Hannah Shew

2/24/17
Section 1
Annotated Bibliography

Source 1:
Citation:

Happy. Dir. Roko Belic. Happy. N.p., Jan. 2011. Web. Feb. 9 2017

Summary:
The truth of happiness is found in the values of intrinsic goals, flow and living selflessly. The
movie Happy is a documentary formed to show viewers the truth of happiness and all that it
entails. The different stories/perspectives are from people from all different backgrounds, and it
really shows that you can be happy no matter who you are or where you come from. Each
different perspective gave us an inside look on what makes them happy. One of the many
arguments made about what makes someone happy is sports and physical activity. This is

explained through flow. Flow is the feeling of being only in the moment and mindset of what you
are doing, and nothing can distract you from the sense of excitement or adrenaline rush you are
experiencing. Another argument made in the movie is that you do not need to be wealthy or have
the perfect life to be happy. This story is told through a very poor man in a extremely
underprivileged neighbourhood. Every day he gets up and pulls rickshaw to carry people around
in for money. While on the outside it looks like the life he lives is an extremely awful and
underprivileged life, his story shows that it does not matter the amount of money but it matters
what you value in life. The perspective of the rickshaw driver shows how important it is to value
intrinsic goals and not extrinsic. (money, status, image etc.)

Assessment:
I think this is an extremely helpful source. Its not necessarily about the facts and the science
behind happiness, but it gives you perspective about happiness, that I never would have gotten
before.

Reflection:
Like I said before, this movie gives you perspective about happiness that are so important to
understanding happiness as a whole.

Source 2:
Citation:

Smith, Emily Esfahani. "There's More to Life Than Being Happy." The Atlantic (2015): 1+.
Web. 9 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/theres-more-to-life-than-being-happy/26680
5/>.
Summary:
Theres More to Life Than Being Happy is an article telling about the life work of Victor Frankl,
a Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna. The article tells the story of Frankl getting
arrested and transported to a Nazi concentration camp. While in the camp, he acted as a therapist
of some sort and the experiences he heard and had himself were impactful enough to write a
book about. In the book and the article the difference between happiness and meaningfulness.

Assessment:
I think this article is a helpful and credible source. I have never read The Atlantic, but after doing
some research on it, I see that all the articles are well written and all claims that the authors
make, are backed up with evidence.

Reflection:
I think this article helped me answer the truth of happiness, because it talked a lot about this
search for happiness, and how harmful that can be.

Evidence:
- It is the very pursuit of happiness, Frankl knew, that thwarts happiness.
- But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.
- Leading a happy life, the psychologists found, is associated with being a taker while
leading a meaningful life corresponds with being a giver.

Source 3:
Citation:
Seligman, Martin. "Transcript of "The New Era of Positive Psychology"." Martin Seligman: The
New Era of Positive Psychology | TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript | TED.com. TED, n.d. Web.
24 Feb. 2017.

Summary:
In this TED talk, Martin Seligman explains the new era of positive psychology. He explains in
depth, what 3 different happy lives a person can live and why it is so important to focus on
making someone's life happier rather than relieve misery. Seligman not only talks about the
psychology behind happiness (which is not a word he uses lightly) but the science behind it.

Assessment:
I think this is a very strong and credible source. Martin Seligman has been studying and working
in the field of positive psychology for 10 years, and him and his co-workers have conducted
hundreds of experiments and recorded numerous amounts of data on the subject.

Reflection:
I think this TED talk was extremely important in my search for the truth of happiness. Seligman
goes deep into the psychology of happiness, and brings new perspectives on how our society and
culture view happiness.

Source 4:
Citation:
Brooks, David. "The Moral Bucket List." New York Times 11 Apr. 2015, Sunday Review ed.,
OP-ED sec.: n. pag. Print.

Summary:
In this article, David Brooks explains what he believes are the most important qualities in
a person with good morals and character, and how it can be learned. He starts off by explaining
people he has encountered that have good character, and what similarities he has observed in
each of them.
Brooks explains 7 important things that are necessary to create good character. First of
the is The Humility Shift, the next being Self Defeat. The Humility Shift is
acknowledging ones weaknesses and Self Defeat is taking ones weaknesses and working to
create growth where there is room for it. The next aspect is The Dependency Leap. This aspect
is pretty self explanatory-- leaning on others when help is needed. Following The Dependency
Leap is Energizing Love, which simply means having the ability to love deeply and create
positive energy from it. Additionally, 6th in the list is The Call Within the Call. Brooks states,
We all go into professions for many reasons: money, status, security. But some people have
experiences that turn a career into a calling. Last but not least on the list, is The Conscience
Leap. This involves the moment in someones life, where they realize worrying about material
things or the other extrinsic goals one might have.

Assessment:
I think this is a very credible source. While this is an opinion piece and not so much a factual
text, Brooks backs up each of his claims with evidence.

Reflection:
I think this is an extremely helpful source to find information about meaning, but not happiness.
The reason I say that, is Brooks explains only what he thinks makes good character in someone,
but not what makes one happy. On the other hand, he claims that if one has the morals and the
character he is explaining, they will in turn live a better, happier life. I think this is an extremely
important source to read, but it did not help me reach the answer of the truth of happiness as
much as I thought it would.

