Hedonic happiness

In a very broad sense, there are two ways that people tend to go about achieving
happiness or well-being. The first is the hedonic approach, which originated with the Greek
philosopher Aristippus. From his perspective, a person's main objective in life was to
experience as much pleasure as possible while generally avoiding any painful experiences.
For instance, some people associate happiness with having lots of material wealth and
spending as much time as they can socializing with friends. For these people, happiness could
be achieved through buying things, going out to restaurants or bars, and generally having fun.
In the case of the hedonic approach, the objective is to spend as much time having fun and as
little time as possible doing things that aren't fun, pain avoidance, like working and engaging
in boring or tedious tasks.
When it comes to a person's well-being, some critics argue that the hedonic approach
is a logical fallacy, meaning that there is a flaw in the person's reasoning. Their criticism is
based on the idea that a purely hedonic pursuit of happiness doesn't necessarily contribute to a
person's overall well-being. For instance, someone could pursue pleasurable experiences by
abusing alcohol, engaging in risky sexual behavior, or partaking in dangerous activities like
skydiving. These activities can provide momentary pleasure, but they do not always
contribute to well-being and might actually have negative consequences in the future.

Hedonic wellbeing is based on the notion that increased pleasure and decreased pain
leads to happiness. Hedonic concepts are based on the notion of subjective wellbeing.
Subjective well-being is a scientific term that is commonly used to denote the ‘happy or good
life’. It comprises of an affective component (high positive affect and low negative affect) and
a cognitive component (satisfaction with life). It is proposed that an individual experiences
happiness when positive affect and satisfaction with life are both high (Carruthers & Hood,
2004).

Hedonic (Subjective Wellbeing)

1. Presence of positive mood

2. Absence of negative mood
3. Satisfaction with various domains of life (e.g. work, leisure)
4. Global life satisfaction

Participants spent more time engaged in hedonic activity than eudaimonic activity.
Hedonic activity served an emotion regulation function, predicting positive affect,
carefreeness, vitality, and life satisfaction. Hedonic behaviour also predicted reduced
negative affect, depression, and stress. Eudaimonic behaviour predicted meaning in life
and elevating experience (Henderson, Knight, & Richardson, 2013).
 People who identify more with hedonic happiness show greater pro-inflammatory gene
expression, the kind common among people exposed to chronic stress or trauma.
Fun, laughter, and enjoyment are all essential elements of the life experience. And
these effects are not experienced in a vacuum. In fact, Dunn and others point out, feeling
positive emotions can help you connect more with others, broaden your attention, make your
thinking more flexible, and increase your ability to see the big picture, all of which may
contribute to seeing and aiming for greater meaning.

Researcher Veronika Huta writes that each plays an important role in the cultivation of
a good life. People who pursue a balance of both hedonic and eudaimonic happiness have
“higher degrees of well-being than people who pursue only one or the other” with a higher
degree of mental health, and experience more well-rounded well-being. The consensus, she
says, is that people need both hedonia and eudaimonia to flourish.

Hedonic enjoyment is a state whereby an individual feels relaxed, has a sense of

distance from their problems and, can be said to feel ‘happy’ (Ryan & Deci, 2001)

According to Sigmund Freud (1930) people: ‘strive after happiness; they want to become
happy and to remain so. This endeavor has two sides, a positive and a negative aim. It aims,
on the one hand, at an absence of pain and displeasure, and, on the other, at the
experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure’ (p. 76).

Kringelbach & Berridge, (2010) argue that the neuroscience of both pleasure and
happiness can be found by studying hedonic brain circuits. This is because, according to
most modern perspectives, pleasure is an important component of happiness.

In fact, work of neuroscientists has found that pleasure is not merely a sensation,
or thought, but rather an outcome of brain activity in dedicated ‘hedonic systems’
(Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

All pleasures, from the most fundamental (food, sexual pleasure) right through to
higher-order pleasures (e.g. monetary, medical, and altruistic pleasures) seem to involve
the same brain system

Some of the hedonic mechanisms are found deep within the brain (the nucleus
accumbens, ventral pallidum, and brainstem) and others are located in the cortex
(orbitofrontal, cingulate, medial prefrontal and insular cortices) (Kringelbach & Berridge,
2010)

It should be clarified that hedonia, in respects to happiness, does not have the same
meaning as physical hedonism: happiness can come not only from short-term pleasure, but
can also arise from achieving goals or other valued outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2001). So-called
hedonic psychologists are of the belief that happiness can include the preferences and
pleasures of the mind, as well as the body (Ryan & Deci, 2001).
 Hedonic psychology has been a focus of the theory of happiness, in part, due to the
links between hedonia and other dominant theories. For example, hedonia ties in with
behavioral theories of reward and punishment, as well as theories that focus on the cognitive
expectations of the outcomes of reward and punishment (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Despite there being a variety of ways to consider the human experience of

pleasure/pain, the majority of research in hedonic psychology looks into the assessment of
subjective wellbeing. To introduce the term, briefly, subjective wellbeing (or ‘happiness’)
consists of three components:

Understanding what we feel in the short term (hedonic) and striving for ways to
accomplish a long lasting joy (eudaemonic) is important in developing a positive, healthy
well being.

Eudaimonia
Seeking to do what you believe in? Seeking to pursue excellence or a personal ideal? Seeking
to use the best in yourself? Seeking to develop a skill, learn, or gain insight into something?
Hedonia
Seeking relaxation? Seeking enjoyment? Seeking to take it easy? Seeking pleasure? Seeking
fun?
One of the oldest examples is probably the Greeks' theory of beneception and
nociception. They believed that these two principles decided the motivation in all living things.
Beneception is a term that is linked to pleasure and positive hedonic motivation; it is key to
animal's survival that they follow this instinct towards a purpose. Nociception is the opposite
of beneception and is concerned with consequences and negative hedonic motivation. If an
animal does not flee from or avoid nociception they are likely to be faced with unpleasant
effects
 Bibliography:

Carruthers, C., & Hood, C. (2004). The power of the positive: Leisure

and wellbeing. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 38, 225–245.

Kringelbach, M. L., & Berridge, K. C. (n.d.). The Neuroscience of

Happiness and Pleasure. 20.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human

potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-

being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166.

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141