Happiness: An overview and the ways of enhancing it

Pages:583-586
Arti Gupta (Department of Psychology, G. M. N. College, Ambala Cantt, Haryana)
Dinesh Singh (Scientist C, 33-SSB, Selection Centre Central S.I. Lines, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh)

Happiness is the most valued virtue of human life as everyone wishes to have a happy, peaceful and contented life. The article provides the overview of the concept of happiness as the subject matter of positive psychology. The article summarizes diverse definitions of happiness given by various authors and philosophers to provide a holistic understanding of the concept. It also covers the sustainable happiness model (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005) for explaining three major determinants of happiness i.e. set point, circumstances and intentional activities. Finally, the author has suggested some intentional cognitive and behavioural activities for stimulating and enhancing the inner virtue of happiness on the basis of existing researches and his own personal life experiences.