This paper is a framework for the pursuit of happiness. It uses psychological data, philosophical theories, and trends in neuroscience to support the idea that anyone can be happy. It first discusses personality psychology, biology of personality, and the relationship between personality and happiness. From there it explains positive illusions and Depressive Realism to show how one can implement both to increase personal happiness.

Beginning with a discussion of a concept referred to as “The Artist’s Dilemma,” my thesis discusses the common criticism of artists in the music industry that they can “sell out” by changing their sound, appearance, and jeopardizing their artistic integrity in exchange for financial or celebrity gain. Furthermore, it attempts to search for a universal guide by which artists in the music industry could circumnavigate this “artist’s dilemma” in order to ensure a meaningful career without over-playing their role as a celebrity, nor under-playing their role as a musician. In order to evaluate this topic, I consider multiple “real world” examples of both artists who have been traditionally labeled as “sellouts,” and those that have managed to maintain artistic integrity throughout their career. Next I move to acknowledging philosophical perspectives on the topic of well-being (e.g. Hedonistic, Desire-Satisfaction, and Objective List theories) in attempts to gain outside perspectives on what constitutes a meaningful life for an individual, and how it can be achieved. Then I attempt to evaluate the “artist’s dilemma” through the lens of each previously mentioned philosophical perspective on well-being. My thesis concludes that, more often than not, “selling out” in the music industry will not result in an increase to overall well-being across the course of a career or lifetime. However, this conclusion is provided under the stipulation that determinations on this matter are ultimately subject to preferences and desires of the individual artist, and by which of the three philosophical perspectives of well-being they find themselves most compelled.

People with advanced cancer may have significant challenges to their physical, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being. However, some individuals are able to experience an overall sense of well-being in spite of these challenges. This study sought to understand the experience of well-being from the perspective of people with advanced cancer. Guided by interpretive descriptive methodology, eight participants were interviewed and the data were analyzed using the constant comparative approach. The participants took an active role in their well-being experience and described four main themes: view of self, the fluctuating nature of well-being, choices made to enhance well-being (including choosing supportive relationships, putting one‟s own needs first, treatments, focusing on the positive, and honoring the negative), and living in ambiguity. These findings have implications for nursing practice, nursing education, and health care organizations. / Graduate

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Denna studie undersökte kulturella skillnader i emotionella och kognitiva aspekter av subjektivt välbefinnande, mer specifikt uttryckt; nivåer av positiva, negativa och balanserade känslor och hur dessa påverkar välbefinnande. Studien innefattar 212 infertilitetsdrabbade kvinnor i det individualistiska landet Sverige och det kollektivistiska landet Iran. Korrelationsanalys, regressionsanalys och One-way ANOVA användes för att besvara forskningsfrågorna. Resultaten visade ingen kulturell skillnad i kognitivt välbefinnande; men Svenska kvinnor uppgav högre känslonivåer, medan de Iranska i större utsträckning kunde uppleva motsatta känslotillstånd samtidigt. Balanserad affekt var huvudsaklig prediktor för välbefinnande i båda grupper. Resultaten diskuterades utifrån teori om individualism, kollektivism och infertilitet i relation till subjekivt välbefinnande. / This study examined cultural differences in the cognitive and emotional aspects of subjective well-being, more specifically the levels of positive, negative and balance affect and how these affect cognitive well-being. It involves 212 infertile women in the individualistic country Sweden and the collectivistic country Iran. Analyses of correlation, stepwise and linear regression as well as One-Way ANOVA were used to answer the research questions. The results showed no cultural difference in cognitive well-being, and Swedish women reported higher levels of affect while the Iranian to a higher extent experienced positive and negative emotions simultaneously. Balance affect was the best predictor for well-being in both samples.

Subjektivt välbefinnande handlar om människors upplevelser av sitt eget liv, enligt deras egen subjektiva värdering av sitt liv. Studiens primära syfte var att undersöka sambandet mellan självkänsla, stress och subjektivt välbefinnande hos svenska högskolestudenter. Könsskillnader, nedlagd studietid och åldersskillnader undersöktes även i relation till subjektivt välbefinnande. Syftet undersöktes utifrån fem hypoteser och en frågeställning. Totalt delades 139 enkäter ut till studenter vid en mellanstor högskola i mellersta Sverige. Skalorna som användes var WHO-10, PSS-10 och Rosenbergs test of Self-Esteem. Analysmetoderna som användes var t-test, korrelationsanalys och en multipel hierarkisk regressionsanalys. Resultaten visar att stress och självkänsla har ett statistiskt signifikant samband till subjektivt välbefinnande. Resultatet stöds av tidigare studier, som undersökt stress och självkänsla som prediktorer för subjektivt välbefinnande. Inga könsskillnader gällande subjektivt välbefinnande hittades. Att minska stress och höja självkänsla bland studenter, kan antas bidra till bättre hälsa och akademiska prestationer.

