examining the Impact of CSR on Employee Well-Being

Abstract The main interest of any company is to make as much profit as possible. But, in addition to economic considerations, it is also necessary to take into account the social context in which these companies operate, as well as the well-being of their employees. Now, when stress and burnout are more and more present among employees, the need for a balance between private and personal life is more and more evident. The happiness of employees is closely correlated with the efficiency they offer in solving work tasks, so it is desirable that the work environment ensures their well-being. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between organizational culture and corporate social responsibility (CSR), but also the impact of the latter component on employee happiness. Using Smart PLS on some ordinal data obtained from a questionnaire that intended to obtain answers regarding organizational culture (clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy) as well as the balance between personal and private life, adaptability to change and occupational health and safety (elements that comprise CSR) and the happiness of individuals, the positive effect generated by CSR on happiness was found.

Understanding the factors supporting language teachers’ sustained motivation until retirement

AbstractWhile many language teachers leave the profession early, others thrive and teach until retirement. Understanding how these teachers maintain their passion can help identify the support needed for their personal and professional growth. However, research on the factors behind their sustained happiness in the teaching profession is limited. The main objective of this qualitative study was to explore the beliefs and career stories of three recently retired German language teachers in Norway, recognized for their long‐term motivation and effective teaching over several decades. Data were generated from in‐depth semistructured interviews and analyzed through the lens of self‐determination theory. The analysis revealed that the teachers shared several key characteristics. First, they enjoyed a high degree of autonomy related to the choice of subject content and teaching approaches. Second, they perceived themselves as highly competent in the subject and expressed a passion for it. Third, they cherished being with students and managed to establish good relationships with them. The findings suggest that teachers should be aware of their basic psychological needs and reflect on how they can be fulfilled. Furthermore, school administrators should foster trust in teachers as autonomous professionals and actively support their competency development and relationships with students and colleagues.

An Analysis of Education Implementation for the Improvement of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) of Pre-service Science Teachers: Focusing on the Integration of Sustainable Happiness and Complexity Theory – A Secondary Publication

In this study, class demonstrations conducted integrating science education and ‘Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)’ by preservice science teachers were analyzed, focusing on the concept of ‘sustainable happiness’ and the main elements of ‘complexity theory.’ In addition, changes before and after participating in such education implementation were analyzed from various angles. Through this, preservice science teachers tried to derive implications for developing multidimensional teacher professionalism in ESD. The main findings are as follows. First, as a result of peer evaluation of class materials and class demonstrations designed by preservice science teachers, the average of the integration for ‘sustainable happiness’ was relatively high. Next, it was analyzed that the elements of ‘sustainable happiness’ and ‘complexity theory’ generally had a positive correlation with ESD. In addition, after participating in the study, preservice science teachers considered individual and social behavioral patterns as important in the sense of ESD. Regarding the need to integrate science education and ESD, preservice science teachers thought it was necessary to deal with the concept of ‘sustainable happiness’ in science education to understand a sustainable way of life. It was analyzed that the elements of ‘sustainable happiness’ and ‘complexity theory’ generally had a positive correlation with ESD. It was found that preservice science teachers’ confidence in incorporating ESD in science classes was significantly higher after participation in the study. In addition, it was analyzed that preservice science teachers have come to think more about the role of teachers who can communicate with students and think about happy lives together than before. Overall, it is thought that preservice science teachers have come to think of multidimensional science teacher professionalism by applying the perspective of the teaching and learning strategy of the new ESD, which integrates the concept of ‘sustainable happiness’ and elements of ‘complexity theory.’

