Contentment and Self-acceptance: Wellbeing Beyond Happiness

Contentment is an emotion that arises when a person holistically perceives the present situation as whole and enough (Cordaro et al., 2016a). The felt experience of contentment is not a situational perception itself specific to any given event, but relies on an integrative perception of one’s general life conditions to be sufficient and complete. For instance, the physical body may feel safe, relaxed, and at ease when biological needs are perceived to be met (Jackson, 2002), and the psyche may experience the mental state of psychological wholeness (Gaskins, 1999) or a state of acceptance of everything that is, including a broad array of desirable and undesirable circumstances (Venkatsananda, 2010). Overall, the central theme of contentment experiences shares one core theme: a sense of completeness. According to the broaden-and-build theory, contentment, together with other positive emotions (e.g., love, joy, and interest), broaden thought-action tendencies and facilitate the building of physical, intellectual, social, and psychological resources (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001). However, compared to other positive emotions, contentment uniquely covaries with temporary states of parasympathetic activation (Frijda, 1986), and the psychological experience of savoring current life circumstances (Izard, 1977), which promotes the integration of self-insights and the altering of world views (Fredrickson, 2004).

There is a rich history in social psychological research for establishing the discreteness of specific emotions. Discrete emotion theory distinguishes emotions from one another along physiological, neurological, functional, and behavioral dimensions (Harmon-Jones et al., 2017). Emotions are represented by thousands of semantic terms providing us with a rich lexicon of symbolic language to communicate our internal states (Russell, 1991). Dozens of studies have attempted to analyze the cluster analytic structure of these emotions as they pertain to sundry affective dimensions, such as valence, arousal, control, acquisition, etc. (Russell, 2003). Another line of research has sought to analyze emotions as groups of semantic spaces or emotion ‘families’ (Ekman & Cordaro, 2011; Keltner et al., 2010). While these studies have provided robust evidence for a limited set of well-researched emotions, others, such as contentment, have only recently been featured in factor analytic analyses, though these studies largely treated contentment within the larger context of dozens of other emotions and emotion categories (Cordaro et al., 2016a, 2016b; Cowen & Keltner, 2017). To date, no study has mapped the emotion concept space using category-free classification systems (e.g., similarity) and focused on distinguishing contentment from related states (for a review see Cordaro, 2021).

While contentment has yet to be solidly established as a unique and discrete emotion (Cordaro, 2021), multiple studies have demonstrated evidence that this emotion can be reliably distinguished from other emotions based on its associated physiological experience, facial expression, vocal expression, body posture, and behavioral outcomes. For example, in one study, researchers showed participants two film clips and asked them to report their emotional reactions (Gross & Levenson, 1995). They found that 87% of participants reported contentment as the most prominent emotion after watching the contentment-eliciting relaxing beach scenes. Using similar emotion film methods, studies have begun to demonstrate the distinct physiological markers associated with contentment, such as decreased heart rate, blood pressure, and left ventricular contractility, all of which indicate the deactivation of the sympathetic nervous system and were absent in the experience of happiness and joy (Kreibig, 2010). Contentment expressions have also been found to be reliably signaled across cultures through facial expression (Keltner & Cordaro, 2015), nonverbal vocal expression (Cordaro et al., 2016b), and bodily expressions through dance and movement among other positive, negative, and neutral emotions (Hejmadi et al., 2000). Taken together, this collection of studies provided the initial evidence for contentment as a unique emotion, however, additional studies are required to understand how it differs from similar states, and how it relates to human wellbeing.