The utilization of non-professional counsellors is increasing as the number of HIV-positive South Africans increases, together with the levels of criminal violence in South Africa. Non-professional counsellors work with people that are distressed and counsel people that are coping with trauma. The promotion and protection of counsellors' well-being is vital. Counsellors have to attentively guide people and avoid or alleviate feelings of stress and prevent burnout caused by the counselling process. People who work in human services are more likely to experience stress due to close involvement and interaction with other people. Emotional intelligence and coping can influence the well-being (burnout and engagement) of non-professional counsellors. Emotional intelligence may be crucial in helping counsellors work with different people and encourage their well-being. It is believed to assist in the conceptualisation of psychological well-being and can be applied as a means to successfully cope with demands and pressures of the environment. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence, burnout, engagement and coping among non-professional counsellors in Gauteng and the North-West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A non-probability convenience sample was taken from various institutions employing non-professional counsellors in Gauteng and the North-West Province (7V=172). The Maslach Burnout Inventory, The Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and The COPE Questionnaire (COPE) were administered. Cronbach alpha coefficients, Spearman-product correlation coefficients, Manovas (to determine differences in demographical groups) and Multiple Regression analyses were used to analyse the data. Principal component analysis resulted in a two factor model for emotional intelligence, namely: emotion appraisal and emotion utilisation. Regarding burnout, a two factor model was also extracted namely: emotional exhaustion and cynicism. The factor that was found for engagement was work engagement. A four factor model was found for coping namely: approach coping, avoidance, turning to religion and seeking emotional support. The correlation coefficients indicated that emotional Exhaustion and avoidance were positively related to cynicism. Emotion appraisal was positively related to emotion utilisation, work engagement, approach coping and seeking emotional support. Emotion utilisation was positively related to approach coping and seeking emotional support. Furthermore, approach coping and seeking emotional support as coping strategies were positively related to each other. Turning to religion as coping strategy was positively related to seeking emotional support. Lastly, work engagement was positively related to emotion appraisal. MANOVA analyses were used to determine any differences in the experience of emotional intelligence, coping, cynicism and emotional exhaustion indicated the following: No differences in emotional intelligence levels, cynicism, emotional exhaustion and work engagement could be found between gender and language groups, education levels and province. However, differences in coping strategies based on language groups and provinces were found. African language groups use avoidance and seeking emotional support more as coping strategies than Afrikaans language groups. Participants in the North-West province use avoidance more as a coping strategy than participants in Gauteng. Multiple Regression analyses showed that emotional intelligence and coping predicted 16 % of the variance in work engagement, 17% of the variance explained in cynicism and 11% of the variance in emotional exhaustion. Recommendations were made for non-professional counsellors and for future research purposes. / Thesis (M.A. (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

People with high levels of emotional intelligence (EI) seem to possess emotional skills that allow them to cope effectively with the challenges they face and promote well-being. Considering the role of EI in coping research may yield significant benefits for individuals because EI has consistently been linked with positive outcome measures, including life and work satisfaction, interpersonal functioning, healthy relationships, job performance, psychological well-being, physical health, and psychophysiological measures of adaptive coping (Martins, Ramalho, & Morin, 2010). Although the theoretical significance of EI to coping has been recognized (e.g., Bar-On & Parker, 2000; Snyder, 1999), relatively few studies explore the relationships among these constructs. The current research explores and compares how emotional intelligence (EI) facilitates adaptive coping across both interpersonal and occupational contexts – two central areas of our lives. It provides evidence in support of an extended adaptational model contextualizing EI within the transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In general, results from an online survey (N = 300) showed that most participants (approximately 66%) did not cope adaptively with stress. Results are consistent with a model which suggests that EI and the coping strategies people use when dealing with interpersonal and occupational stressors have significant effects on psychological well-being. The findings linked EI with adaptive coping behaviour, exposing both similarities and differences in the types of coping strategies people implement across interpersonal and occupational contexts, as well as their relationships to well-being. In addition, the results demonstrated that certain coping strategies (i.e., social support, venting/self-blame, and alcohol/drug use) partially mediated the relationship between emotion skills and well-being in these two contexts. Finally, gender differences in both EI and coping strategies emerged, with the differences being mostly attributed to the socialization of gender role (i.e., the degree of agentic and communal traits) rather than sex (i.e., being male or female). Moderation models suggested that gender did not interact with EI to influence coping strategy choice (i.e., social support, venting/self-blame, alcohol/drug use) or well-being. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the therapeutic context, organizational policy, theoretical considerations, as well as future research directions.

The goal of this dissertation was to examine how people pursue their personal goals in the context of an intimate relationship. Two studies were conducted; a daily diary study of dating partners’ joint activities and a longitudinal study of newly dating couples. In the daily diary study, people reported on their daily joint activities with their dating partners regarding whether their goals were met and how they were feeling during the given activity. The results showed that when people’s goals were met in an activity, their partners were able to accurately perceive that their goals were being met. However, when their goals were not met in the activity, their partners’ accuracy regarding their goals was only at chance levels. The partners’ overall levels of goal congruence did not predict the proportion of goal-congruent activities the partners participated in. However, the partners’ level of goal congruence predicted increases in life satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship satisfaction, as well as decreases in negative affect over time. In the longitudinal study, newly dating couples filled out measures of their goals, well-being, and relationship quality during their initial session. Three months later, the couples filled out measures of these same constructs again and answered questions about the goals that they reported pursuing during their initial session. Results showed that concurrently, the partners’ levels of goal congruence were associated with greater ability to make goal progress and higher relationship satisfaction, both of which, in turn, were associated with higher subjective well-being. Longitudinally, initial levels of goal congruence did not predict changes in goal progress and relationship quality over time. However, analysis of the individual goals indicated that people adjusted their goal pursuits based on the level of goal conflict between their own goals and their partners’ goals, such that people were more likely to stop pursuing or devalue goals that conflicted with their partners’ goals over time. Furthermore, the tendency to adjust goals over time was associated with increasing relationship commitment. The results of these studies show that conflict between relationship partners’ goals has important consequences for their relationship, goal progress, and personal well-being.

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