Promoting Happiness and Life Satisfaction in School Children

Positive Psychology in the Schools

Educators can be instrumental in building positive resources in children because the greatest competency acquisition occurs in the early stages of human development (Roberts, Brown, Johnson, & Reinke, 2005). Linley et al. (2006) suggested that “school psychology can serve as a point of connection between positive psychology’s promotion of optimal human development and schools as the a priori institutions that can serve as the vehicles for this development” (p. 10). Children spend a considerable amount of their time at school, with teachers and peers, which makes this location an imperative part of a child’s optimal growth. In schools, children can acquire skills that will help them to effectively manage their environment (Baker, Dilly, Aupperlee, & Patil, 2003). However, Weissberg, Kumpfer, and Seligman (2003) found that school-age children also face multiple challenges such as mental health troubles, participation in numerous risky behaviors, and lack of social and emotional support systems, which contribute to negative affect and problem behavior. Information regarding achievement of happiness in young people can be effectively used to meet these challenges and act as a barrier against the stress that occurs during this developmental stage (Mahon & Yarcheski, 2002).

Programs targeted at prevention for youth appear to be the most beneficial when they are synchronized with efforts to promote competence, encourage positive relationships, and facilitate connections to the community (Weissberg et al., 2003). The benefits realized from these programs are twofold as they both build a foundation to support positive development and encourage social competence as well as serve as a barrier against inappropriate behavior. Primary preventative measures are most beneficial in this sense because they focus on strengthening all children rather than focusing solely on those individuals who have already been determined to be troubled (Weissberg et al., 2003). Park and Peterson (2003) have argued that programs aimed at youth development are more successful when they begin early, extend over time, are structured, and are guided by specific theories. Implementing preventative, system-wide plans focusing on positive development has reduced student referrals for both academic and behavioral problems. (Terjesen, Jacofsky, Froh, & Digiuseppe, 2004). However, although educators have recently placed a greater focus on prevention programs, at present, findings from most studies suggest few school-based interventions employing facets of positive psychology (Terjesen et al., 2004). Schools are optimal environments in which to implement primary prevention, such as those involved in positive psychology, because the aim of such prevention is to preclude the development of problems in all students, not just those who are at-risk (Meyers & Meyers, 2003). In recent years, greater emphasis has been placed on increased achievement and academic competency for all students, and the field of school psychology has shifted its focus from a dysfunction-centered paradigm to one that focuses on enhancing the strengths of every child. School psychologists are in an advantageous position as consultants who can provide early and effective support to students and families who encounter difficulties as well as work with school faculty and staff to implement preventative measures that may also reduce risk (Clonan, Chafouleas, McDougal, & Riley-Tillman, 2004). With this shift in focus, schools can promote environments where children experience positive emotions and interactions rather than anxiety and stress (Roberts et al., 2005).

Positive feelings are linked to an increase in both competency and resilience in children (Clonan et al., 2004) and a child’s own social and emotional resources help him or her to negotiate the environment, either supporting, improving, or changing the impact the environment has on behavior (Bear, Manning, & Izard, 2003). Baker, Terry, Bridger, and Winsor (1997) found that a student’s perception of school “. . . as a personally supportive community is critical to school completion and satisfaction” (p. 589). Students who expressed higher satisfaction with school indicated more social support and interpersonal interactions than those who were dissatisfied with school.

Linley et al. (2006) described four levels of exploration with regards to positive psychology. The first level, referred to as “wellsprings,” includes the antecedents to the second and third levels, “processes” and “mechanisms,” respectively. These wellsprings are made up of the genetic basis for health and happiness as well as the environmental events that facilitate the growth of strengths and virtues. “Processes” refer to both the psychological elements that promote optimal functioning as well as the barriers preventing it. The “mechanisms” consist of the external matters, such as personal relationships, work environments, and society as a whole, which can either promote or hinder optimal functioning. Finally, the fourth level is defined as “outcomes” or those personally and culturally defined conditions that illustrate a “good life” (p. 7). Schools can be viewed as a process, mechanism, and outcome. Although positive school environments are themselves advantageous, they also act as processes that teach individuals values and mechanisms that encourage and support further valuable outcomes. This process is imperative in the context of implementing positive psychology in the schools because encouraging positive behaviors and feelings is cyclic and will not only help the individual students, but also promote positive functioning of the entire school system (Linley et al., 2006).

