I've got a really good site link to measure through a questionnaire what makes an individual happy (ie what you need in your life eg people contact, humour, learning etc). Interestingly they are starting to teach 'happiness' in school (i work for an educational trust).
Blurb below:
THE COURSE OF HAPPINESS
From this September, Wellington College, the Berkshire school rated eighth in the country at adding value to its pupils’ educational achievement, (according to DfES figures released on January 19) is to introduce lessons in wellbeing and happiness. The move was announced by Dr Anthony Seldon who recently took over the reins as Head, and has clearly hit the ground running, also announcing that the school is fully co-educational now.
Pupils aged 14-16 will receive one lesson a week in the arts of being positive, stoical, epicurean and philosophically buoyant. If it proves a success, the lessons will be extended throughout the school. The pioneering move is to be undertaken in collaboration with Dr Nick Baylis, of the University of Cambridge, one of the world’s leading specialists in positive psychology and the science of well-being. Harvard University recently reported that the subject has become the most popular course this year. The aim is to equip Wellingtonians with an understanding of what makes lives thrive and flourish, and how they can improve their chances of experiencing happiness, good health, a sense of accomplishment and lasting companionship. As they gain this understanding, they will be taught a set of skills to help them achieve this in a practical way. The lessons should help them cope better during their teenage years, both in and out of school, and later at university. “Parents know that good schools are about far more than exam results – and that is why league tables are ultimately of such limited value,” said Dr Seldon. “Schools have a profound responsibility to help develop their pupils into happy and fulfilled human beings. At Wellington, we take this very seriously which is why we are introducing classes on happiness. The fact that Cambridge and Harvard Universities are also taking happiness and positive psychology so seriously further emboldens me. I am confident that in a few years’ time, such classes will become a regular feature of British education. “Celebrity, money and possessions are too often the touchstones for teenagers, and yet these are not where happiness lies. Our children need to know that as societies become richer, they don’t become happier, a fact regularly shown by social science research.”
The school has been developing a programme with Dr Baylis since last year, and it will be brought into the curriculum in the 2006 academic year as a new element of PSHE (personal, social and health education) lessons. Positive psychology is a relatively new branch of the science, which focuses on enabling people to live lives which are ‘flourishing’. There is a growing body of scientific evidence on the causal factors around happiness and well-being, which can then be applied in work with individuals and institutions. Having a better understanding of how to increase the likelihood of happiness with life, and how to channel the emotional pains of set-backs on route, are the sort of skills that can substantially improve an individual’s progress. Previous research has shown, for example, that becoming involved in challenging and absorbing activities is important to people's ability to cope better with life.
Dr Seldon , who has hit the ground running at Wellington, says he intends to share any experiences gained by the school in introducing this subject into the curriculum with educationalists, government, and heads and teachers from both the state and independent sectors.
Dr Nick Baylis is a well being scientist and practising psychologist, studying lives that thrive and flourish, even in the face of adversity. He has dedicated the past ten years to understanding the hows and whys of 'wonderful lives', looking for the most promising routes to ‘healthy, helpful and goodhearted living’. It is clear now that we have the emergence of a new field of science that endeavours to understand how individuals and societies thrive and flourish, and how this new knowledge can be applied to foster happiness, health and fulfillment. Taking a dynamic cross disciplinary approach, it sets out to explore the most promising routes to well-being, derived from the latest research in psychology, biomedical science, social science, economics, and the effects of our natural environment.
Politicians are beginning to take note. One of the Governments favourtite academics Professor Richard Layard, Co-Director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE has recently published 'Happiness: Lessons from a New Science'. Professor Layard looks at the factors that affect happiness, besides income, which is what economists traditionally look at. Other factors he says are important - incomes have grown in recent years yet people have not really been getting any 'happier'. Such factors include satisfaction with family life, job or housework, community and friends, and health. Psychology is the field that has best dealt with issues of happiness, but Professor Layard believes that in economics we have the best framework for dealing with these problems. The area is very much in its infancy, but it will surely take a more prominent place in economics in the future. He also suggests that policymakers should take greater heed of what actually makes us happy.