Unlike happiness, delight, awe, and other positive emotions, joy requires us to define a set of morals and values that orient us toward respect and responsibility to others.

Experts in the study of joy believe that joy results from a life well-lived. That is, a life full of meaningful accomplishments, personal growth, excellence, and virtue (King & Defoy, 2020). A 2014 study of the opinions of leading psychologists concluded that a commonality in their research was that joy is the fulfillment of a desire critical to one’s thriving or flourishing (Meadows, 2014).

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Joy Motivates and Directs Our Behavior

From an evolutionary perspective, emotions like joy were developed to help our early ancestors survive, i.e., living in close social settings vs. living alone. However, today, joy orients us toward thriving. The action-preparedness aspect of joy can align and direct us toward what matters. For example, joy prompts the urge to play, push limits, be creative, and seek contact with others. These tendencies reinforce learning, self-regulation, social engagement, and meaning-making, which are necessary to direct us toward purposeful pursuits and thriving (King et al., 2017). Joy comes from thinking, feeling, and doing what matters most and is ultimately right (King, 2019).

Joy and Goal Attainment

Studies point out that many people experience joy through goal attainment. This is because joy propels us toward attainment because it gives us energy, allows us to push beyond our perceived limits, and opens us up to new experiences. In this way, joy rewards us for our actions. Joy signals what is significant and motivates us toward life-affirming relationships and activities. It guides us toward what matters by providing positive feelings that prepare us to act.

Bottom line, joy motivates and guides us in our career choices. Experiencing joy provides a visceral experience that activates and enables us to pursue life-giving and transformative choices. Joy increases our capacity for creativity, imagination, and connection. It helps us be less anxious and more tolerant. When we reflect on and act in ways that enable joy, we can identify sources of joy in our lives and then intentionally pursue joy.

As we approach a new year, let’s make changes that make room for maximizing our opportunity for personal growth in the direction of the greater good.

References

King, P. E. (2019). Joy distinguished: Teleological perspectives on joy as a virtue. Journal of Positive Psychology. 15(1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1685578

King, P. E., Barrett, J., Greenway, T., Schnitker, S. A., & Furrow, J. L. (2017). Mind the gap: Evolutionary psychological perspectives on human thriving. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–10. doi:10.1080/17439760.2017.1291855.

Meadows, C. M. (2014). A psychological perspective on joy and emotional fulfillment. New York: Routledge.