“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.” – Aristotle

Prior to studying positive psychology, I thought happiness was simply about feeling pleasure and enjoyment. It turns out there’s more to it than being a positive emotion.

We all want and strive to be happy, to live a happy life. And we want happiness to last and not simply be a fleeting emotion that we keep chasing after day after day.

In the article I wrote: The 3 Factors Influencing Your Happiness & How To Be Happier, According To Research, I discussed the factors that affect our levels of happiness and how to become happier by performing wellbeing promoting activities.

Apart from knowing the factors that impact how much happiness we experience, it’s also helpful to learn about the two kinds of happiness and which one we should focus on cultivating to create a happy, healthy, and flourishing life.

The 2 Types Of Happiness

Rooted in ancient Greek philosophy and later on studied and researched by psychologists, particularly by Carol D. Ryff, there are two kinds of wellbeing or happiness:

1. Hedonic happiness or Subjective wellbeing
2. Eudaimonic happiness or Psychological wellbeing  

Subjective wellbeing (hedonic happiness) equates happiness with pleasure, comfort, enjoyment, and evaluating life as satisfying. Because of its focus on how much positive emotion we experience in the moment, hedonic happiness is more short-lived.

Essentially, anything that makes you feel good, brings you pleasure and promotes positive emotions can be considered hedonic happiness—for example, eating your favourite meal, drinking champagne while partying with friends, dancing while listening to your favourite song, going to an amusement park and enjoying the rides, watching your favourite movie or play, shopping at your favourite boutique, getting a massage, etc.

On the other hand, psychological wellbeing (eudaimonic happiness) equates happiness to the meaning and fulfilment that we get from life. It goes much deeper than a momentary experience of bliss.

This type of happiness (also known as the 6 components of wellbeing) is brought about by our:

• Relationships – the depth of connection you have with other people
• Self-acceptance – how much you know and accept yourself, including your limitations
• Personal growth – to the extent that you make use of your talents and potential
• Environmental mastery – how well you manage your life situations
• Purpose in life – feeling that your life has meaning, purpose and direction
• Autonomy – you view yourself as living in accordance with your personal beliefs

Eudaimonic happiness or psychological wellbeing may not always give us pleasure or cause positive emotions. Still, because it’s meaningful, it makes us feel fulfilled.

For example, helping a struggling family member financially, volunteering or doing charity work, starting a business that utilizes your talents, having a deep conversation with a friend in distress and making a decision that goes against other people’s expectations of you. Choosing to express yourself authentically and not succumbing to family and peer pressure and studying a course that benefits your personal and professional growth can also cause eudaimonic happiness.

Which type of happiness should you cultivate?

From the descriptions of the two types of happiness I’ve provided, it’s easy to see that cultivating eudaimonic happiness or psychological wellbeing can bring about long-term happiness and more fulfilling life.

Although, it’s also important to note that there’s nothing wrong with indulging in activities that make us experience hedonic happiness. (As long as it doesn’t lead to addiction or anything that will negatively impact us and others).

Moreover, eudaimonic and hedonic happiness can overlap and be experienced at the same time when we engage in activities that we not only find pleasurable and enjoyable but also contribute to our sense of purpose in life.

For example, suppose you find teaching enjoyable and helping others provide you with a sense of purpose and meaning. In that case, you will experience both eudaimonic and hedonic happiness whenever you volunteer to teach less fortunate children or migrants to learn English.

So, how can you develop eudaimonic happiness and have high levels of psychological wellbeing?

Again, the ancient Greek philosophy can teach us how:

1. First, know yourself
2. Then, become what you are

It’ll be easier for you to become what you truly are when you know yourself and accept yourself fully with all your complexities. (e.g. your strengths and weaknesses, what makes you happy and what causes you suffering, the positive and negative sides of you, what you find meaningful, what you value).

As a result, you’ll have deeper relationships with the right people and not sacrifice authenticity to be accepted. You’ll work on honing your talents and reaching your potential. In the process, you continuously grow and offer the world what is best within you.

Moreover, you’ll make life choices aligned with your own beliefs, values and what you find meaningful, not what others tell you. And in doing so, you give yourself the power and freedom to manage and create an authentic and meaningful life.

Key Takeaways

• Having deep roots in ancient Greek philosophy, the two types of happiness or wellbeing are hedonic happiness or subjective wellbeing and eudaimonic happiness or psychological wellbeing.
• Hedonic happiness is about the pleasure, enjoyment, comfort and positive emotions we feel in the moment.
• Eudaimonic happiness consists of the six components of wellbeing – relationships, self-acceptance, personal growth, environmental mastery, purpose in life and autonomy. It’s deeper and more meaningful than short-lived hedonic happiness. To develop it, we must know and accept ourselves and then work on becoming what we are.
• Hedonic and eudaimonic happiness can overlap and be felt at the same time when we engage in activities that we not only find to be enjoyable but also meaningful and purposeful.

Now It’s Your Turn

1. Reflection: Think of an activity that you find to be both enjoyable and meaningful.
2. Action Step: Spend time engaging in that activity this week and see how you feel or what impact it has on your happiness or wellbeing levels.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts. Which type of happiness do you experience more of, hedonic or eudaimonic?

References

Langley Group Institute. 2018. Key Theories: Subjective Wellbeing and Psychological Wellbeing. Sydney, Australia: Langley Group.

Ryff, C. (2013). Psychological Well-Being Revisited: Advances in Science and Practice. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. doi: 10.1159/000353263. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241300/