Is Happiness a Decision or an Emotion?

We all need happiness in life. Don’t we? But, what do you think is happiness a decision or an emotion?

Happiness is meant to be looked after, cared for and preserved. It is something we all strive for, but too often it remains out of reach. 

All feelings are created equal, but some happy emotions might be a little more equal than others. 

Is being happy a decision? Let’s find it here in this article. 

Is Happiness a Decision or an Emotion?

Sometimes we think happiness is a decision, and when the feeling of happiness is not with us, then we decide that we are not happy. Other times, we think happiness is an emotion and when we feel a lot of emotions, happiness appears.

Does happiness depend on our decisions or our emotions? Or does happiness depend on both?

These are questions that have troubled philosophers and psychologists for decades, but a recent study by a team at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business suggests that there is no simple answer.

Business school professor and behavioral scientist Ayelet Fishbach says, “We found that your decision to be happy is an expression of your emotional intelligence, whereas your happiness once you make the decision depends more on your cognitive intelligence.”

“Cognitive intelligence is the ability to apply rules and logic to solve problems; emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, understand, and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.”

In other words, people who recognize their emotional responses to various situations — like being happy or sad — can make better choices about how they react. 

For example, if you feel sad because your team lost a game and you are angry about it – like in many cases with young children – you can choose to be sad about losing or happy because you had fun playing. 

Either way, trying to manage your emotions can have positive effects on people, researchers wrote.

What is a Happy Emotion?

A happy emotion! Is it a happy emotion that you feel when you are on a boat in the middle of the sea with no land in sight with nothing but water on all sides? 

With the sun beaming down on you and the wind in your face can happen to you. Can happen to me. Happy emotions happen to me. Happy emotions happen to you. 

Emotions are not limited to a certain number or type of person. Happy emotions are not limited to just landlocked countries. It’s not even limited to country boundaries. 

They can happen, they can be felt, they can spread anywhere in the world. There is no boundary, no border, no limit, no wall that will stop happy emotions from entering your heart and soul, from bathing you with positivity, from bringing happiness and joy into your life.

Happiness is also a mental state associated with a prolonged condition of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. 

It is also described as a mental state that pleasant, humorous and/or exciting social interactions with others cause.

 As such, happiness can be viewed as a positive emotion involving pleasure and satisfaction, combined with an absence of negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, or depression.

What Role Does Emotion Play in Decision Making?

When do you make decisions in a rational, logical way? When do you go by ‘gut feelings’? How much do feelings influence your decisions? Which feelings?

When making important decisions, we usually engage in a variety of activities – we think, imagine, evaluate and test. While thinking is important, emotions also play an important role in decision making. 

Research has shown that they can serve as signals of value and thus help us make better decisions.

Emotion is clearly integral to decision making scenarios. In our recent research, we have found that people continue to make choices about products (and other people) in negative situations (e.g., when feeling tired or in a rush) that they would not make in positive situations (e.g., when feeling refreshed or relaxed). 

Emotions dramatically affect the choices we make and their consequences for our well-being.

What Can a Person Do to Be Happy?

I think the first step, if you’re looking for happiness, is to ask yourself what happiness actually is. Is it just a feeling or something more? 

For me, happiness is an ongoing process of being present and staying in the moment. But it’s not enough to just be present and in the moment. You also have to be doing things that make you happy.

The question is: what makes you happy? Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that the things that made us happy when we were kids make us happy now. And sometimes those things still do make us happy, but not always.

I love being creative and making things, being active, doing good in the world, learning new things, finding happiness through service to others, and spending time with people who love me. 

And maybe you feel like what made you happy in the past isn’t good enough now. Maybe you’re worried that your life isn’t exciting enough and you need some kind of spark or drama to be happy. If that’s true, don’t worry – because, trust me, life gets more exciting. 

Plus, the best way to stay grounded and focused on what makes you happy (or at least content) is to keep your life simple. 

This year I’ve been working on simplifying my life as much as possible and there’s no doubt in my mind that it has made me a lot happier.

On the other hand, choice is not just for gift-givers at birthday parties. Choice is power. It is freedom. Choice is what can make someone happy… or unhappy. Happiness isn’t an emotion — it’s a choice.

Why is Stable Mental Health Important to Be Happy?

Mental health problems don’t necessarily make you unhappy, but they can make you more likely to experience depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. If you have a mental health problem, this can make you more likely to do things such as abuse alcohol or drugs, drop out of school, or be unemployed.

Stable mental health is mainly the main part of human happiness. Mental health problems can make you feel self-destructive, hopeless and out of control, or simply unable to enjoy life. It can prevent you from leading a normal life.

The symptoms of mental health problems can affect how you think, feel and behave. If you’re having problems with your mental health it may seem like there are no solutions, but help and support is available.

Book an appointment and improve your mental health and be happy in life truly.