While people may respond to what is broadly good and meaningful in life with happiness and other positive states, contentment is a unique emotion beyond a mere proxy of happiness. Different from some positive emotions that are directed towards others and external stimulus (e.g., amusement and gratitude), contentment uniquely involves the appraisal of the situation having relevance and agency of the self (Tong, 2015a). Within the family of low-activation positive states, contentment can also be distinguished from similar states such as relief, peace, and tranquility (Cordaro et al., 2016a). The semantic/lexical approach to emotions (Clore & Ortony, 1988) suggests that even though different emotion words may be used to refer to an emotional experience of the same nature, some words refer to emotion-like states but not necessarily an emotion. For example, calmness represents a low-arousal state that is the opposite to excitation, which may enable the generation of contentment feelings (Picard et al., 2001). Some emotions are defined in ways contingent on the present, past, or future conditions of the situation: Peace is experienced in the present situation where there is harmony, security, and a lack of disturbance (De Rivera & Páez, 2007). Serenity entails inner peace and the absence of intense emotions (Connors et al., 1999). Tranquility involves the appraisal of the current or future situation to be free from obstacles and certain (Ellsworth & Smith, 1988). The adjectives, “peaceful”, “serene”, and “tranquil” can all be used to describe the external situation, but not always inner states. Relief often follows an unpleasant episode in the past or the perceived absence of outcomes more negative in comparison to the present moment (Graham et al., 2022). Hope entails positive expectations about desirable future circumstances (Lazarus, 1999). All these states rely on external conditions and can be distinguished from contentment, which does not rely on the actual or expected circumstances.

In the present investigation, we aim to identify the unique dimensional and cluster-analytic properties of contentment. Additionally, we explore how other positive emotions (e.g., happiness, relief, pride) differentiate from one another and from contentment. By using a dimensional approach, we explore contentment’s relative position in the vast affective space of human emotion experience (Russell, 1980). Among various types of dimensions that have been used to characterize emotions, many researchers agree that valence (degree of pleasantness) and arousal (physiological activation) are two core qualities of individual emotional experiences (Russell, 1980). Along these dimensions, researchers have sought to represent emotions and their relationships using sundry models and forms, including a circumplex array (Posner et al., 2005), a quadrant-grid (Lindquist & Barrett, 2008), and an 8-limbed starburst (Plutchik & Conte, 1997).

Beyond valence and arousal, we are also interested in exploring how contentment differentiates from other emotions based on the core appraisal associated with contentment: a sense of completeness in the present moment. Additionally, we explore two additional well-studied characteristics of emotion related to the sense of completeness: acquisition-orientation (Bonanno & Keltner, 2004) and temporal orientation (Aspinwall, 2005). High acquisition-orientation correlates with the tendency to accumulate desired objects. In other words, it is feeling the need to acquire things that are believed to be lacking. We posited that this dimension would be one of the primary distinguishing characteristics of contentment as it compares to other positive states, due to the association between contentment and a sense of completeness or enoughness (Sinnott & Berlanstein, 2006). Secondly, temporal orientation refers to the time perspective associated with an emotional experience. Time perspectives range from past-oriented, present-focused, or future-oriented. Previous studies have demonstrated that contentment may be uniquely associated with present-moment acceptance (Hayes et al., 2006) and present-moment focus (Cordaro et al., 2016a), and so we tested the extent to which temporal orientation would distinguish contentment from other positive states.

The second major question guiding the present investigation is: What is the association between contentment and wellbeing? Well-being has been traditionally conceptualized as both having a hedonic component (i.e., experiencing pleasant emotions) and eudaimonic component (i.e., committing to goal-directed behaviors that increase meaning in life and fulfil psychological needs) (Deci & Ryan, 2008; Fromm, 1981). Research has consistently demonstrated the benefits of experiencing low-arousal positive emotions in general. Low-arousal positive emotions (e.g., calmness and contentment) uniquely contributed to not only higher life satisfaction, but also lower depression and anxiety above and beyond high-arousal positive emotions (e.g., excitement, enthusiasm; McManus et al., 2019). In a randomized controlled study, low-arousal positive states also explained the effects of positive psychology interventions on a composite of motional, social and psychological well-being (Kraiss et al., 2023). However, limited studies have examined well-being indicators associated with contentment as a discrete positive emotion.

Central to contentment is the feeling of completeness (Cordaro et al., 2016a). Completeness has been described as an acceptance of the self and the story we have woven about our lives (Sinnott & Berlanstein, 2006). Guided by this theorizing, contentment, the extent to which we cultivate these feelings of completeness, would be linked with a greater sense of psychological and subjective wellbeing (Ryff & Keyes, 1995).