Evidence:
- The stumbler does not build her life by being better than the others, but by being better
than she was before. paragraph 29
- But people on the road to inner light do not find their vocations by asking, what do I
want from life? They ask, what is life asking of me? How can I match my intrinsic talent
with one of the worlds deep needs? paragraph 23
- That kind of love de-centers the self. It reminds you that your true riches are in another.
Most of all, this love electrifies. It puts you in a state of need and makes it delightful to
serve what you love. paragraph 15
- External success is achieved through competition with others, but character is built
during the with your own weaknesses. paragraph 12

Source 5:
Citation:
Baer, Drake. "11 Characteristics Of Authentically Happy People." Business Insider. Business
Insider, 02 July 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

Summary:
In this article, Drake Baer writes about genuinely happy people, and the characteristics that they
possess. Baer speaks about the phenomenon that is happiness in the United States. He talks
about how focused Americans are on being happy and finding happiness, that they forget these
simple 11 characteristics, that genuinely happy people possess.

Assessment:
I think this article is somewhat credible as a source. I have read business insider before, and
compared to most of their articles, this one did not back up most of their claims with strong
evidence. The article was also fairly short, and while that might not be a problem normally, it did
not pack in as much information as it could have.

Reflection:
I think this gave me a better understanding of what happy people possess to keep sustainable
happiness.
Evidence:
- Only a third of Americans describe themselves as "very happy."
Perhaps that's why there's such a market for happiness-related wisdom. - 1st paragraph
- "We don't need to be happy to live our lives," shares user Keinosuke Johan Miyanaga. "But to
achieve it, one must seek it first."

Individual Research:
Research Question: To what extent will ones sustainable well-being be affected if
they find their motivation for happiness intrinsically vs extrinsically?

Source 1:
Citation:
Baer, Drake. "Why Chasing 'Extrinsic Goals' Can Wreck Your Happiness." Business Insider.
Business Insider, 22 July 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Summary:
This article (as pretty obvious from the title of it) is about how harmful finding motivation
extrinsically can be. Extrinsic motivation relate to wordly goals as Drake Beer puts it, such as
money, status and fame. Beers main argument is that finding happiness extrinsically, will not be
sustainable.

Assessment:
I think this article is extremely credible and helpful. Beer does a good job of backing up his
claims with evidence, and he makes some good arguments. He also includes studies from
different Universities and programs.

Reflection:
I think this source was extremely helpful to help answer my research question. Not only did I get
a deeper understanding on extrinsic goals, but I learned a lot about sustainable happiness, which
is a huge part of my project.

Evidence:
- The folks who realized their intrinsic goals had high levels of happiness, but the people
who attained their extrinsic goals didnt have an improvement in their subjective well
 being. The authors theorize that they might feel momentarily after reaching such a goal,
but it doesnt last. - paragraph 4
- The difference in how these goals affect happiness comes down to ones needs. -
Paragraph 5
- .. intrinsic goals directly nourish psychological needs. - Paragraph 6

Source 2:
Citation:
Pinder, Gene. "Intrinsic Goals and Happiness." The Psychology of Satisfaction and Happiness.
N.p., 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Summary:
This article focused mainly on the intrinsic side of happiness. Gene Pinder explains why this is
so important in the long run. (sustainability) Pinder speaks on how our society and culture has
turned into an extrinsically motivated one, and how that is harming us. She also goes into the
psychological reasons we think extrinsically.

Assessment:
Gene Pinder has studied this topic (psychology behind satisfaction and happiness) for over 10
years. She created a blog site that she puts most of her articles on, and I think she is a credible
source that has many important pieces of information, that I would love to include in my final
project.

Reflection:
I think this is one of the only sources I have that really goes behind the psychology of why we
think with extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. I think this is an extremely important part of the
subject, and one that Im extremely interested in learning about.
Evidence:
1. First, researchers believe people strongly pursuing extrinsic goals tend to have more
superficial relationships, engage in more social comparisons, and allow those external
pursuits to crowd out enjoyable and satisfying activities. paragraph 4
2. But it could also be that people with traits such as high insecurity, low self-esteem, or
low cooperativeness are attracted to extrinsic goal settings and diminished well-being.
Thus, the two go hand-in-hand because of these personality traits. - Paragraph 5
 3. What is clear is this peoples choice of goals affects ones overall, long-term
well-being. In addition, the focus of those goals and the dynamic process with which
those goals are pursued make a big difference in our lives. - Paragraph 6
4. People who wish to be happier in their lives may be better served, for example, in
focusing more on those goals that involve growth, connections and contribution, as
opposed to those goals that involve money, beauty and popularity. - Paragraph 6

Source 3:
Citation:
Randhawa, Jason S. "The Unconscious Reason Why Most People Will Fail in Their Pursuit of
True Happiness." Self Improvement from SelfGrowth.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

Summary:
This article is about the pursuit of happiness and how it can discourage us for finding true
happiness. It also goes into to talking about extrinsic motivation and how that completely stops
us from finding that sustainable happiness that we are all striving for.

Assessment:
While I think this is a good article, that made some important points, I do not think it is a very
credible source. The website I found it on does not seem legitimate, and there wasnt much
evidence to go along with his claims.

Reflection:
While I do not think it is a super credible source, I think Randhawa made some interesting points
that I would like to research more.

Evidence:
- Extrinsic aspirations depend on contingent reaction of others and are typically engaged
in as a means to an end.
- Once you are aware of such unconscious influences you must exert your will to focus on
intrinsic aspirations in achieving your spiritual growth.
- In the bigger picture, it will not be until humans offer the deepest respect for all of life,
that humanity will know its highest, most noble self. Only when we focus on intrinsic
goals like self-acceptance and our deep interconnectedness, will we know what true
happiness is. The results of such a shift will profoundly impact all of earth.