Researchers have been studying happiness for a while. We don’t know what happiness is, so researchers tend to try to let the intuitions of the subjects define it for them. Ask them “how happy are you?” and they’ll implicitly define what they think happiness is by answering.
Sometimes I wonder what the difference between “happiness” and “satisfaction” is. Different researchers ask about either one, but I tend to think that they ought to be asking about satisfaction a lot more than happiness.
A clear example: I will often walk out of a sad movie less happy than when I walked in, but I’m glad I went if it was a good movie. I am more satisfied having walked out of a really well done tragedy, than a mediocre joke-a-minute romantic comedy, even if I derive more happy feelings from the latter.
This situation doesn’t happen very often, but it is only one example of a broader, more common and desirable life state. I spend a lot of time mellow and satisfied. It doesn’t make me want to dance or sing, but I prefer the savory of satisfaction to the sweetness of happiness. It is more full – completing, while happiness can be empty. Well-being is what matters.