Leisure and Happiness of the Elderly: A Machine Learning Approach

Leisure activities play an important role in improving happiness levels for the elderly. The purpose of this study is to explore leisure-related factors that affect the happiness of the elderly using machine learning algorithms. For this research, the 2019 National Leisure Activity Survey released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea, was used to analyze the data of 1769 elders over the age of 65 among 10,060 men and women aged 15 years and older in 17 cities and provinces nationwide, and it went through the process of data preprocessing, data segmentation, prediction model construction and evaluation, and model tuning. According to the findings of the study, the main factors predicting the happiness index of the elderly were leisure life satisfaction, leisure time, whether to use public leisure facilities, leisure policy satisfaction, and leisure activity companionship. The overall findings of this study imply that exploring sustainable policy towards the achievement of sustainable happiness for the elderly is important. Based on these results, policy measures to improve the happiness level of the elderly were discussed.

Mental Illness as a Predictor of Subjective Happiness Among University Employees Working in Hawai'i.

The World Health Organization adopted happiness as an indicator of societal progress in addressing conditions that directly affect psychological well-being and recommended communities address the determinants and obstacles to subjective well-being. Therefore, we conducted an online survey, informed by the Sustainable Happiness Model, among university employees that measured life circumstances (sociodemographics) and intentional leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity as potential predictors of subjective happiness (assessed using the Subjective Happiness Scale [SHS]). The multiethnic sample (N = 85) primarily included those who identified as White (44%), Asian (33%), and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (16%). The most prevalent age range was 41 to 50 years (31%), and 55% of the sample identified as female, 78% as faculty, and 22% as staff. Reporting a current mental health condition had significantly lower SHS scores compared to all other factors. Future research should explore interventions to support and improve university employee's mental health and overall well-being. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 62(5), 39-48.].

Developing ‘Happiness Engineering’ Subject for the Schools in India: Designing the Pedagogical Framework for a Sustainable Happiness Curriculum

The aim of this research was to develop the ‘Happiness Engineering’ subject by designing a ‘sustainable happiness curriculum’ and ‘pedagogical framework’ for the schools of India by adopting the whole school approach. Happiness Engineering subject is modelled like any other traditional school subject, e.g., History, Chemistry, or Computer Science. The researchers have prepared it by adopting the scientifically proven ‘global best practices’ exercised in different schools, colleges, and university departments across the globe in ‘sustainability education’, ‘adjectival education’, and ‘well-being education’. It has been adapted and contextualised to be implemented in Indian schools by considering the available infrastructural resources in existing Indian schools and bearing in mind the feasibility of its effective transaction. Experiences of 129 experts from India that included senior secondary school teachers, school counsellors, pedagogical scientists, learning theorists, health experts, people from NGOs, and professors of education, were used to modify and contextualize the prepared curriculum framework for the ‘Happiness Engineering’ subject to effectively cater the needs of Indian senior secondary school students.

Project Unplug - A Personal Reflection on Rediscovering the Joy in Being Online

In 2021 I realised that large swathes of the Internet were making me sad. I resolved to do something about it. The result was a focused, intense process of finding the mechanisms by which I could optimise my relationship with the online world. I resolved to focus on those things that brought me sustained happiness, as opposed to those things that merely offered transient pleasure. I ripped toxic websites out of my life, and limited my exposure to those I regarded as merely hazardous. The result was a battle to regain joy I once experienced in my online leisure activities - to regain my focus on electronic common ground, as opposed to digital battle grounds. Few technologies have reached so deeply into our lives - and into our sense of self - as the modern Internet. Social and psychological defence mechanisms that evolved for the context of a tribe simply do not survive at Internet scale. For all that social media is designed to link us together, in many ways it only serves to push us apart. This paper is a personal, autoethnographic reflection of how 'Project Unplug' was conceptualised, prepared, and executed over 2022. The specific combination of online vectors that were the cause of my unhappiness are unique to me. This paper though outlines a hopefully valuable approach to creating our own digital rituals and rites so as to create strong, inviolable limits on the extent to which the Internet might erode our personal happiness

Positive Experience Design Strategies for IoT Products to Improve User Sustainable Well-Being

Although the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology has benefited the progress of social life, the relentless pursuit of technological advancement cannot definitely lead to a sustainable increase in customer pleasure and happiness. During the design phase, happiness is often overlooked. Therefore, the objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to provide a comprehensive overview of the importance of sustainable happiness for the IoT product design and to propose 15 positive experience design strategies that can improve user happiness; and (2) to apply the 15 design strategies to the IoT product design practice and validate whether they can effectively guide the designers’ work. The research procedure consisted of four steps. First, qualitative data for developing the design strategies was collected through bibliometrics and expert interviews. Second, the propositions of the design strategies were reviewed, analyzed, and constructed using the qualitative research software program NVivo 20. Third, two researchers categorized the 15 strategy concepts into the four directions of positive experience design approaches for the IoT products. Fourth, we conducted a two-week design workshop to validate the feasibility of the design strategies. The results indicate that the 15 design strategies can effectively guide designers to create ideas that prioritize user well-being and allow for creative exploration in various directions. This paper enriches the IoT product design methodology, which can enhance the users’ sustainable pleasure, future goal achievement fulfillment, and social relationship well-being in the IoT era.

Savoring as a Predictor of Happiness and Positive Affect among Adolescents

Across the globe the nations are trying to explore and identify the strategies which
 would help in enhancing the positive affect leading to ultimate happiness in each and
 every stratum of the society specifically among adolescents. Positive Psychological
 Interventions (PPIs) such as mindfulness, savoring, gratitude, kindness, empathy,
 meaning, flow exercises etc. are being applied to generate positive feelings and to
 attain the goal of sustainable happiness and well-being. Savoring is believed to be one
 such strategy in positive psychology which has shown promising effects in enhancing
 happiness, positive affect and reducing negative affect. The present study comprising
 of 300 (N=300) adolescents from the state of Haryana (India) made an attempt to
 explore relationship between savoring, happiness, positive affect and negative affect.
 Savoring Beliefs Inventory by Bryant (2003), Oxford Happiness Questionnaire by Hills
 & Argyle (2002) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule by Watson et al. (1988)
 were applied to measure the variables. Savoring emerged as a significant correlate
 and predictor of happiness and positive affect among adolescents

문화예술교육이 삶의 행복에 미치는 영향에 관한 탐색적 연구

This study focused on individuals' lives in terms of happiness and aimed to explore the role of cultural and arts education in enhancing personal happiness. To do so, the study utilized Seligman's theory of PERMA, which suggests five elements necessary for sustained happiness enhancement. The research findings revealed the following: firstly, in terms of “Positive Emotion”, arts education was found to foster positive emotions such as joy, excitement, warmth, confidence, trust, optimism, and hope. It was observed that individuals grew through encouragement from peers who learn together with a strong will. Secondly, in terms of “Engagement”, arts education was interpreted as creating significant satisfaction or immersion to the extent that individuals lose track of time. Thirdly, in terms of “Relationships”, arts education played a role in increasing trust not only in oneself but also in learning companions through the process of socializing with others. Fourthly, in terms of “Meaning”, it was confirmed that music and arts education, rather than providing momentary pleasure, led to emotional responses and a sense of values in life, fostering self-esteem. Lastly, in terms of “Accomplishment”, arts education was found to contribute to actively seeking and achieving personal happiness, acquiring a sense of accomplishment.

Functional connectivity profiles of the default mode and visual networks reflect temporal accumulative effects of sustained naturalistic emotional experience

