Preview

Critically Examine the Extent to Which Happiness Is Linked with the Content of Our Leisure Lifestyles

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2923 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Critically Examine the Extent to Which Happiness Is Linked with the Content of Our Leisure Lifestyles
Critically examine the extent to which happiness is linked with the content of our leisure lifestyles.

The focal point of this paper is happiness and the degree to which it is connected with the content of people’s leisure lifestyles. Therefore, to examine this subject thoroughly, an insight into some of the psychological and physiological theories will be presented.

The definition of happiness is one of the greatest philosophical quandaries.
As said by one of the greatest contributors to Western philosophy, Aristotle,
“more then anything else, men and women seek happiness.” Moreover, every ambition such as health, beauty, money, or power is treasured only because people expect that it will bring them happiness. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1992)

Throughout the centuries, psychologists and philosophers searched for ways in which to improve the quality of experience. A great contribution in understanding what conditions can generate happiness comes from sociology, economics and neuroscience.

Although, Aristotle died even before the Christ was born, as said by Csikszentmihalyi (1992) “we do not understand what happiness is any better than Aristotle did.”

Yet, despite all the great knowledge and amazing improvements, which made our lives more comfortable,

“people still end up feeling that their lives have been wasted , that instead of being filled with happiness their years were spent in anxiety and boredom.” Csikszentmihalyi (1992, p.1)

Layard (2005),observes that, although societies became richer, people are not happier. A comparable view holds Scitovsky (1992), who notes that, when people become richer with other people, they become happier. But when whole societies have become richer, they have not become happier.

Possibly more significant source of satisfaction, still connected with income hierarchy is work. According to Marx, work provided the most important means for people to fulfill their basic needs and held



References: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. Jossey- Bass Inc., San Francisco. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1992) Flow. The Psychology of Happiness. Rider, London. Haralambos, M. & Holborn, M. (1991) Sociology. Themes and Perspectives. 3rd Edition. Collins Educational, London. Layard, R. (2005) Happiness. Lessons from a New Science. Allen Lane. GB MacNulty, Ch., (1986) citied in Ekins, P. (1986) The Living Economy: The New Economics in the Making. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9JXTskSUA1wC&dq=macnulty&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0- accessed on 27/04/2008 Mannel, R.C., Kleiber, D.A. (1997) A Social Psychology of Leisure. Venture Publishing, USA. Scitovsky, T. (1992) The Joyless Economy. Revised Edition. Oxford University Press, New York. Torkildsen, G. (1992) Leisure and Recreation Management. 3rd Edition. E&FN SPON, London.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Recreation, Leisure and Play

    • 3844 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Leisure has one and only one essential criterion, and that is the condition of perceived freedom. Any activity carried out freely, without constraint or compulsion, may be considered to be leisure. “To leisure” implies being engaged in any activity as a free agent and…

    • 3844 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Multiple viewpoints concerning happiness exist, such as how one can attain happiness, and the different types of happiness. Two different perspectives on happiness are proposed in the articles by Arthur Brooks and Adam Green. Happiness 101, by Adam Green analyzes Thomas Aquinas writings on the attainment of happiness and the types of happiness. Love People, Not Pleasure, by Arthur Brooks focuses on how individuals attempt to achieve happiness by accumulating material wealth and objects. However, it is Brooks’s opinion that material objects cannot allow one to achieve happiness, but loving people is how happiness is attained.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone's goal in life is to be “happy”, they go out of their way to fulfill temporary pleasures. But what is very ironic is that striving for this possession filled happiness, many become sad, weary and give up on their dream of so called “happiness”. The article written by Darrin McMahon “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” , goes over this issue in great detail. Achieving true happiness is nearly impossible in the way we try to maintain it.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When we observe the demographics of today¡¦s society, we notice that there is quite a change in the average age, as well as life expectancy. In 1993, the average life expectancy rose to an amazing 75.5 years, with women living an average of 79 years and men living an average of 72 years (Hawkins, 1996, p. 4). With this gradual rise in age, the idea of therapeutic recreation for the aging population has taken on a significant role. Therapeutic recreation uses recreation and leisure activities to meet the needs of people in order to improve their quality of life. These needs include social, physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. The experience of engaging in recreation is perceived to have therapeutic benefits. Engaging in recreation can be characterized by feelings of mastery, achievement, exhilaration, acceptance, success, personal worth and pleasure. When one goes through a positive recreation experience there is an achievement of a goal or receiving positive feedback from others. All this contributes to a positive psychological state by increasing one¡¦s confidence and self-esteem and allows for personal growth and development, which are benefits to individuals. Aristotle agrees in the importance of achieving happiness through accomplishments by stating, ¡§Happiness is not something that can be achieved at a given point in time, after which nothing else remains but to bask in the state of psychological euphoria resulting from the accomplishment. Happiness, rather, involves a continuing activity¡¨ (Petraroja, p. 130).…

