Internal and External Causal Attributions in the Subjective Representation of Happiness

In recent years, a growing body of research on the folk psychology of happiness has emerged. The present investigation extends previous studies in this area by exploring to what extent common people believe that their happiness depend on internal and external causes. Six hundred and twenty-five Italian adults (age 18-55 years; 312 males) took part in a questionnaire study. The questionnaire had two sections. In the first one, respondents were asked to write down five things that made them feel happy (“happiness sources”). In the second section, they evaluated on 11-point scales to what extent each reported happiness source: i) depended on one internal and three external factors (i.e., oneself, other persons, fortune, and chance); ii) was present in their life. In addition, participants completed three well-validated scales measuring their locus of control and their psychological well-being. The content analysis of free responses collected in the first section of the questionnaire yielded to the identification of 27 categories of happiness sources which were grouped in the following four clusters: relational life domains (e.g., family), personal life domains (e.g., health), hedonic psychological sources (e.g., positive emotions), eudaimonic psychological sources (e.g., self-actualization). Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that internal attributions exceed external attributions across all the four clusters of happiness sources. Moreover, multilevel analyses indicated that happiness attainment scores were positively predicted by attributions to oneself, eudaimonic well-being, and being married; however, they were negatively predicted by attributions to other persons. Theoretical and empirical implications of the study will be discussed.