What constitutes happiness?

The meaning of "a good life" may vary from culture to culture and from individual to individual, but it revolves around the same aspects of life across cultures. Understanding what constitutes and influences a good life has a significant value for all people. During the past decades researchers investigated the concept of "the good life" from three perspectives: quality of life, subjective well-being, and individual's level of functionality. This book describes development of an empirical, psychological theory which integrates previous approaches to understanding the concept of "the good life". A multi-faceted, computer-based scale was devised for measuring the construct on three indices: subjective well-being, affective experiences, and fulfillment of needs. The scale has robust psychometric properties. The results of the research revealed the underlying, hierarchical structure of what constitutes "a good life" or happiness. This book is an excellent guide for understanding whatconstitutes and influences happiness, and could help a reader live life happier. A comprehensive report of individual's quality of life and overall happiness could be obtained at www.life-scale.org.