Editing Happiness (section)

=== Self-fulfilment theories ===
[[File:Sweet Baby Kisses Family Love.jpg|thumb|Woman kissing a baby on the cheek]]

[[Maslow's hierarchy of needs]] is a pyramid depicting the levels of human needs, psychological, and physical. When a human being ascends the steps of the pyramid, [[self-actualization]] is reached.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vinney |first=Cynthia |date=2018 |title=Understanding Maslow's Theory of Self-Actualization |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/maslow-theory-self-actualization-4169662 |website=thoughtco. |access-date=23 March 2022 |archive-date=23 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323194539/https://www.thoughtco.com/maslow-theory-self-actualization-4169662 |url-status=live }}</ref> Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary experience, known as [[peak experiences]], profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which a person feels more whole, alive, self-sufficient, and yet a part of the world. This is similar to the [[Flow (psychology)|flow]] concept of [[Mihály Csíkszentmihályi]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alexander |first1=Rebecca |last2=Aragón |first2=Oriana R. |last3=Bookwala |first3=Jamila |last4=Cherbuin |first4=Nicolas |last5=Gatt |first5=Justine M. |last6=Kahrilas |first6=Ian J. |last7=Kästner |first7=Niklas |last8=Lawrence |first8=Alistair |last9=Lowe |first9=Leroy |last10=Morrison |first10=Robert G. |last11=Mueller |first11=Sven C. |last12=Nusslock |first12=Robin |last13=Papadelis |first13=Christos |last14=Polnaszek |first14=Kelly L. |last15=Helene Richter |first15=S. |last16=Silton |first16=Rebecca L. |last17=Styliadis |first17=Charis |title=The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing |journal=Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews |date=February 2021 |volume=121 |pages=220–249 |doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.002 |pmid=33307046 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The concept of flow is the idea that after our basic needs are met we can achieve greater happiness by altering our consciousness by becoming so engaged in a task that we lose our sense of time. Our intense focus causes us to forget any other issues, which in return promotes positive emotions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flow and Happiness {{!}} Psychology Today |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/one-among-many/201502/flow-and-happiness |access-date=23 March 2022 |website=www.psychologytoday.com |language=en |archive-date=5 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805023141/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/one-among-many/201502/flow-and-happiness |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Erich Fromm]] said ''"Happiness is the indication that man has found the answer to the problem of human existence: the productive realization of his potentialities and thus, simultaneously, being one with the world and preserving the integrity of his self. In spending his energy productively he increases his powers, he „burns without being consumed.""''<ref>(Ex 3:2) ― (1947a: ''Man for Himself. An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics'', New York (Rinehart and Co.) 1947, p. 189.)</ref>

[[File:Girl of Vietnam.jpg|thumb|Smiling woman from Vietnam]]
[[Self-determination theory]] relates [[intrinsic motivation]] to three needs: [[Competence (human resources)|competence]], [[autonomy]], and [[Social relation|relatedness]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=R. M. |title=Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. |last2=Deci |first2=E. L. |publisher=Guilford Publishing |year=2017 |location=New York}}</ref> Competence refers to an individual's ability to be effective in their interactions with the environment, autonomy refers to a person's flexibility in choice and decision making, and relatedness is the need to establish warm, close personal relationships.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reeve |first=Johnmarshall |title=Understanding Emotion and Motivation |publisher=John Wiles and Sons, Inc. |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-119-36761-1 |location=Hoboken, NJ}}</ref>

[[Ronald Inglehart]] has traced cross-national differences in the level of happiness based on data from the [[World Values Survey]].<ref name="Inglehart2008">{{cite journal |last1=Inglehart |first1=Ronald |last2=Foa |first2=Roberto |last3=Peterson |first3=Christopher |last4=Welzel |first4=Christian |title=Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness: A Global Perspective (1981–2007) |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |date=July 2008 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=264–285 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00078.x|pmid=26158947 |s2cid=10046821 }}</ref> He finds that the extent to which a society allows free choice has a major impact on happiness. When [[basic needs]] are satisfied, the degree of happiness depends on economic and cultural factors that enable free choice in how people live their lives. Happiness also depends on religion in countries where free choice is constrained.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Inglehart |first1=Ronald F. |title=Cultural Evolution: People's Motivations Are Changing, and Reshaping the World |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108613880 |isbn=978-1108613880}}</ref>

[[Sigmund Freud#Happiness|Sigmund Freud]] said that all humans strive after happiness, but that the possibilities of achieving it are restricted because we "are so made that we can derive intense enjoyment only from a contrast and very little from the [[Status quo|state of things]]."<ref>Freud, S. ''Civilization and its discontents''. Translated and edited by James Strachey, Chapter II. New York: W. W. Norton. [Originally published in 1930].{{page needed|date=November 2020}}</ref>

The idea of [[Hedonism|motivational hedonism]] is the theory that pleasure is the aim for human life.<ref>{{Citation|last=Moore|first=Andrew|title=Hedonism|date=2019|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2019/entries/hedonism/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Winter 2019|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=20 November 2021|archive-date=5 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805023141/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2019/entries/hedonism/|url-status=live}}</ref>