Happiness Survey Report
Happiness Definition
To me, happiness is feeling at peace with everything around you and yourself. It means that you have an inner calmness. You feel that everything is either going great or is going to be okay. Happiness is when things begin to click and fall into place. Although you may not have expected things to go a certain way, the outcome is pleasant enough where you may be relieved of a stressor or excited about what is to come. Happiness is also more than just an emotion. It is a way of living and a mindset that most people try to obtain their whole lives. Happiness derives from within, but it can also be achieved through spending quality time with loved ones and places you enjoy.
Happiness Survey Results — Myself
In the happiness survey, the user’s happiness is measured and divided into twelve categories. These categories are: cantril ladder, satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, health, time balance, lifelong learning, arts, and culture, community, social support, environment, government, standard of living– economy, and work. The survey was relatively easy for me to take, and I thought it took into consideration interesting factors. In order to measure the accuracy of the results, I decided to take it twice a few weeks apart. The first test I took was on April 14th, before the unofficial deadline to stay on track. The areas I scored above average on were: satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, lifelong learning, arts, and culture, community, social support, environment, government, and work.
I was not surprised to see that my scores were high in the social support and work categories. I have a very strong relationship with my family, my boyfriend, and a few of my close friends. I feel very comfortable talking to them concerning just about anything. I also am able to spend quality time with them often, and they all get along well. As for work, I was not surprised at all for the high score in that category. I recently left my job of three years and started at a new job. I went from being a Frame Shop Associate to a shopper for Giant Direct. I absolutely love my new job and feel appreciated, respected, and accepted by my coworkers. I had already known several of my new coworkers, and I believed that helped with the transition. I had also received a pay raise as an incentive to start sooner, which helped me a lot financially.
Two categories I was surprised to see that were higher in my happiness scores were psychological well-being and government. I struggle with high levels of stress and anxiety. I typically have a very heavy course load, extracurriculars, and work part time. In addition to these responsibilities, I also try my best to balance my time between friends, family, my boyfriend, all while making sure I have some time for myself. I expected to score much lower in that category as a result. I was also surprised that I had a higher level of satisfaction with the government than others did. However, I think it is important to take into consideration the current political climate and the extreme polarization of opinions relating to how public officials are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The categories I scored lower in compared to the average score were: cantril ladder, health, time balance, and standard of living– economy. I was not surprised to see that health and time balance were below average. This semester has been particularly rough for me. I have fallen behind in coursework at points, and have not been maintaining the best health habits. At the time of taking this survey, I had fallen behind in several classes due to personal reasons and was struggling to make up the work. I also had stopped going to the gym as frequently, and began eating less, but more unhealthy foods. I also had not been sleeping as much due to stress, and when I was sleeping, it was usually interrupted and not quality rest.
After I took the survey, I was intrigued by the time frame that the survey offered to measure happiness. I thought that it was very dependent on temporary feelings, so I decided to retake it after a few weeks. I retook the survey on May 1st, and recorded my results below. I noticed that my results increased a decent amount, especially as the semester came to a close and I did not feel as stressed. The categories I scored above average in included: cantril ladder, psychological well-being, lifelong learning, arts, and culture, community, social support, environment, government, and work. Despite a category being interchanged, overall I scored higher above average than when I previously took the survey. The categories I scored below average on were: satisfaction with life, health, time balance, and standard of living– economy. I am not quite sure what I answered differently to interchange satisfaction with life and cantril ladder. One possibility could be that I am beginning to consider employment opportunities as I finish my sophomore year of college.
Happiness Survey Results — Three People
For this report, I chose to interview my mom, a classmate, and my boyfriend. I included their results and my own at the end of this report. I had these people take the survey and interviewed them in the order listed. In order to see a wider range of happiness, I tried to get a semi-diverse group of people. All three of the people I interviewed were white, but are from different socioeconomic backgrounds. My mother is white, 45 years old, politically moderate, has a college degree, works full time, and would be considered lower middle class, although she grew up with a low standard of living. She is single and enjoys hobbies such as crafting, gardening, cooking, spending time with family, and traveling when possible.
My classmate is 21 years old, currently a junior at Kutztown, works part-time, and would be considered upper middle class. She is a good student, is politically moderate but leans towards more liberal views, and works at a job related to her eventual career. Her hobbies include twirling, spending time with friends and boyfriend, and playing with her dogs. For the purpose of this essay, she has asked to be referred to only as my classmate to keep her happiness results anonymous. My boyfriend (Robert) is also 21, is politically conservative, works full time in a technical field (he is a CNC machinist for a precision metal gun parts company), and he and his family’s background would be considered upper class. In his free time, he enjoys most hands-on activities, such as tinkering with boats, ATVs, jet skis, side by sides, cars, etc. Robert also enjoys spending time with me, our dogs, and being outside.