Determining and decoding emotional brain processes under ecologically valid conditions remains a key challenge in affective neuroscience. The current functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) based emotion decoding studies are mainly based on brief and isolated episodes of emotion induction, while sustained emotional experience in naturalistic environments that mirror daily life experiences are scarce. Here we used 12 different 10-minute movie clips as ecologically valid emotion-evoking procedures in n = 52 individuals to explore emotion-specific fMRI functional connectivity (FC) profiles on the whole-brain level at high spatial resolution (432 parcellations including cortical and subcortical structures). Employing machine-learning based decoding and cross validation procedures allowed to investigate FC profiles contributing to classification that can accurately distinguish sustained happiness and sadness and that generalize across subjects, movie clips, and parcellations. Both functional brain network-based and subnetwork-based emotion classification results suggested that emotion manifests as distributed representation of multiple networks, rather than a single functional network or subnetwork. Further, the results showed that the Visual Network (VN) and Default Mode Network (DMN) associated functional networks, especially VN-DMN, exhibited a strong contribution to emotion classification. To further estimate the temporal accumulative effect of naturalistic long-term movie-based video-evoking emotions, we divided the 10-min episode into three stages: early stimulation (1∼200 s), middle stimulation (201∼400 s), and late stimulation (401∼600 s) and examined the emotion classification performance at different stimulation stages. We found that the late stimulation contributes most to the classification (accuracy=85.32%, F1-score=85.62%) compared to early and middle stimulation stages, implying that continuous exposure to emotional stimulation can lead to more intense emotions and further enhance emotion-specific distinguishable representations. The present work demonstrated that sustained happiness and sadness under naturalistic conditions are presented in emotion-specific network profiles and these expressions may play different roles in the generation and modulation of emotions. These findings elucidated the importance of network level adaptations for sustained emotional experiences during naturalistic contexts and open new venues for imaging network level contributions under naturalistic conditions.

Active Leisure Time Predicts Happiness among Iranian Adults: A Study Comparing Adults with Physically Active versus Inactive Lifestyle

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to have positive effects on mental well-being. However, previous research has mostly concentrated on the negative effects of inactivity on mental well-being and examined the use of PA as a preventive or therapeutic treatment for mental disorders, rather than a proactive method of enhancing mental well-being. Therefore, there is a need to consider the connection between PA and enhanced mental well-being, such as happiness. The current study sought to examine the levels of happiness among active and inactive adults. The study’s participants were Iranian adults between 18 and 60 years. Data were gathered using a modified version of the 29-item Oxford 2002 Happiness Questionnaire and a researcher-developed leisure and PA questionnaire. N = 541 individuals completed the online survey, including n = 373 (68.9%) women and n = 168 (31.1%) men. More than half of Iranians (55.1%) reported low or moderate levels of happiness, and that those who engaged in active leisure pursuits reported significantly higher levels of happiness than those who were inactive during leisure time. The results of this cross-sectional study suggest that engaging in PA during leisure time predicts happiness. Encouraging Iranian adults to be more physically active during leisure time could increase happiness levels and thus contribute to the sustainable happiness and well-being of society.

IMPACT OF MINDFULNESS: A PERSPECTIVE OF TEACHERS OF DOE

The department of education (DoE) of the government of NCT of Delhi (GNCT of Delhi) introduced Happiness Curriculum and Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) in all government schools in 2019 for classes Nursery to VIII, and IX to XII respectively. Both curriculums have a strong component, Mindfulness; the state of being conscious or aware of the present moment. This is an ancient technique of meditation that somewhat differs from meditation and was discovered by Gautam Buddha more than 2500 years ago. The sole purpose of this component in both the curriculum is to teach the students to ensure harmony within their inner self, discover their self in the process of learning, and grow their self to achieve sustainable happiness from momentary happiness. To know the impact of mindfulness in students’ lives in the offline and online mode of teaching, an online survey was conducted by the State Council of Education Research and Teaching (SCERT), New Delhi among the students, teachers, and parents of DoE. This study presents the analysis with the help of statistical techniques such as mean, median, and mode of the teachers’ observations through the questionnaire on the impact of mindfulness on the students’ behavior and their learning process. More than 1400 teachers who are teaching approximately 70 thousand students participated in this survey. The insights drawn from this analysis are discussed in detail in the result section of the study which shows the positive and effective impact of mindfulness on students’ behavior and their learning process.

TO STUDY THE ROLE OF AYURVEDA ON MICROBIAL LOAD FOR IMPROVING THE TASTE

The term Ayurveda comprises two words – ayu (life) and veda (knowledge), thus, deals with various aspects related to health and wellbeing in their diverse aspects, such as happy life, sustainable happiness, and longevity (3). According to Ayurveda, there are three fundamental states of a being such as the physical (including physiological), mental, and the spiritual.In the present article we are discussing the role of ayurveda in improving taste.