Although it is vital to enhance the functioning of individual children, it is also extremely important to understand the reciprocal relationship the environment has on the development of positive qualities. Promoting positive feelings and strengths among individual students can improve the climate of the school as a whole, and subsequently foster further growth among students (Chafouleas & Bray, 2004). Children who experience healthy development tend to be part of encouraging and supportive environments (Baker et al., 2003). Consequently, it seems that a positive and caring school climate plays an important role in a child’s happiness and comfort at school. Baker et al. (2003) indicated that “the sense of connectedness to others and support from the social environment are well-established correlates of resilience and contribute to numerous positive outcomes for children” (p. 211). Therefore, emphasizing a child’s strengths and promoting positive interactions and emotions in school serve to improve both individual performance and total school functioning.

Happiness, gratitude, and life satisfaction are important constructs in positive psychology. Fordyce (1977) suggested that “the achievement of happiness is one of the most important goals of humankind” (p. 511). Gratitude supports an individual’s sense of morality and goodness, and promotes personal growth and relationships with others, subsequently increasing happiness and satisfaction with life (Emmons & Shelton, 2005). These constructs are especially important during childhood and adolescence, when students are still developing. Educators can help to foster the optimal development of positive qualities, emotions, and strengths during this period of development (Baker et al., 2003). Exercises in positive psychology to teach concepts such as happiness, gratitude, and life satisfaction can be implemented in schools as measures of primary prevention to promote individual growth as well as positive interactions among all students, not just those at risk (Meyers & Meyers, 2003).

Happiness

One specific emphasis in positive psychology relates to the emotion of happiness, including how it contributes to life satisfaction and how to obtain it. Some researchers define happiness in one of two ways, as the emotion of being in a “state of joy” or the cognitive reflection of a “state of satisfaction” (Argyle & Martin, 1991, p.77). Martin (2007) indicated that global levels of happiness are comprised of overall satisfaction, the circumstances in life that are out of our control, and intentional activities that propagate positive events and feelings. Happiness is comprised of two parts, one’s situation and one’s state of mind. Moods, attitudes, and feelings are only one piece of understanding what the word “happiness” actually means (Griffin, 2007). The other piece has to do with whether or not an individual has had a “good life.”

It is important to distinguish life satisfaction as a separate construct from happiness, which is an emotional state and can contribute to satisfaction, but which does not encompass all of the same processes (Lewinsohn, Redner, & Seeley, 1991). According to Lucas, Diener, and Suh (1996), life satisfaction meets the criteria “for discriminant validity from both the affective components of subjective well-being and the more cognitive traits of self-esteem and optimism” (p. 625). Diener, Lucas, and Oishi (2005) also identified the broad concept of subjective well-being, which encompasses occurrences of pleasant emotions, minimal levels of negative moods and high measures of life satisfaction. Similarly, Huebner, Suldo, Smith, and McKnight (2004) defined subjective well-being as encompassing positive effect and perceived quality of life.

Kehle and Bray (2004) proposed that happiness and mental health are equivalent. According to this theory, happy people demonstrate the interconnected four characteristics in the R.I.C.H. theory, including resources, intimacy, competence, and health. As an individual increases or decreases any one of these characteristics, there will be an effect on the other three. These characteristics can be defined as follows; “resources” when appropriately distributed will result in independence, “intimacy” which is friendship, compassion and pleasure in the company of others, “competence” which is feeling competent compared to a standard, and “health” which is awareness of what creates a healthy lifestyle and a commitment to such a lifestyle. According to the theorists, all children are capable of acquiring the four characteristics in the R.I.C.H. theory that further states that educators’ goals for children should include the goal that children are happy and possess the four characteristics defined by the theory (Kehle & Bray, 2004).

