Definition
Researchers interested in well-being and happiness face the substantial problem of defining these two terms and their constitutive components. Definitions can in fact differ according to the disciplinary and theoretical assumptions adopted by the researchers. Moreover, the conceptual broadness of these two terms led scholars to distinguish in them a variety of components or dimensions. At the psychological level, Kahneman and Riis (2005) proposed to distinguish two dimensions of happiness: the experiential one and the evaluative one. The former comprises transient states, such as positive emotions; the latter comprises global cognitive judgments on one’s own life. Other researchers moved instead from the assumption that happiness entails a paradox, since it cannot be directly pursued or achieved, rather representing a by-product of cultivating activities that...
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Delle Fave, A. (2014). Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3778
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