14.5 The Pursuit of Happiness

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Define and discuss happiness, including its determinants
  • Describe the field of positive psychology and identify the kinds of problems it addresses
  • Explain the meaning of positive affect and discuss its importance in health outcomes
  • Describe the concept of flow and its relationship to happiness and fulfillment

Although the study of stress and how it affects us physically and psychologically is fascinating, it is—admittedly—somewhat of a grim topic. Psychology is also interested in the study of a more upbeat and encouraging approach to human affairs—the quest for happiness.

This lesson has no exercises.

The content of this course has been taken from the free Psychology textbook by Openstax