Ways of being happy: Discerning sources of happiness among young adults and adults

Pages:208-213
Varsha Singh and Prerna Goyal (Department of Psychology, Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The present study was aimed at discerning the sources of happiness among young adults and adults. For the purpose, a sample of 20 individuals belonging to two age-groups: 18-25 years old and 40-55 years old was taken. Each group had 10 members with 5 males and 5 females. Each age group was assessed for their happiness and their sources of happiness, quantitatively with the help of Revised Oxford Happiness scale by Hills and Argyle (2001). Also, to further gain an understanding about the happiness and the sources of participant’s happiness, a list of subjective questions was prepared and the responses of the participants to each question was analyzed for themes and then interpreted for each group. The results indicated that older adults are happier with a mean of 53.70 on the Revised Oxford Happiness scale as compared to young adults with a mean of 37.40. From the qualitative analysis, it can be said that the ways, situations or the sources that makes others happy include a wide variety of sources, ranging from social relationships, money, success to good health, nature, etc.