Affective Happiness, or the Affective Component of Happiness

Abstract

Emotions and moods are the elements of short-term affective or experiential happiness, while emotional dispositions are elements in long-term affective happiness. Emotions, moods and dispositions depend on personality and genes; on previous and current gratification or frustration of general human needs and on perceived gaps between how things are and how they should be. The gratification of needs is the main source of emotions of children, and may have an enduring impact on their personal development and future happiness. There is no general hierarchy of needs, as was once suggested by Maslow, but we may assume that the gratification or frustration of fundamental needs, related to physical and social safety, has the most substantial impact on happiness over the life course. The individual’s awareness of their emotions facilitates the interaction between affect and cognition. This awareness, together with the awareness of their own identity and living conditions, stimulates individuals to think about their own life as a whole, and to develop some consistent and enduring appreciation. The importance of the gratification of general needs contributes to the comparability of happiness, but differences in personality and genes, and in perceived gaps between how things are and how they should be, may have an adverse effect.