Teenagers and young adults are commonly presumed to be shallow — preferring hedonic happiness over eudaimonic happiness, suffering violent mood swings, taking many risks, rebelling, and being constantly depressed. However, the real answers are quite contrary to the stereotype. A survey of adolescents and young adults were asked to rate several items based on importance (relationships, money, learning, work, free time, and possessions), on a scale of 1-6 with 6 being the least important. The following were most commonly rated as the most important in the following order: relationships and learning, money, work and free time and possessions. The following were the most frequently rated as the least important: free time and work, possessions, relationships and money, and learning. Thus, it seems like adolescents tend to value relationships and learning the most, while putting free time and work at the end of the scale. This paints a portrait of a studious person who cares about personal relationships above free time and working. So, while this indicates a the general willingness to look towards the future, it is probably not forward-facing enough to care about future occupation. It is interesting to note that out of all the people surveyed, NONE of them listed learning as the least important.
As for the adults, they most often rated relationships as the most important, and possessions as the least important. Unfortunately, this category did not include any people of retirement age who likely would have had different experiences with the matter. Still, all of the adults strongly agreed with the fact that they had all the “important things” in their lives. While most adolescents also felt this way, there were a marked nu...
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV. Arlington, VA.: American Psychiatric Association, 2007. Print.
Myers, David G. "The funds, friends, and faith of happy people." American psychologist 55.1 (2000): 56.
When considering happiness as a subjective field, one must not only consider the individuals current life stage and goals, but also his or her affect or temperament. Temperament, defined as one’s mental constitution or frame of mind (Webster’s New Basic Dictionary, 1997), will impact how one views any given situation. In a study done by Holder and Klassen (2010), 311 c...
These decisions may also include the career they plan to take in the near future. As stated by Bettina Lankard (as cited in Vargas – Benitez, 2013), teens living happily with and seeing their family thriving due to a good career path are more likely to imitate the same path taken by their parents. However, it is not the same for those teens in the opposite situation – a teen who is lonely and sees that their family is financially struggling. These teens have a high chance to choose a completely different path from their parent’s career because of their desire to change their
One of the changes that Tyler analyzes is their development of the brain. For example, she states that “the parts of the brain -specifically the prefrontal lobes are involved in planning and decision-making – continue to develop well into the late teens and early twenty’s” (Tyler). Then she backed up her argument with the source from Jordan Grafman, “the prefrontal is important for decision-making, planning, reasoning, and the storage of knowledge” (Tyler). With this strategy, Tyler allows the readers to draw attention to her reasoning about the changes of adolescent’s lifestyle by making a short decision and strategies to take care of themselves. She emphasizes the risk of becoming dependent if the adolescents continue to call their parents for advices and guidance. Not only does she display credibility sources, but she also employs logo to raise an awareness about the adolescent’s development. For instances, she reports that “roughly three-quarters of executives and HR managers at 400 companies surveyed said that recent four-year college graduate displayed only “adequate” professionalism and work ethic, creativity and innovation, and critical thinking and problem-solving and decision-making” (Tyler). By arguing about the late development of becoming matured, Tyler gives logical appeal to the reader to forewarn them about the characteristics adolescents need for their job. Without gaining these strengths, they will encounter short decision in a difficult situation. While Tyler uses the strategies of logos to structure her ideas, she also uses parallelism structure to raise an issue of hovering
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Utilizing a pie chart, she illustrates the crux of her research; 10% of our happiness is increased or decreased by our circumstances. 50% of our happiness is increased or decreased by genetic predisposition, 40% is within our ability to control. We have “opportunities to increase or decrease our happiness levels through what we do and how we think” (22). She provides 12 specific happiness enhancing activities. She implores us to commit time, resources and energy to this “intentional activity”. Promoting these changes in our lives to accommodate being happier, which will benefit everyone in the end.
Emotions Associated With Aging Admittedly, as we age, our physical and mental capabilities may deteriorate. This is not to be a cause for concern- it happens to everyone and is part of the miracle of life. Instead, we must celebrate the process of growing old. Popular culture tries to tell us that the elderly are a burden, and often we accept this view and put them away in nursing homes, forgetting them until it is convenient to visit. What we fail to realize is that the older generations of our society have so much to offer, and are so willing to give- if we are willing to listen. No one wants to be forgotten in the last years of their lives. This, I believe is one of the major stigma attached to aging, a sense of helplessness that is caused by society's wanting to put older people away in homes, where they are out of sight and out of mind.
Every now and then, when we are overpowered by our emotions, we go to our family and friends for their love or we tend to seek comfort through the little things in life. There are cases where we feel love, comfort, and protection from the little items we have kept near us amid our lives. These little items can be very dear to us and hold a immense amount of sentimental value. Such transitional objects tend to become even more special when it’s not appreciated or valued by individuals who don’t know about it’s real significance. In society today, you could notice that people deem money, jewelry, and anything that has a “higher value” in our nation is what will truly “complete them.” I beg to differ… when I was five years old I was given a blanket and a stuffed animal which I hold dear to me even today, since it has captivated my soul.
Stearns, Peter N. “The History of Happiness. (Cover Story).” Harvard Business Review 90.1/2 (2012): 104-109. Business Source Complete. Web. 6 June 2015.
What is happiness, and how can and should we achieve it? The answer to this is something that humans have been trying to figure out since the beginning of time. We all experience happiness in our lives. What I have researched is how much our governments and world leaders are in control of our lifespan and happiness. Elected and unelected officials have an undeniably large role in all of our lives, all over the world. My goal was to study how much effect they have on our happiness/lifespan, and how their influence can be improved. I believe that happiness is something that we are all entitled to, regardless of our countless differences. Our governments
Haller, Max and Hadler, Markus. "How Social Relations and Structures Can Produce Happiness and Unhappiness: An International Comparative Analysis" Social Indicators Research, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Jan., 2006), pp. 169-216. J Store.Web.06 Nov 2013.
Gilbert, Dan." The surprising science of happiness." Ted Talks. Ted. Ted Talks, Monterey. 1 Feb. 2004. Lecture.
What one person values in life changes constantly depending on their life experiences. Each person leads to having a unique and genuine experience depending on who they are. The blank area of “what really happens” is the wake-up call to some and a disappointment to others. There is a way to overcome the overwhelming desire to look at life differently: perspective. Looking at life from a different angle can literally change you and your life.