The complexity of the pursuit of happiness is associated with the success of well-being related behaviors in everyday life

Abstract

Can people choose to be happy? To date we have no definite answer to this very old question. In this paper, we introduced and tested a new theoretical model of the pursuit of happiness in which we integrated individual happiness definitions, happiness-related intentions, and happiness-enhancing activities. Further, we tested different characteristics of happiness-enhancing activities that have previously been discussed in the literature as potentially relevant for the successful pursuit of happiness: the breadth (i.e., how many different facets of happiness are positively affected by one single activity), variety (i.e., how many different happiness-enhancing activities people conduct in daily life), and frequency (i.e., overall number) of happiness-enhancing activities. The results of an experience sampling study ( N = 473; 2815 daily-level data points) support our preregistered hypotheses: Individual definitions of happiness were predictive of intentions and well-being related behaviors in everyday life. Further, the engagement in broader and a higher number of happiness-enhancing activities was associated with higher levels of daily well-being. The variety of happiness-enhancing activities, however, did not predict daily well-being. Overall, we demonstrated that defining and pursuing happiness in a multifaceted manner is related to higher levels of well-being.