Assignment on Psychology (PDF)

PSYCHOLOGY

The term happiness has a number of definitions, depending upon the context, persons
and the situations concerned. As early as in the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle has cited a
saying that “Call no one happy until he’s dead,” and goes on to explore the concept, as
initially brought to light by the Athenian statesman Solon (Kenny, 2016). However, one thing
is common among all the definitions that are the existence of a positive emotion or the
positive impact. Over the years, these definitions have constantly changed depending upon
the current sense of the world by the humans. The notion is more or less linked to the other
concepts such as the “aims” to achieve something, the individual “wants,” the belief that
something or an experience is “worthwhile,” and the sense of the “enjoyment” or
“welcoming” of the certain things over the others. The essay is aimed at exploring the
concept of happiness in light of the role of positive psychology. The essay further highlights
the application of the various techniques of positive psychology and the conclusion over the
same.
In everyday terms, the happiness is referred to as the subjective well-being and is
defined as the one's own judgement of his or her life. There have been prescribed a number of
economic and social indicators, which measure the happiness and satisfaction levels.
However, these measures are inadequate and misleading, because a large number of factors
contribute towards a person’s happiness. Majorly, the concept of happiness is categorised into
two parts, namely the Hedonic happiness and Eudaimonic happiness (Disabato, Goodman,
Kashdan, Short & Jarden, 2016). The hedonism states that the chief goal of life is the pursuit
of happiness and pleasure. Thus, the hedonism does not takes a broad view of the concept of
happiness and is focussed on the short-term goals and pleasures. In the words of Aristotle, the
Eudaimonic concept of happiness deals with the expression and the satisfaction of the inner
potentials and is on the lines of the self-realization. Thus, according to the second approach,
the happiness is regarded as the conduct of the lives, in the framework of the deeply held

values talents and the needs (Sheldon, Corcoran & Prentice, 2018). Thus, both the approaches
of the happiness are contrasting to each other. While there exist a large number of activities
such as eating a favourite meal, that leads to the fulfilment of the Hedonic happiness
including the consumption of alcohol and more. However, the range of activities that lead to
the engagement of the significant aspects of one's own identity and values, are lesser.
As defined by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the year 1998,
positive psychology is referred to as the scientific study of the functioning of the humans in
the positive terms and the flourishing at the various levels (Donaldson, Dollwet & Rao,
2015). According to the authors, the above branch of psychology deals with positive
attributes such as positive subjective experiences, positive individual traits, and positive
institutions. Thus, positive psychology works on the principle that life comprises much more
than avoiding or undoing life problems, and thus focusses more on the strengths and the
positive notions. Consequently, it leverages the individual and the societal strengths to
encourage happy and fulfilling psychological and social life (Lopez, Pedrotti & Snyder,
2018). As the basic framework of positive psychology is the leading of the meaningful,
happy, and good lives, the concept can be very well applied in different contexts such as the
family life, work life, schools, and communities.
There have been numerous studies as conducted by the various individuals on the
relationship between the coaching, and counselling techniques of positive psychology and the
promotion of happiness. As argued by the authors Biswas-Diener and Dean, in their work,
coaching, and positive psychology is one perfect fit. Coaching refers to the organized
application of the principles of positive psychology, which will aid in the enhancement of the
experience of the life of the client, work and social performance and the overall well-being.
There are broadly three reasons for the requirement of the therapy on the part of the client.
These are either the desire to gain a relief from a persisting symptom, the restoration, and