My Happiness Orientation

In taking the short questionnaire in class, my results consisted of a score of twenty-five for pleasure, sixteen for engagement, and seventeen for meaning. In regards to whether I expected the results or not, I would not say that I necessarily expected them; however the scores do make sense to me when I think about them. I do tend to seek out pleasure and things that I find to be easy and relaxing or exciting and new because they bring about feelings of joy and can elevate my mood. I know for myself, I will try to maximize pleasure and eat a lot of unhealthy foods because they taste delicious, and I will watch shows or sporting events I know I enjoy and go to the movies in attempts to find something fun to do that provides feelings of pleasure. I do these things every day and of course, am seeking out pleasure every day and so to me it makes sense that for my happiness orientation the score of pleasure is the highest by a somewhat significant margin being eight points higher than the second highest.

For the second highest score of meaning or Eudaimonia, I know for me personally I struggle with feeling like my life has meaning and then at I am being true to myself. At times it is hard to know who I really am, am I the way I am because this is me or is this what society has molded me into. At times, I will question whether an activity I am doing is something I really wanted to do or something someone else wanted that I went along with. My friends say they love that I am adaptable and can change my opinion and what I like but to me it sometimes feels like I don’t really know what I want. Even know when I feel like I am finding what career I want to go into and try to do what I want to be more true to myself it feels odd at times. It also makes sense that it is low as I do not often volunteer or donate my time. Peterson stated working in a hospice or soup kitchen can bring a feeling of meaning for some (2006) but being in college and having a job and a two dogs and having to spend time with friends, do chores, and other responsibilities, donating time to a charity is not something I can often afford to do. I am kind and will help someone if I see they need help but it is not a significant amount. Eudaimonia was a much lower score then pleasure and for these reasons makes sense, however it still is above engagement because I want to be myself and make a difference and have importance in the world but I am still finding out and figuring out how to do that.

For my lowest score of engagement, I struggle with feelings of isolation a lot and it likely explains why I had such a low score for engagement. As well, I have GAD or generalized anxiety and socializing with strangers can be a nerve racking feeling which makes engagement more difficult for me then for most. I do tend to isolate myself but I receive engagement with the world from my friends and enjoy that time.

Two specific experiences that demonstrate pleasure for me in the past would be going to a LA Rams game and going onto the field after the game as well as going to see Avengers Endgame on opening day. For me these two events were very pleasurable and provided good feelings where time went by faster. With the Rams game I had never been on the field before so to be able to go onto the field with other Rams fans was a very cool and enjoyable feeling, and for the film Endgame, it was the culmination of multiple movies that I grew up watching and to see it come together the way it did provided rewarding feelings and joy. Peterson states when we remember experiences of pleasure we look at the peak and the end of the experience (2006), for me this is true as I remember both being very pleasurable experiences but in reality I know with both events I had stressors around me from it being a very cold day at the game and huge crowd and having a project due that night when I went to see Endgame, however I remember the positive feelings at the peak that both brought. The game and film did not bring about meaning to me but in those moments I was true to my inner self and did something I enjoyed and in doing so was around similar people who enjoy what I enjoy and experienced feelings of engagement with these strangers.

Overall, I am satisfied with pleasure being so high; however it would be nice to raise my scores of meaning and engagement. Peterson stated that some research has suggested that meaning is more important than pleasure for life satisfaction (2006). Due to this, since other scores can help raise life satisfaction and my overall happiness it would be nice to raise those scores, however I am also comfortable with pleasure remaining the highest score if that is who I am and what I enjoy, I love movies and sports and they bring me pleasure, and I am okay with that.

References

Peterson, C. (2006). A Primer in Positive Psychology. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press