ANALYSIS

Check your answers against the list below.  Give yourself one point for each of your answers that match these.

1. b
2. b
3. a
4. c
5. c
6. b
7. a or b
8. c
9. d
10. c
11. a
12. d
13. c
14. d
15. b

According to this quiz, if you got two points or fewer, there is not much joy in your life.  A score of four to six suggests that you experience many happy moments.  Seven points or more indicates a happy person, at least by these criteria.

            Following is a brief explanation of Robert Harrington’s reasoning in rating answers for happiness.  The number refers to the questions involved.

            A happy person likes to do useful, productive work; to use his or her abilities fully (1) and enjoys helping people but is not self-sacrificing (2).

            At night sleep researchers have found that a happy individual has little trouble falling asleep (3).  He or she tends to be self-sufficient and can enjoy both solitude and company but is dependent on neither (4, 13).

            Generally, happy people are orderly and punctual (5,9). Though tolerant of people’s minor flaws, the happy person dislikes cruelty and destructiveness (6).  He or she is healthy (7), has no hang-ups about prosperity (11) and refuses to participate in other people’s negative emotions (8) or cling to his or her own (10).

            When choosing a mate, a happy person will pick a congenial, compatible figure rather than someone romantic and glamorous (12).  Being busy and absorbed, a happy person tends to feel days pass quickly, though in larger units – weeks, months, years – time may seem to move slowly (14).

            Finally, the happy person has a sense of progress, improvement and of getting somewhere (15).