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Summary: Research showed that being connected to purpose, or a greater good is associated with happiness that is longer-lasting.
There has been a fairly steady stream of news stories coming out over the last several years about the fact that happiness can be increased. While this trend is generally positive, there may be some sense that one must try to feel happier, and that pressure or overemphasis can actually decrease happiness. For one thing, focusing too much on happiness can become obsessive and that mental state is generally associated with stress and anxiety. Also, happiness is sometimes linked with pleasure-seeking, yet many pleasures are often brief, such as the happiness one experiences with eating favorite foods. Once the meal is over, the pleasure wanes and dissatisfaction can result.
However, recently researchers at the University of Wisconsin have distinguished pleasure-based happiness from a purpose-based kind, called eudaimonic well-being. This kind of happiness results from people pursuing the achievement of their human potential. Examples of being engaged in this purposeful way are taking care of children, or other family members, finding one's passion in a kind of work that contributes to a greater cause, or any other meaningful activity.
This purpose-based sense of well-being and happiness is actually linked to less risk of illness such as Alzheimer's, heart disease, osteoporosis and physical disability for the elderly. Being committed to doing greater good may seem to be connected to less happiness in the short-term though, because it requires more giving and effort, rather than self-indulgence.
Purpose does not have to be job-related; it could be one's religious faith. Family and community support and participation could also be a purpose, or volunteering at a charity. For some, practicing environmental awareness is their purpose.
A professor at the Harvard Business School found, "In research for my book Evolve!, I identified three primary sources of motivation in high-innovation companies: mastery, membership, and meaning. Another M, money, turned out to be a distant fourth. Money acted as a scorecard, but it did not get people up-and-at ‘em for the daily work, nor did it help people go home every day with a feeling of fulfillment." (Source: Harvard Business Review)
Mastery, meaning and membership are all things that can also be a purpose. Mastery is exactly that achieving of one's full potential. Meaning is often what makes people feel fulfillment in their lives and membership is the the social connectedness that appears to be critical for health and the kind of long-term well being associated with more enduring happiness.