Happy people appear to benefit in multiple areas of life such as social, work and family domains. In addition, happy people tend to be physically healthier, have greater self-control, are better able to cope with negative situations, and are more helpful and prosocial (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005). Other numerous traits are also associated with positive affect including confidence, an optimistic outlook, likeability, friendliness, liveliness, flexibility, and the ability to handle stress, to name just a few. Studies have also shown that a relationship exists between students’ happiness and their overall attitude toward school (Suldo, Riley, & Shafer, 2006). These pleasant qualities and behaviors are subsequent to both enduring happiness levels and temporary positive moods. Brief experiences of positive emotions tend to foster connections between people and increase honest, direct interactions and compassion. Both long and short-term levels of happiness come before the important benefits and character traits with which they are correlated (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005).

Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2006a) identified three major influences on a person’s level of happiness: (a) “the person’s genetic set point or set range, (b) the person’s current circumstances, and (c) the person’s current intentional activities” (p. 58). The genetic set point is believed to be constant and so should have no effect on changes in happiness over a period of time. A person’s circumstances, such as living arrangement or income, can temporarily influence a person’s happiness level, but tend not to have long-lasting effects. This occurs because after some time passes, people begin to adapt to new circumstances, which lessens the positive effect on emotional states. Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) argued that a person’s intentional activities, such as going to the gym or volunteering, tend to have the most possibilities for increasing happiness for the long term. Evidence suggests that the genetic set point accounts for about 50% of happiness, circumstances for about 10%, and intentional activities for about 40%. This is important for purposes of intervention as this research suggests that almost half of the determinants of happiness can be influenced.

Contemporary research has begun to demonstrate that focusing on and practicing activities that deal with good and moral qualities such as gratitude can increase happiness (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). Interventions designed to increase happiness are valuable not only because being happy is beneficial on an individual emotional level but because happy people tend to exhibit more positive community behaviors (Diener et al., 2005). Linley et al. (2006) indicated that although it is important to recognize happiness as a favorable emotional state, it is also important to recognize it as a mechanism that propels one toward other gains. People who are happy tend to reflect on good things that have happened in the past; when they do think about bad things, they focus on how they can be fixed. Happy people, as opposed to those who are unhappy, hold the belief that life is under their own control, rather than controlled by others or chance (Argyle & Martin, 1991). Mahon and Yarcheski (2002) indicated that a person’s plans and goals for the future are essential to their sense of self that is directly linked to happiness. Optimistic people who view their goals as achievable will continue to attempt to reach those goals, even in the face of obstacles.

In a school-based study completed by Natvig, Albrektsen, and Qvarnstrom (2003), 1,017 students from Norway completed questionnaires regarding happiness and other factors. No significant differences were found based on gender, however, the older students category (14-15 years) reported higher levels of unhappiness than the younger students (13 years old). For all students, those who reported high levels of happiness also reported low levels of stress and high levels of general and school self-efficacy and social support. School distress and alienation were significantly related to lower instances of happiness. Also, increasing levels of happiness were significantly correlated to fewer instances of psychosomatic physical symptoms.

Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction, defined as a person’s total assessment of the quality of his or her life, encompasses instantaneous effects of events and moods but also goes beyond such effects, incorporating a more cognitive, critical appraisal of one’s life (Lewinsohn et al., 1991). Lucas et al. (1996) indicated that an examination of an individual’s life satisfaction includes “the tangible aspects of his or her life, weighs the good against the bad and arrives at a judgment of overall satisfaction” (p. 616). Children especially make use of information gleaned from both the internal world via self-reflection and the external world using cues from their surroundings when constructing thoughts of both whole life satisfaction and satisfaction with particular life domains (Huebner, 1997). Overall, life satisfaction can reduce the negative effects experienced from stress or problem behaviors (Huebner, Suldo, & Valois, 2005). According to Park, Peterson, and Seligman (2004), intentional activities that develop strengths leading to a good life, such as those that foster gratitude, can and should be utilized. This is important for the understanding that these strengths can be promoted early in life and thus interventions should take place as early as possible.

