Nature and Dynamics of Happiness: A Psychological View

Happiness is understood from different perspectives including emotional, psychological, sociological, political and environmental processes.However, here an attempt is made to interpret the nature and dynamics of happiness from a psychological perspective.In the bottom-up approach to happiness, the general environmental factors like family, marriage, education and income that contribute to happiness are studied whereas in the top-down approach the intra-individual processes that determine happiness are emphasized.It has been found that the major sources of variance of happiness rest with the intra-individual processes.A model of happiness that underlines the importance of cognitive processes, personality processes, motivation and emotional processes are suggested.Distinctive cognitions, specific personality traits, distinctive motivational processes and emotional paths make the individual happy.