ABSTRACT
Most of people probably think that there is a deep connection between being satisfied and being happy. Being satisfied is often taken to indicate happiness, just as being dissatisfied is often taken to be a marker of unhappiness. Theories of desire fulfillment are relatively straightforward, maintaining the intuitively plausible view that one is better off to the extent that one's desires are fulfilled. Life satisfaction views of happiness hold that happiness consists in being satisfied with one's life overall. This state of life satisfaction offers a deeper and more comprehensive approach to understanding happiness than we find within desire fulfillment theories and hedonistic theories of happiness. Life satisfaction theories take happiness to depend heavily on an individual's perception of how his life is going. The life satisfaction view maintains that happiness consists in being satisfied with one's life overall.
