An assessment of the correlation between happiness and mizaj (temperament) of university students in Persian medicine

Abstract

Background: Mizaj (Temperament) is one of the fundamental concepts of Persian Medicine (PM) and identifying this concept is crucial for providing various healthcare recommendations and for the treatment of patients. In PM, various indices can indicate a person’s Mizaj, one of them is the happiness of people. From this perspective, people with warm Mizaj are happier than people with cold Mizaj. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between happiness and Mizaj. Methods: In order to conduct this Cross Sectional (descriptive-correlational) study based on convenience sampling method, 610 participants completed the 29-item Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) and the 10-item Mojahedi Mizaj questionnaire (MMQ). The study started since September, 2016 and ended in November, 2016 in Tehran, Iran. The collected data were compared by chisquared test. Results: The frequency of happy individuals in warm, temperate, and cold Mizaj groups was 85.2%, 79% and 58.2%, respectively. According to the results of chi-squared test, individuals with cold Mizaj were significantly less happy than people with warm and temperate Mizaj. However, there was no significant difference between warm and temperate Mizaj groups. Moreover, the level of happiness in people with wet Mizaj was not significantly different from people with dry Mizaj. Conclusions: There is a significant correlation between happiness and an individual’s Mizaj. Accordingly, one of the hypotheses regarding indices of Mizaj identification in PM is strengthened. This index can be used in researches associated with designing and validating Mizaj evaluative scales in PM to differentiate cold and warm Mizaj.