What is the good life and how do individuals attain it? Meaning of happiness, its assessment, and pathways

Abstract

This research investigates the contents, antecedents, and mediators of happiness in the Indian state of Assam. The first study examines the content and meanings of happiness in Assamese culture. Posing exploratory questions, a thematic analysis of the narrations of 53 participants revealed 18 themes, grouped into intrinsic or content and extrinsic or context factors of happiness. The content and meanings of happiness embrace a blend of ancient Indian, Eastern, and Western concepts. Based on these results, a culture-sensitive happiness scale is constructed in the second study. It further tests whether life skills mediate the relationship between character strength and happiness. Data from 503 Assamese participants showed that the one-factor model of happiness, combining all 14 items of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, is acceptable. It has measurement invariance across male and female genders and high- and low-income groups. To ensure criterion-related validity, the happiness of people is associated with their well-being profiles. Adjusting the confounding effects of age and sex of participants, it is observed that character strengths do not promote happiness but pass through life skills fully to promote happiness.