Huebner et al. (2004) indicated that a child’s perceived quality of life is a psychological strength that should be a paramount focus to prevent pathology and promote positive changes across multiple settings. Having positive experiences on a daily basis tend to contribute more to a child’s perceived quality of life than does an accrual of significant life pressures. Life satisfaction is an important factor for youth because children who reported higher levels of life satisfaction also report higher levels of academic performance, interpersonal relationships, and intrapersonal functioning in comparison to students who reported low levels of satisfaction (Gilman & Huebner, 2006). Lower life satisfaction has been linked to alcohol and drug use, depression, anxiety, and social stress (Gilman & Huebner, 2003). In addition, Huebner (2004) indicated that adolescents with high life satisfaction are less likely to develop externalizing problems later in life. According to Huebner (1997), children who report high levels of life satisfaction view their lives as positive which then increases the occurrence of related positive emotions, such as happiness. All children, regardless of environmental or demographic variables, have the capacity to experience satisfaction with life and concentrating on bolstering this and other positive psychological competencies serves as an effective, preventative method for academic, social, and personal problems. Both life satisfaction and happiness appear to confer a multitude of benefits and thus further investigation into methods of increasing these constructs, such as exercises in gratitude, are warranted.

Gratitude

Gratitude is defined as “a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness and appreciation for life” (Emmons & Shelton, 2005; p. 460). Feelings of gratitude originate from the belief that one has profited in some way because of the actions of another person (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). It has been hypothesized that experiencing gratitude can encourage a person to engage in more prosocial and moral behaviors (Emmons & Shelton, 2005), inhibit destructive interpersonal behaviors (Emmons, McCullough, & Tsang, 2003), and enhance positive affect and well-being (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006b). People who are characterized as grateful indicate higher levels of optimism, positive feelings and life satisfaction, and lower levels of stress and negative affect.

Gratitude is an enjoyable experience that leads to feelings of happiness, hope, and satisfaction (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) as well as peace of mind, bodily health and more intense relationships with others (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Watkins (2004) indicated that gratitude boosts the benefits a person receives socially, improving the quality of friendships and social connections in a person’s life. Furthermore, gratitude is a catalyst for reciprocal altruism, which fosters feelings of being loved and appreciated by others and induces people to broaden their thoughts of how to pay back kindnesses. Martin (2007) proposed that to increase experiences of positive emotion, one needs to promote acceptance of and appreciation for all the positive things in life and not focus on what is negative. The importance of gratitude in this situation is imperative in that it encourages one to value those who have benefited them in some way, which elicits good feelings and provides an awareness of being valued by another person, creating a positive cycle. People who self-reported themselves as more grateful also reported a higher satisfaction with their lives as a whole (Watkins, 2004).

Wood, Joseph, and Linley (2007) hypothesized that grateful people would use certain coping strategies when dealing with problems or stress, given that they were more likely to view the world as an enjoyable place and focus on positive features in their lives. Wood et al. (2007) completed a study using two samples of participants from college lectures (n = 149 and n = 87, respectively), finding a significant positive correlation between gratitude and both happiness and satisfaction with life while a significant negative correlation was found between gratitude and both stress and depression. Furthermore, grateful people were found to use more positive coping strategies and to look for social support. The results also showed that it is possible that coping is a partial mediator in the relationship between gratitude and stress, possibly because grateful people tend to use more positive coping methods, which decrease stress.

Watkins, Grimm, and Kolts (2004) suggested that gratitude and subjective well-being are strongly related. Gratitude in this instance is recognized as dispositional gratitude, which is composed of “an appreciation for others, an appreciation for simple pleasures and a sense of abundance” (p. 53). Results from two studies indicate gratitude was positively correlated with a positive memory bias. It appeared that people who scored high in gratitude had an easier time recalling positive events in their lives, which may contribute to the correlation between gratitude and well-being. If grateful people recognize the positive events in their lives, they may be more likely to feel satisfaction in their lives. Thus, it seems that a positive relationship exists between gratitude and happiness (Watkins, 2004).

Peterson and Seligman (2004) indicated that children do not start regularly experiencing and expressing gratitude until middle childhood. Only 21% of children below the age of 6 years indicated thankfulness when given candy by an adult. Children 10 years of age or older, however, expressed thankfulness more than 80% of the time in the same situation. Implementing interventions that foster the expression of gratitude in children, therefore, would be especially helpful. The practice of gratitude should attempt to achieve a realization of how pleasant one’s life is, neutralizing what happens when a person becomes accustomed to life and begins taking it for granted (Watkins, 2004).