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PART I
Happiness at its Core
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1
Internalizing Happiness
At Work and Anywhere Else
Joan Marques
Happiness: One Goal, Many Appearances
Arguably one of the most dramatic inconsistencies amongst humanity is its perception of happiness. While most people will say that they would just like to be happy, they pursue a plethora of other goals, such as wealth, fame, and prominence, and subconsciously substitute the achievement of these goals with being happy. Over time, there have also been numerous descriptions of happiness launched, equating this phenomenon with a variety of mental states, from elation and euphoria to contentment and wellbeing. There are definitions that mention success, safety, and luck in the same sentence as being happy. And this is exactly what makes defining happiness so complicated: it means different things to different people. To illustrate this, Bojanowska & Zalewska (2016) conducted a study amongst 785 individuals in Poland, in an effort to find out what concepts men and women generally associated with happiness, and to explore whether and how these concepts might be related to wellbeing. The study yielded that participants primarily associated happiness with health and relationships, and at a lesser stage also with knowledge, work, material goods, and freedom. Bojanowska and Zalewska’s study further found that people who associated happiness with work were generally more positive; those who associated it with relationships generally felt greater life satisfaction, and those who associated happiness with material goods noted lower satisfaction.
A Moving Target
Happiness has often been described as a moving target, implying that what makes us happy today may not mean much to us tomorrow. This makes sense when we consider that our mental states change over time, influenced by our surroundings, circumstances, and experiences. So, ideas of what would constitute a happy life at one time may widely differ from those at a later stage. In fact, even the notion of success, which is also associated with happiness, is a very subjective one. While a large number of people associate success with wealth, fame, or prominence, the ones who have accomplished those feats may differ in opinion when they reflect on the mishaps, health problems, or other sensitive losses they may be suffering. Easterlin (2002) posts a cautionary note when it comes to people’s perception of happiness over time. Focusing on the US society, he finds that when people progress in financial affluence, they perceive their happiness standards of five years ago as inferior to their current standards, whereas the opposite happens when their economic circumstances decline: then they perceive their happiness standards of five years ago as superior to current standards. This accentuates how closely happiness gets associated with economic wellbeing in some societies. And indeed, in a 2005 publication, Easterlin shares the opinion that he considers the terms well-being, utility, happiness, life satisfaction, and welfare interchangeable, but in a 2012 article, Raibley strongly opposes this notion, affirming that, while happiness can be an important determinant of wellbeing, it is conceptually, metaphysically, and empirically distinct from well-being.
Compartmentalizing Happiness
Happiness has also been compartmentalized. There are, for instance, descriptions of material happiness, physical happiness, sensual happiness (including mental happiness), intellectual happiness, and spiritual happiness (Limbasiya, 2015), indicating that one can be happy in one regard, yet not in another. Reviewing each of these compartments within a variety of Indian scriptures, Limbasiya (2015) finds that:
– material happiness implies that whatever makes our life convenient brings happiness, whether this is our food, car, traveling, partying, or anything else;
– physical happiness relates to the physical joys we aspire, whether in clothing, interacting, feeding ourselves, or other ways;
– sensual happiness relates to the five senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling, thus making this perspective of happiness particularly popular for marketers to entice the public with their products, with the interesting aspect of our mental state, oftentimes considered the sixth sense, as the controlling factor in how we choose to perceive things;
– intellectual happiness is described as a result of the ability to perceive similar experiences in either positive or negative lights, based on one’s intellectual stance;
– spiritual happiness dives into the query of one’s true self or consciousness, which is unselfish, and void of desires, wants, anger, lust, or ego.
Due to the fact that we harbor all these aspects within us, perceiving happiness within compartments becomes a complicated and confusing endeavor, especially when we consider that our intellect ultimately decides, on the basis of long term and short term aspects, what our course of action should be in any matter that we can exert influence on.
Individual versus Collective Happiness
Aside from the above described notion of happiness, which is more individual in nature, there is often also reference made to collective happiness. This phenomenon is usually considered in view of communities, and therefore measured in terms of social and economic welfare. Several authors (e.g. Diener et al., 2009; Kahneman & Deaton 2010) have pointed out, however, that economic aspects within a society affect satisfaction, but not necessarily happiness, which they relate more to social relationships. Evaluating the effect of the 2008 economic downturn on the citizens of Iceland, Gudmundsdottir (2013) substantiates this view, stating that, while there was loss of trust in local financial institutions (dissatisfaction), the social relationships (happiness inducing) in Iceland did not suffer from the economic meltdown, but actually became a support mechanism to cope with the economic catastrophe. Also considering happiness in a collective sense, Ott (2005) found that perceived inequality affects the sense of collective happiness in nations. This means that when there is a high level of inequality, collective happiness is lower than when there is a low level of inequality. According to Ott (2005), “[w]ealth contributes to higher levels of happiness and creates ample possibilities to reduce inequality in happiness, including possibilities like social security and transfers and subsidies to neutralize potential negative effects of more income inequality” (p. 414).
