Pursuing Happiness in Everyday Life: The Characteristics and Behaviors of Online Happiness Seekers

Although the last decade has witnessed mounting research on the development and evaluation of positive interventions, investigators still know little about the target population of such interventions: happiness seekers. The present research asked three questions about happiness seekers: (1) What are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emotion (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2012-12, Vol.12 (6), p.1222-1234
Main Authors: Parks, Acacia C, Della Porta, Matthew D, Pierce, Russell S, Zilca, Ran, Lyubomirsky, Sonja
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological - physiology
Adult
Affectivity. Emotion
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Phone - statistics & numerical data
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression - psychology
Depression - therapy
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Happiness
Human
Humans
Internet
Internet - statistics & numerical data
Intervention
Male
Middle Aged
Mobile Phones
Personality - classification
Personality. Affectivity
Positive Psychology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Smartphones
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
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Summary:Although the last decade has witnessed mounting research on the development and evaluation of positive interventions, investigators still know little about the target population of such interventions: happiness seekers. The present research asked three questions about happiness seekers: (1) What are their general characteristics?, (2) What do they purposefully do to become happier?, and (3) How do they make use of self-help resources? In Study 1, we identified two distinct clusters of online happiness seekers. In Study 2, we asked happiness seekers to report on their use of 14 types of happiness-seeking behaviors. In Study 3, we tracked happiness seekers' usage of an iPhone application that offered access to eight different happiness-increasing activities, and assessed their resulting happiness and mood improvements. Together, these studies provide a preliminary portrait of happiness seekers' characteristics and naturalistic behaviors.
ISSN:1528-3542
1931-1516
DOI:10.1037/a0028587