How do you score on happiness and satisfaction charts? Melbourne Institute's long-running Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey collects data on relationships, work, income, health and education. With results that show declining happiness among Australians, this article notes factors that can contribute to our sense of well-being.
"Lisa Williams, a social psychologist at the University of New South Wales, says it's important to distinguish between someone's happiness and their life satisfaction.
While some people conflate the two, Dr Williams says they are quite different things.
"From a research perspective, we talk about happiness as an emotional state that might shift around moment-to-moment or day-to-day," Dr Williams says.
"Life satisfaction tends to be a bit more stable — it's the broad sense that your life is fulfilled, that there may not be very much you would change about your life.""