For my mom’s results, the categories she scored above average in were: cantril ladder, satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, health, community, social support, environment, government, and work. The categories she scored below average were: time balance, lifelong learning, arts and culture, and standard of living. Personally, I was not surprised by her scores at all. My mother is a very positive person and tries to make the best out of every situation no matter what. However, there were some things that were unavoidable on the happiness survey, such as measuring socioeconomic status. Since we live together, it was expected from both of us that we shared similar scores.
For my classmate’s results, the categories she scored above in were: cantril ladder, satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, health, time balance, lifelong learning, arts, and culture, social support, environment, government, and work. Her score for community was almost exactly at average, and she scored slightly below average on standard of living. In addition to being classmates, we are also friends, and I know that she has a good relationship with her family and she has a light course load this semester. In addition, she had mentioned previously that her job has been more flexible with her hours, allowing her to better balance her schoolwork.
For my boyfriend’s results, he scored above average on: cantril ladder, satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, health, community, social support, government, standard of living, and work. Robert was also the only one out of all four of us to take the survey to have the most closest to average results. He scored at just about average for the following categories: lifelong learning, arts, and culture, and time balance. The only category he scored significantly below was environment. I was not surprised by Robert’s results at all. He had recently started a new job in a new career field this October, and he has loved every second of it. In January and March, we brought home two puppies that we absolutely adore. He has also recently purchased a house that we will be moving into shortly after finals week.
Overall, I was very pleased to see the results of everyone and that they were very positive and were happy according to the survey. I thought it was interesting how a common category that was within the below average section was standard of living and time balance. If I were to do research on this topic later on, I think it would be interesting to see what exactly determines the correlation between the two categories. Is it simply because those who have a lower standard of living spend their time working to improve their socioeconomic status, or is it simply bad personal habits? It was also very good to see that everyone was looking towards the future, and was thinking optimistically.
Interviews
For each participant, I asked the same three questions: Do you think that the survey results are accurate? If so, or not, what do you think could be done to make the survey more accurate? Would you describe the actual survey as easy, medium difficulty, or hard? I asked then to also send me a screenshot of their results to include in my report. The first person that took the survey and I had interviewed was my mother.
My mother said that she believed that the survey results were fairly accurate. She took the survey while drinking her morning coffee and relaxing before she had to go to work. One thing she cited that she believed would make the survey more accurate is including a wider time frame (i.e. past month instead of past week). She believed that the survey was easy to complete. My classmate was the second person I interviewed. She stated that she thought that the survey was accurate, but also relied heavily on her current mood. At the time of taking the survey, she said she had been having an excellent week and was very productive. She stated that, “If I was in a different headspace I probably would have answered differently, so it just depends on how you see life and the answers will reflect in that.” My classmate also emphasized that the survey could have asked more questions on mental health, and it was overall an easy survey.
Robert felt that “I encountered a few different interesting things. I agree that I do feel that I have a high amount of social support, and that I also have a lower happiness with time balance than the average survey taker.” He attributed the struggle with time balance due to his long work hours– he often works between 50–60 hours a week. Robert also agreed with my classmate’s idea about it being focused on your current mood, and that the survey was easy to take. I personally agree with my scores, and was surprised to see how the results were distributed. When I received feedback about the scores changing based on headspace or mood, I thought it would be interesting to retake the survey. I thought it was interesting how much my scores had spread out over just a few weeks.
Recommendations
As I stated in my definition of happiness, I firmly believe that it is more than just an emotion. It is a mindset, and one that is not particularly easily achieved. However, anything worthwhile does not come along easy. I have three recommendations for my audience to try and achieve happiness. My first recommendation is journaling. When I am particularly upset or anxious or experience any negative emotion, I make a list or write a short essay about all the positive things going on in my life to try to refocus and stay on track.
My second recommendation is spending and balancing time with loved ones and yourself. It is absolutely essential to make sure that there is a balance. You cannot pour from an empty cup. As much as I love some of my family members, I know and appreciate my time alone. It gives me time to reflect, relax, and be grateful for the time I have spent with them. My third and final recommendation is to be forgiving and let go. While some wounds may be fresh, it is important to recognize the peace that forgiveness and letting go gives. Forgiveness allows us to see that while someone has wronged us, we can heal from whatever transgressions have been made. Letting go allows us to move on and have new, meaningful experiences.
