Authentic Happiness Theory by Martin Seligman (2002) is used to help gauge one’s happiness through activity. There are three scoring criteria: pleasure, engagement, and meaning.
Pleasure is the immediate reaction we get, usually in the form of satisfaction or conversely, negative response. Engagement is how much attention we can keep on something. This can range from fully focused to focused to disinterested. Lastly, Meaning is what sense of purpose we have from doing something. Do we understand why we are doing something? Is there some higher purpose we seek to achieve? Or do we not know why we’re even doing something?
My personal score for the Authentic Happiness Theory test showed a prioritization of meaning over pleasure and engagement. Personally, this makes sense to me. I want to be sure that whatever I am doing has some sort of value rather than just rely on how much I could enjoy or lose myself in that activity.
One example is from Whittier College where I joined the Orthogonian Society, one of the male fraternities on campus. I went to an all-male high school where one of the main values practiced was brotherhood. Going into college, I knew I wanted to join a fraternity to find a similar sense of brotherhood. This is what drew me to the Orthogonians. I could see from how they interacted that they were close and had meaningful values and practices. Knowing that joining a fraternity would be a life-long commitment, I wanted to be sure I chose one that I would get the most out of.
Another example of meaning in my activity was playing rugby. Growing up, I thought I would be playing football. However, I started to learn about rugby after my brothers started playing for local clubs once they’d seen a game played in Ireland. I began to play rugby and learned how valuable of a sport it is not just for physical fitness, but for how much of a character-builder the game is. Rugby teaches its players to play with honor and respect for your opponent and the referee. Its much more of a social sport than football. Its not uncommon to swap jerseys or eat with your opponents after a match. While I do get plenty of pleasure and engagement from rugby, the meaning behind it was the larger picture part that got me invested.
While I agree with my scores that I do hold meaning in the highest regard, I would like to be able to be more engaged with activities that do not hold much pleasure or meaning. Sometimes we have to do things we are not comfortable with or disinterested in. I can try to come up with some sort of silver lining of meaning but its not worth it if I can’t find some sort of pleasure. We have to be sure to turn our attitudes around and find happiness in whatever we do.
Positive Psychology in a Nutshell 