Are “happiness” and “subjective wellbeing” really the same thing?
Yes. Happiness consists of emotional and cognitive aspects. For the emotional part, we use a popular and highly reliable measure called PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule).
The cognitive aspect of happiness is called life satisfaction. It is less transitory compared to emotional states, and it could be captured reliably with a few simple questions.
Measurements can be made even more precise and up-to-date by factoring in sleep, physical activity and heart-rate variability, all of which we know correlate with subjective wellbeing.
Most scientists use these terms interchangeably when they address lay audiences.
The word “happiness” is poorly defined.“Subjective wellbeing”, on the other hand, is an established construct in the fields of personality and social psychology.
There’s a reasonable scientific consensus about what it means exactly and how to measure it. The only problem is that “subjective wellbeing” is too long and awkward to use in non-scientific contexts.
Although there is no magic pill that will make you happy, there’s a lot you can do. New research based on machine learning and regression analysis of large dataset shows that the following factors are the most predictive of subjective wellbeing: control over the environment, self-esteem, purpose in life, positive relationships and stress reactivity.
So for most people, the ways to become happier would be:
- Solving the problems you have in your life.
- Maintaining healthy self-esteem and avoiding self-blame.
- Finding meaning and purpose in life.
- Improving the quality of relationships: work, romantic, family, friendships, and others.
- Finding ways to deal with external stressors beyond your control.
HappyHeroツ can help you with all of the above.
Is there a way to measure happiness?