An individual’s state of happiness or unhappiness gives much reflection about him. People who are happy feel confident about themselves, and they tend to perceive the world as the safest place for existence. They are more tolerant, make good decisions and are cooperative. They don't dwell much on their negative past experiences, and they tend to be more socially connected. Happy people are healthier, satisfied and appear to be more energized. In contrary, gloomy people seems to be depressed, and to them, life seems meaningless (Kirsh, s., Duffy, K. and Atwater, E. 2014). Following this notion of happiness, numerous myths have been brought up with the aim of explaining what it means to be happy. Two such scholars who attempted to find out what it means to be happy and why people are happy are Meyers and Diener.
Due to the inability of most people to understand the concept of happiness, several myths have been generated over the years in an attempt to explain what it means to be happy. However, Meyers and Diener have refuted most of these myths by basing their arguments on the findings from their study. Some of the old notions of happiness that they have dismissed are that happiness varies with age, sex, culture, country, and race.
Meyers and Diener revealed that there are significantly happy and unhappy times throughout one’s life stages and therefore age does not determine happiness. Favorite sex does justify happiness because the ability to be satisfied is dependent on one’s present situation irrespective of his gender. All races have got an equal score on self-esteem as all people maintain their self-esteem basing on their successes in life hence race does not guarantee happiness (Kirsh 2014). Happiness does not depend on culture but rather the level of people in different countries varies depending on how their basic needs were met. Wealth is not a consideration for happiness. Instead, it only gives people a little boost for their morale.
Meyers and Diener stipulated that people of all ages, races, sex, and income level are capable of being happy. Some individuals are even capable of restraining their happiness even in worse challenges in their lives. They established that four main inner traits within an individual are capable of making people happy, and they are: optimism, self-esteem, personal control, and extraversion. Happy people must believe in themselves as a way of expressing positive self-esteem. Secondly, happy people can exhibit self-control. A person who feels empowered rather than being helpless is capable of performing better in every situation and is considered to be satisfied (Kirsh 2014). Thirdly, for a person to be happy, he/she must be optimistic. Lastly, people who are extroverts are happier; this is because they can manage negative feelings whether they are alone or with other people and even when they are in worse conditions.
To sum it up, Meyers and Diener assert that a person’s age, sex, race or wealth are incapable of determining his happiness. The best way of guaranteeing happiness is through establishing an individual’s traits such as, whether the person works in a supportive environment, whether the person is surrounded with good relationships and whether the person has faith on his social support, purpose, and hope. Happy people are capable of exhibiting four traits which are self-esteem, self-control, extraversion, and optimism.
References
Kirsh, s., Duffy, K. and Atwater, E. (2014). The psychology of living adjustment growth and behavior today. 11th ed. Pearson; 11 edition: Pearson, p.456.
