Are There Different Types of Happiness?

The human pursuit of happiness is one of the most common human searches, but it tends to be an elusive goal as well. Luckily for us, the experience of “happiness” can take many forms and result from a variety of behaviors and life circumstances. Research can point us to concrete ways that we can find or develop these various forms of happiness in our lives.

A Word From Verywell

We don’t have to know the cause of every emotion we experience

Good Stress

Stress can bring up big feelings

Family Turmoil

Family can be one of our earliest sources of challenging feelings

• It is completely normal for your family life to be a source of complicated emotions
• Beginning to understand your triggers is a great place to start
• Somatic therapy can be especially helpful
• Adjusting to parenthood can be a major trigger of family turmoil

Surprise

This type of emotion can be positive, negative, or neutral

• Surprise is characterized by a physiological startle response following something unexpected
• Facial expressions: raising the brows, widening the eyes, and opening the mouth
• Physical responses: such as jumping back
• Speech: yelling, screaming, or gasping
• Can have important effects on human behavior

Anger

This is a powerful emotion characterized by feelings of hostility, agitation, frustration, and antagonism towards others.

• It can be a good thing when it is not over-exerted or expressed in ways that are unhealthy, dangerous, or harmful to others. Unchecked anger can make it difficult to make rational decisions and can even have an impact on your physical health.

Gratitude

It can disappear if you don’t actively focus on it, but it’s also an important form of happiness.

• Those who feel gratitude on a regular basis tend to be happier and healthier than those who are less prone to these feelings.
• It is very simple to cultivate.

Burnout

This fatigue and lack of enthusiasm can result in feelings of irritability, sadness, and even fear

• While it’s important to relieve symptoms, you want to make sure you’re addressing and healing the root cause of your discomfort as best you can
• Schedule days off regularly, ensure you’re doing things that bring you joy, and set boundaries with your job responsibilities

Pride

Feelings of pride can be a form of gratitude turned inward

• Include personal accomplishments in your gratitude journal or keep a list of “wins”
• This isn’t the same as bragging or being “full of yourself”-you’re not saying you’re better than others because of your accomplishments

Basic Emotions

During the 1970s, psychologist Paul Eckman identified six basic emotions that he suggested were universally experienced in all human cultures

Excitement

This emotion can last longer than joy and can be a motivating factor

• Excitement about a new job or relationship can motivate you to work harder
• It can also help you to get through jitters
• Tell yourself you are excited rather than anxious or nervous to channel that potentially uncomfortable energy into more constructive activity

Financial Problems

11.4% of the U.S. population is living in poverty

• It can be particularly challenging to ease the stress of financial instability since what is needed the most is simply financial security
• Assess things you can control: negotiate payment deferments or apply for state-funded assistance, reach out to a social worker or a non-profit that can help connect you to resources in your community

Joy

The feeling of joy comes from losing yourself in the present moment and appreciating what you have.

• It’s fleeting in that it can sneak up on you and sometimes can disappear if you try to analyze it too much.
• The easiest way to find joy is to engage in activities you know usually bring you joy.

Other Types of Emotions

The six basic emotions described by Eckman are just a portion of the many different types of emotions that people are capable of experiencing.

• Eckman’s theory suggests that these core emotions are universal throughout cultures all over the world.
• Other theories and new research continue to explore how they are classified and how they can be expressed.

A Word From Verywell

Emotions play a critical role in how we live our lives, from influencing how we engage with others in our day to day lives to affecting the decisions we make.

• No emotion is an island; they are nuanced and complex, working together to create the rich and varied fabric of your emotional life.

Happiness

Happiness is often defined as a pleasant emotional state that is characterized by feelings of contentment, joy, gratification, satisfaction, and well-being.

• Research on happiness has increased significantly since the 1960’s within a number of disciplines, including the branch of psychology known as positive psychology.
• While happiness is considered one of the basic human emotions, the things we think will create happiness tend to be heavily influenced by culture.

Love

Although stressful relationships can sap us of happiness, healthy and supportive relationships bring great and lasting happiness.

• Focusing on relationship skills, spending time with loved ones, and in other ways cultivating these relationships can help you to keep this form of happiness in your life.

Sadness

This is a transient emotional state characterized by feelings of disappointment, grief, hopelessness, disinterest, and dampened mood. Sadness can be expressed in a number of ways including: crying, dampened mood, lethargy, quietness, withdrawal, self-medicating, and ruminating.

Relationship Issues

Falling in love and ending a relationship can breed emotional turmoil

• Therapy can be of great support in these situations
• If you find that you’re struggling with communication issues, exploring how you can shift your communication style can decrease the severity of painful emotions

Even ‘Good Stress’ Can Cause Complex Emotions

Even good stress can bring up feelings of frustration, worry, and sadness

• It is important to acknowledge how privilege plays into incredible life moments, but it is equally important to not suppress your feelings.
• Speaking to others who relate to the stress success can bring is one way to begin processing your feelings
• Finding ways to soothe stress on a daily basis like meditation practice can contribute to your overall mental health

Fear

This emotion can also play an important role in survival

• When you face some sort of danger and experience fear, you go through what is known as the fight or flight response
• Your muscles become tense, your heart rate and respiration increase, and your mind becomes more alert, priming your body to either run from the danger or stand and fight

Combining Emotions

Robert Plutchik put forth a “wheel of emotions” that worked something like the color wheel

• Emotions can be combined to form different feelings, much like colors can be mixed to create other shades
• According to this theory, the more basic emotions act something like building blocks
• More complex, sometimes mixed emotions, are blendings of these more basic ones

Disgust

This emotion evolved as a reaction to foods that might be harmful or fatal

• It can be displayed in a number of ways
• Body language: turning away from the object of disgust
• Physical reactions: such as vomiting or retching
• Facial expressions: wrinkling nose and curling the upper lip

Other Theories of Emotion

While Eckman’s theory is one of the best known, other theorists have proposed their own ideas about what emotions make up the core of the human experience.

• Some researchers have suggested that there are only 2 or 3 basic emotions, while others have suggested emotions exist in something of a hierarchy.
• A recent study suggests there are at least 27 distinct emotions, all of which are highly interconnected.

Optimism

Optimists tend to focus on possibilities and have a combination of gratitude and pride

• When faced with disappointment, they minimize it, pinpoint how they can do better next time, and see mitigating factors that led to their negative outcomes
• They give themselves credit and take it as a sign of better things to come

Contentment

Being content means being happy with what you have

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