IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v26y2025i3d10.1007_s10902-025-00878-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wanting to be Happy Fosters Happiness by Promoting Savoring: A Daily Diary Study

Author

Listed:
  • Jean-Baptiste Pavani

    (Center for Research On the Psychology of Cognition, Language and Emotion (PsyCLE), Aix Marseille University
    Centre PsyCLE, Aix-Marseille Université, Maison de la Recherche)

  • Marguerite Larmanou

    (CLIPSYD, Paris Ouest Nanterre University)

  • Sophie Holtzer

    (Center for Research On the Psychology of Cognition, Language and Emotion (PsyCLE), Aix Marseille University)

  • Desirée Colombo

    (Universitat Jaume I
    Centre PsyCLE, Aix-Marseille Université, Maison de la Recherche)

Abstract

The present study examined the effect of happiness goals (i.e., the degree to which individuals want to be happy) on experiences of happiness. A daily diary study was conducted among 100 French participants. Each evening over a 1-month period, participants reported their experience of happiness during the day, their engagement in savoring and rumination during the day, and their wish to be happy tomorrow. Two main results were obtained. First, as expected, at the between-individual level, individuals with higher happiness goals were more likely to experience intense happiness, partly because they engaged more in savoring. Second, as expected, at the within-individual level, when an individual displayed higher happiness goals for tomorrow than usual, the individual was more likely to experience intense happiness during the next day than usual, partly due to stronger engagement in savoring. The results suggest that, on average, happiness goals foster happiness experiences by eliciting happiness-promoting behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Baptiste Pavani & Marguerite Larmanou & Sophie Holtzer & Desirée Colombo, 2025. "Wanting to be Happy Fosters Happiness by Promoting Savoring: A Daily Diary Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10902-025-00878-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-025-00878-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-025-00878-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-025-00878-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10902-025-00878-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.