1: Introduction to Happiness and Positive Psychology

This chapter looks at the topic of happiness from an historical perspective. Philosophers have considered the topic of happiness down the millennia. The concept of happiness even made it into the American Declaration of Independence, invoking a right to the pursuit of happiness. Research has been hindered by a number of linked concepts, such as subjective wellbeing (SWB), flourishing, wellbeing, all of which are linked to, but conceptually different from happiness. This chapter explores these and other related topics. Positive psychology (PP) certainly featured happiness in a lot of its earlier research. This concept has largely been replaced by the broader concept of flourishing based on Martin Seligman’s PERMA Model, which has five aspects: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment.