Sarah Byrd

Professor Jizi
UWRT 1102-028
18 February, 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:
Parfitt, Matthew, and Dawn Skorczewski. Pursuing Happiness By Sonja Lyubomirsky. Bedford
Spotlight Reader, 2016. Print. Getting Off the Hedonic Treadmill"

Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

Many studies have shown that few events in

life have a lasting impact on subjective wellbeing because of peoples tendency to adapt
quickly; worse, those events that do have a
lasting impact tend to be negative. (p. 324)

Wouldn't these negative events be considered

traumatic events? And wouldn't it make sense
for someone to be scarred by traumatic
events?

We believe, however, that it is possible to

make lasting changes in subjective wellbeing if one focuses on the right types of
behavior. (p. 325)

I dont necessarily agree with this. You can

focus on being happy all you want to, but if
you're not happy you're just not happy.

Many studies have shown that there are

strong effects of both genetic predisposition
and stable personality traits on well-being.
(p. 327)

I didn't really get the concept of this sentence.

there seems to be little people can do to

improve their well-being. (p. 327)

I dont agree with this. You can do certain

things to have a better well-being but its not
all about your actions. Its about your mindset,
too.

We suggest that shifting from a focus on the This made more sense to me to study. I think
impact of major life events to a focus on
the things you do on a normal basis are what
minor eventsthe kinds of small activities
is going to effect your happiness the most.
people partake in every dayoffers insight
into how people might increase their wellbeing. (p.328)
most of the people in our sample were
happy.

So how do people who dont go to church or

exercise become happy?

Rather it seems like the key for long-lasting

changes to well-being is to engage in
activities that provide small and frequent
boosts, which in the long run will lead to
improved well-being (p. 336)

Everybody should follow this rule because this

is one of the keys to happiness, Focus on the
little things.