Prospective associations between coffee consumption and psychological well-being.

Prior work indicates a robust relationship between coffee consumption and lower depression risk, yet no research has examined links with psychological well-being (e.g., happiness, optimism). This study tested whether coffee intake is prospectively associated with greater psychological well-being over time. Secondarily, associations in the reverse direction were also examined to determine whether initial levels of psychological well-being were related to subsequent coffee consumption. Among women in the Nurses' Health Study, coffee consumption was examined in 1990 and 2002 in relation to sustained levels of happiness reported across multiple assessments from 1992-2000 (N = 44,449) and sustained levels of optimism assessed from 2004-2012 (N = 36,729). Associations were tested using generalized estimating equations with a Poisson distribution adjusted for various relevant covariates. Bidirectional relationships were evaluated in secondary analyses of baseline happiness (1992) and optimism (2004) with sustained moderate coffee consumption across multiple assessments through 2010. Compared to minimal coffee consumption levels (<1 cup/day), moderate consumption (1-3 cups/day) was unrelated to happiness, whereas heavy consumption (≥4 cups/day) was associated with a 3% lower likelihood of sustained happiness (relative risk, RR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.95-0.99). Only moderate coffee consumption was weakly associated with a greater likelihood of sustained optimism (RR1-3cups/day = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.00-1.06). Secondary analyses showed high levels of optimism but not happiness levels were modestly associated with increased likelihood of sustained moderate coffee intake (RRoptimism = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02-1.10; RRhappiness = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.99-1.04). Associations between psychological well-being and coffee consumption over up to two decades were largely null or weak. Although coffee consumption may protect individuals against depression over time, it may have limited impact on facets of psychological well-being.

Investigating Sustainable Education and Positive Psychology Interventions in Schools Towards Achievement of Sustainable Happiness and Wellbeing for 21st Century Pedagogy and Curriculum

The aim of this paper is to investigate sustainable education and positive psychological interventions in schools towards achievement of sustainable happiness and well-being for 21st century pedagogy and curriculum. The growing awareness that sustainability, happiness, and well-being are intertwined takes the discussion of happiness and sustainability to newer levels. Even though scholars and governments are now grappling with questions about policies for sustainability, happiness, and well-being, the general public may not be aware of these connections and none of these topics are well integrated into formal education. Nevertheless, the necessity for transforming education to play a leading role in sustainable education has never been more imperative, and thus it has been taken up extensively in this paper. The concept of sustainable happiness offers an innovative perspective to reinvigorate sustainability education and shape priorities for 21st century learning: contributing to resilient, sustainable happiness and well-being for all. The education sector, however, is conservative and slow to adapt. The author recommends that happiness should be an aim of education, and a good education should contribute significantly towards personal and collective happiness. Broadening this recommendation to consider sustainable happiness and well-being for all is an overarching aim that could assist to reimagine the role of education in the 21st century and serve as the foundation for setting new priorities.

Effects of knowledge sharing on sustainable happiness of preschool teachers: The mediating roles of self-efficacy and helping behavior

Effects of knowledge sharing on sustainable happiness of preschool teachers: The mediating roles of self-efficacy and helping behavior

Neuropsychology of Happiness

The empirical exploration of the construct of happiness has offered several conceptual inputs regarding its operationalization, nomological network and its process nature. It has also provided a number of theoretical explanations of happiness and techniques of fostering happiness. While recognizing such contributions, the present article goes beyond these parameters and identifies neural correlates of human happiness. Drawing on the contemporary brain imaging studies, the article delineates the role of middle prefrontal cortex, the left and right middle frontal gyruses (LMFG and rMFG). It is accentuated that the ratio of left to right activity in the MFG marks a brain signature for happiness. In this context, the role of amygdala and hippocampus is also discussed. Finally, a number of lifestyle changes are recommended for promoting sustainable happiness.