The role of positive attitudes, satisfaction and joy or living as elements of happiness

Abstract

The difficulty in defining happiness has allowed the identification and study of various elements that try to describe it; among these elements there is satisfaction with life, positive affect, personality traits, expectations, and needs. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between four of the variables that have been linked to happiness: satisfaction with life, joy of living, personal fulfillment and positive sense of life, using structural equation models (SEM). The Happiness Scale of Lima was applied to 1083 adults. The results show that only three of the proposed elements are related: positive sense of life, satisfaction with life, and joy of living, whereas personal fulfillment is part of the judgments the participants made about their own lives.