Wealth and Happiness
While many people will readily admit that having more money does not increase happiness, there is an interesting dichotomy visible in most of our actions. After all, even though we say that more money doesn’t bring more happiness, a statement that has been supported by numerous studies from economists, many of us hold multiple jobs, seek to do overtime, or find other means of supplementing our income, in order to gain a financially sound position in life. Lee (2006) examines this human contradiction, and comes to the conclusion that wealth does bring more happiness to people, otherwise they would not continue to try to acquire it after all the time we have been philosophizing about it. Lee questions the argument of some economists that citizens’ income should remain limited, based on their notion that more money doesn’t bring more happiness. He particularly has a problem with the economists’ reasoning that, in areas of increased earnings, taxes should be heightened in order for government spending to augment. At the same time, Lee admits that, in societies such as the US, higher average income over decades has not resulted in higher percentages of happiness. Reflecting on his own situation, he admits that, while his own bank account has tremendously grown since his student years, he doesn’t feel happier today than when he was a practically penniless student. Still, reflects Lee, it may be the practice of striving for more wealth that is the most appealing aspect in increasing happiness. Referring to the sense of accomplishment many people feel when reaching higher degrees of performance and earning, he concludes that this may be the manifestation of happiness so many of us pursue. Ahuvia (2008) largely agrees with Lee, adding that people at all income levels seem to be driven to earn more money, and that this may be motivated by something else than the mere pursuit of happiness. Ahuvia argues that there are three factors that lead us toward acquiring more income: 1) there is more at stake in working hard than just becoming happy, 2) we add immense value to the short-term benefits of being financially more affluent, and 3) we have a desire to maintain more resources than we really need, to be attractive, and to adhere to a positive identity within our social relationships. Ahuvia feels that each of these points, but especially the last, may explain the ongoing human quest to earn more money.
Happiness at Work: Possibility or Utopia?
When happiness is reviewed within the context of work, the elements that come to the surface are focused on making employees feel content enough to increase their productivity, maintain or deepen the team spirit, and refrain from leaving the workplace. Naturally, these elements are all directly related to the organization’s wellbeing: contented workers feel good about their current workplace, and will be more willing to cooperate with others, while chances are – albeit unconfirmed and sometimes even refuted – that contented workers may have a higher propensity to perform. Of equal importance is retention: keeping a decent existing employee at work prevents the time-consuming task of hiring someone new, finding out whether he or she fits within the culture, and teaching him or her the ropes all over again. Sethi (2016) underscores a point earlier made in this chapter, pertaining to the complexity of ensuring that each worker is happy, since people differ, and what may truly please one, another may not care for. Sethi shares a valuable piece of advice from Shawn Achor, a Harvard psychology researcher and author of The Happiness Advantage, entailing that we should never equate happiness to success, because success is definitely a moving target that redefines itself as soon as the previous success measure has been accomplished. Therefore, Achor suggests, happiness benefits more if it is unrelated to success, but rather offered in random ways and on unexpected, in-between days.
Sethi (2016) eloquently offers a series of considerations to increase a sense of happiness at work, varying from the maintenance of a satisfactory work-life balance where people feel that their time off is honored and even encouraged, to nurturing the organizational culture, which may change as an organization evolves, but should not be destroyed, and from keeping employees involved, since that enhances a sense of ownership and belonging, to promoting transparency, whereby people are not left in the dark about major developments in the organization; and from granting satisfactory benefits toward time off, health care, and retirement, to career support, where employees are assisted in their personal and professional development.
Uttley (2014) first underscores Raibley’s (2012) earlier shared opinion that happiness and wellbeing are interrelated but not the same. The main difference, as she explains, may lie in the fact that wellbeing is more perceived as a solid proficiency, which in the realm of work, is equated to decent healthcare and retirement accommodations, while she sees happiness as more transient in nature. Uttley subsequently expresses a sentiment similar to Sethi when she refers to flexible work schedules to enhance work life balance, and employee engagement to increase a sense of ownership. She also adds recognition to the list of happiness enhancers, and labels it a simple, yet often overlooked way of making immense progress in cultivating employees’ happiness levels at work. She warns thereby not to confuse happiness with job satisfaction either. Job satisfaction is job related, while happiness is a universal phenomenon, and transcends the bounds of work environments.
Saunderson (2014) adds some interesting aspects to consider when aiming to enhance workplace happiness. Providing people with work they love is a huge one, and not always possible, of course. But when and where it can be done, it is a major motivator and a strong source of happiness for employees. He also cites reputable resources that have commented on the business sense of keeping employees happy. There seems to be a clear correlation between happy workers and long life, better performance, and being better citizens, while it has also been proven that disengaged employees are very costly in multiple ways, such as spreading a negative atmosphere, oftentimes performing less, taking more sick days, and negatively affecting productivity. What should also not be underestimated is the fact that reaching out and helping colleagues at work is not only benefiting the receiver, but also the grantor. Finally, states, Saunderson, we should be aware that being happy enables people to learn better, which in return, enhances their chances to make career progress.
Reviewing the findings of a comprehensive study amongst more than 12,000 US and Canadian workers...
