What exactly is happiness? According to Wikipeida, it is defined as being an emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. Many different people may have their own ideas on happiness. It is most commonly thought of as having a lot of money, power or fame. But can these things actually make people happy? Although this natural mood or feeling is desired by many people, some find it extremely difficult to obtain. Happiness is essential to our health and well-being. Happiness is necessary for a successful life. Happiness, though intangible, is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life. I tend to disagree more with George Loewenstein’s quote stating “a life that was constantly happy was not a good life.” I disagree with this statement for a few different reasons. First off, I believe that happiness is a choice people make with the attitude they have. Attitudes are evaluation statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. A person with a positive attitude is more likely to be happier than one with a negative attitude. Secondly, there are moderating variables that have been found to be the importance of the attitude. In the chapter it talks about important attitudes are one that reflect fundamental values, self-interest, or identification with individuals or groups that a person values. Moreover, attitudes that individuals consider important tend to show a strong relationship to behavior. Happiness and attitudes both tie into workplace behavior and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is defined in the book as a positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. Therefore, a person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive feelings about the job, while a person who is dissatisfied holds negative feelings about the job.
Happiness does ensure higher levels of productivity. In the chapter it talks about the effects of job...