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{{Short description|Feeling of happiness}}{{Other uses}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Emotion}}Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and satisfaction of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune.WEB,weblink Joy, The Emotion Compass, January 27, 2024, Happiness, pleasure, and gratitude are closely related to joy but are not identical to it.NEWS,weblink Want to feel happier? Try snacking on joy., Sima, Richard, The Washington Post, November 17, 2022,

Distinction vs similar emotions

Some psychologists and scholars draw a distinction between happiness and joy. The precise distinction varies, but happiness is often described as the product of external sources, while joy is considered to be internal.WEB,weblink Joy vs. Happiness, Brown, Sandra, December 18, 2012, {{no wrap|C. S. Lewis}} saw a clear distinction between joy, pleasure, and happiness: "I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for Joy",Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life. (p. 169) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition. and "I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again... I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and Pleasure often is."Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life. (p. 18) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.Michela Summa says that the distinction between joy and happiness is that joy "accompanies the process through and through, whereas happiness seems to be more strictly tied to the moment of achievement of the process... joy is not only a direct emotional response to an event that is embedded in our life-concerns but is also tightly bound to the present moment, whereas happiness presupposes an evaluative stance concerning one period of one's life or one's own life as a whole."BOOK, Summa, Michela, Joy and Happiness, 2020, Taylor & Francis, 9781315180786, English,

Psychology

Sources and types

The causes of joy have been ascribed to various sources.Ingrid Fetell Lee has studied the sources of joy. She wrote the book Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness,BOOK, Lee, Ingrid Fetell, Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, and gave a TED talk on the subject, titled "Where joy hides and how to find it."{{Citation|last=Lee|first=Ingrid Fetell|title=Where joy hides and how to find it|date=21 May 2018 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/ingrid_fetell_lee_where_joy_hides_and_how_to_find_it|language=en|access-date=2 October 2020}}Joy is most commonly found through engagement, self-connection, and living in the moment.WEB,weblink Experiencing Your Multiple Domains of Joy, Bruce Wilson, Psychology Today, October 23, 2023, JOURNAL, Lowry, Ca, Lightman, Sl, Nutt, Dj, That warm fuzzy feeling: brain serotonergic neurons and the regulation of emotion, Journal of Psychopharmacology, June 2009, 23, 4, 392–400, 10.1177/0269881108099956, 19074539, 1128746,

Health effects

Joy improves health and well-being and brings psychological changes that improve a person's mood and well-being. Some people have a natural capacity for joy, meaning they experience joy more easily compared to others. While there is no conclusive evidence for the genetics of happiness, joy is known to be hereditary.WEB,weblink Biological Connection to the Feeling of Happiness, Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, October 1, 2020, Experience of joy is increased through healthy habits such as sharing food, physical activity, writing, and self-connection.WEB,weblink Joy is good for your body and your mind – three ways to feel it more often, Jolanta Burk, Padraic Dunne, Psychology Today, March 1, 2023,

See also

{{Commons category|Happiness}}

• Joie de vivre
• Happiness
• Reward system
• Pleasure

References

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