    • 3055 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Happiness comes from within. Many people could be living in the same environment and facing the same challenges but some seem to be happier than others. No matter what one’s challenges are, it is one’s choice and decisions to live a happy and content life. There has been an unfounded belief that the rich are happier than the poor but research has given contradicting results. I cannot say that I have lived a happy life but after watching the “Happy” documentary, I am now ready to live positively and happily no matter what circumstances I am facing. I have realized that we make ourselves unhappy by complaining about the problems we face in our day-to-day life rather than appreciating the good side of life. We should focus on the positive aspects of life and try as much as we cannot to let the negative aspects of our lives ruin our happiness.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Active participation in leisure activities can improve self esteem, could reduce anger, fear stress, and could increase pleasant feelings.…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Western perspective, Godbey (2003) points out that leisure can be defined as a state of mind. It is about perceived freedom and a sense of controlling events without constraint or compulsion Godbey (2003). According to Lynch and Veal (2012), there are two attitudinal dimensions: intrinsic motivation and perceived freedom.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As individuals we work in life to achieve many goals we desire, at times we work for them to any extent. These goals can take form physically or mentally and can bring great intellectual or spiritual developments. Happiness is seen as the major and most important emotion us humans seek for, it is what provides us with our ‘desired’ pleasures. However for some individuals they may argue that this view is too hedonistic and that life should encompass many other important goals, thus making it unworthy and is seen as a futile goal.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    John Clarke and Chas Critcher (1995) argue that there is an ‘inequality of leisure opportunity ' (ibid., p247), and that this is made up of two aspects they term ‘material and cultural '(ibid., p247). They describe the material aspect as being the ‘access to key resources ' (ibid., p248), these include time and money. This material aspect can be described as a constraint to leisure, because simply if you do not process the time you cannot have or gain the leisure, it is a constraint preventing your leisure from occurring. Clarke and Critcher (1995) argue that the cultural aspect of the inequality of leisure is the perception of what is ‘appropriate leisure behaviour ' (ibid., p248) for a member of a particular social group. These perceptions are socially constructed, and may be based on a number of factors, gender stereotype for example. They are crucially held by people in a position to enforce these expectations. This cultural constraint can be described as a constraint through leisure as it is reflecting and perpetuating the inequalities present in society, and acts as a further agent for…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Revised Thesis: People’s ambitions are often geared to the success of others who are wealthy and powerful, which, in turn, prevents them from achieving true intrinsic happiness.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the articles titled “The Secret to Deeper Happiness Is Simpler Than You Might Think” by Ginny Graves (2017) and “Happiness Is Other People” by Ruth Whippman (2017), both authors acknowledged that the source of happiness is important. Graves delivered her stand objectively and professionally, explaining that the source of happiness should come naturally by pursuing activities that coincide with one’s values and comes within oneself. In contrast, Whippman was overreacting and informal in her explanation that happiness from within had led to a communication issue with people spending lesser time connecting with other people. Graves, as a whole, delivered an article that had a stronger argument by quoting reliable sources from different professions that were respectable in their field and utilizing the modes of persuasion to convince the readers.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Philosopher Confucius once said, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated” (“Confucius Quotes”). In life, obtaining happiness is one of the most uncomplicated achievements. Today’s fast-paced world coerces individuals to concentrate on the future, making it challenging to discover true happiness. Despite these complications, society continues to promote the concept of chasing happiness without regarding its detrimental effects on an evolved civilization. The pursuit of happiness inhibits the formation and perpetuation of an advanced society due to engendering individuals to feel dissatisfied and disappointed.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    200 Word Summary

    • 258 Words
    • 1 Page

    In Jennifer Seniors, “Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness,” Senior proposes a question, Can someone determine how happy you are? Senior starts out by describing her happiness test, which she scored a 2.88 out of 5 on, it was based on her location by zip code, religion, marital status, and income. But did this test actually determine Seniors’ happiness, or did it tell her what her social status is? She then continues to talk about the increase of interest in happiness, which Harvard’s jump in attendance in the course about positive psychology. This have caused an increase in textbooks and classes, which was believed to have showed up in economics first. Senior then talks about what is more likely to make you happy. Majority believe if you are more religious, in a happy marriage, younger, drink, are smart, or attractive, you are more likely to be happier. Studies show most of these are false, which goes to show, you cannot compare social status to level of happiness. Senior uses Phillips as an example, who believes happiness is “the most conformist of moral aims.” He then goes on to compare the differences in an European novel and a positive psychology book, which he believes is “empty of idiosyncrasy and the difficult passions.” But believes the European book to be complex and well designed. In conclusion, Senior compares the new increase of study in happiness to the so called “tests” that tell ones level of happiness, and how effective they are.…

    • 258 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Labour Economics

    • 1754 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gortz, M. (2006). Leisure, Household Production, Consumption and Economic well being. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen.…

    • 1754 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The evaluative adjectival phrase ‘happier life’ forces the reader to question whether or not they are happy with their own life with the desired effect being that they discover they are in fact not entirely satisfied.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays