DO WE KNOW WHAT MAKES US HAPPY? THE RELEVANCE OF LAY THEORIES OF HAPPINESS AND VALUES FOR CURRENT HAPPINESS

Authors

  • Andreja Bubić Chair of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split
  • Nikola Erceg Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2018.3.345-364

Keywords:

beliefs, happiness, implicit theories, values

Abstract

Pursuit of happiness represents one of people’s most valued personal goals that has, in recent decades, gained a lot of at- tention among researchers interested in discovering factors that influence and may increase people’s happiness levels. While numerous studies addressing this topic have focused exclusively on identifying the objectively important correlates of happiness, the present study explored individuals’ lay beliefs regarding the causes of happiness using The Causes of Happiness Question- naire and their association with basic personal values. The study was conducted on a sample consisting of 401 students of various social sciences and humanities in Croatia. In addition, the pres- ent study investigated the relevance of lay beliefs regarding the causes of happiness and values for the current levels of happi- ness. The results of the conducted factor analysis of The Causes of Happiness Questionnaire revealed its five‒factor structure, in- dicating life achievements, access to luxury, social support, per- sonal strengths as well as health and security as potential causes of happiness that were moderately correlated with individuals’ values. Finally, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated openness to change as a basic personal value and so- cial support as a cause of happiness as predictors of current hap- piness levels. These findings support and extend previous results in this field, indicating that lay beliefs of the causes of happiness and values both contribute, albeit not prominently, to individuals’ current happiness.

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Published

25.09.2018

How to Cite

Bubić, A., & Erceg, N. (2018). DO WE KNOW WHAT MAKES US HAPPY? THE RELEVANCE OF LAY THEORIES OF HAPPINESS AND VALUES FOR CURRENT HAPPINESS. Primenjena Psihologija, 11(3), 345–364. https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2018.3.345-364

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