Despite the dearth of evidence linking contentment to greater wellbeing, several lines of research set the stage for our hypotheses. First, as noted by several theorists, dictionary definitions refer to contentment as involving a sense of completeness, and the word contentment has roots in Latin continere (v.), meaning, “to hold together” or “that which is contained,” which later evolved into the word contentus to describe a person who felt whole, fully contained, or complete, desiring nothing more than their present experience (Weekley, 2012). The ability to be contented with the self and its surroundings, as well as to take life as it comes and master it, constitutes components of positive mental well-being (Jahoda, 1958; Taylor & Brown, 1988). Thus, beyond the hedonic benefits of experiencing contentment as a positive emotional state (i.e., feeling ‘good’), experiencing contentment should also be linked with improved eudaimonic aspects of well-being that include a sense of purpose/meaning in life and positive relations with self and others (Barrett-Cheetham et al., 2016; Ryff & Keyes, 1995).

Second, in the disciplines of religious studies and philosophy where contentment has been a focal topic of inquiry for centuries, several theorists have proposed that contentment is the path to true and lasting happiness (for a review, see Cordaro, 2021). In the Early Common Era and Middle Ages, religious scholars conceptualized contentment as a state arises from appraisals of peace, completeness, and equanimity, and acts as a path to supreme wellbeing (Patanjali, 1990). Later classical philosophical accounts such as Zen Buddhism further recognized the close relationship between contentment and wellbeing. Zen Buddhists claim that humans’ suffering lies in their deep discontentment with the endless seeking of permanence, maximized pleasure, and egoistic acquisitions (Gaskins, 1999). The journey of cultivating contentment terminates the anxiety underlying such strivings. One fully awakens to life’s possibilities and wholeness, achieving ‘Satori’, sudden spiritual enlightenment (Suzuki, 1961). Contemporary philosophers have argued that because humans are commonly discontented with the mismatch between their insatiable materialistic desires and the suboptimal societal supplies, the experience of contentment can be viewed as a kind of barometer for the extent to which we are producing social, psychological, and environmental structures that sustain global wellness (Jackson, 2002).

Most germane to our investigation, contentment has been found to be closely associated with a strong endorsement of self-acceptance—the tendency to accept the self without judgment, regardless of the appropriateness or righteousness of one’s behavior and its outcomes (Ellis, 1994). The term “unconditional” in the construct term of “unconditional self-acceptance” emphasizes deriving a stable sense of self-worth independent from the changing circumstances of successes or failures, and positive or negative social feedback. In other words, positive or negative self-evaluations may be present, but the sense of self is resilient to changes in feedback external to the sense of self, such as social norms, respect, and approval. Because the contentment experience promotes sitting back and perceiving the current experience as just “enough”, it should promote such acceptance of the self. People often protect their self-esteem when receiving negative social evaluations or social disapproval (Crocker et al., 1987). The feeling that one’s self-worth is contingent on external circumstances can create a fragile sense of self that becomes vulnerable to depression and other deleterious outcomes (Kernis, 2005). Self-acceptance is not redundant with the concept of self-esteem, since accepting all facets of the self involves a lack of tendencies to inflate the self’s worth or over-criticize the self (Popov, 2019). This tendency in fact may promote rational beliefs about the possibility of improving the self (Davies, 2008).

The disposition to accept oneself has been found associated with indicators of higher well-being and less ill-being, including reduced anxiety and depression (Chamberlain & Haaga, 2001), less maladaptive perfectionism (Scott, 2007), and higher self-compassion and satisfaction of psychological needs (Faustino et al., 2020). Given that contentment involves feelings of completeness and full acceptance of the self (Cordaro et al., 2016a), and on the literature linking self-acceptance to multiple aspects of wellbeing (Chamberlain & Haaga, 2001), it is hypothesized that self-acceptance may help explain the link between contentment to higher wellbeing.

In the current investigation, we tested our hypotheses across six studies using varying methodologies that examine the uniqueness of contentment as a discrete low-arousal positive emotion, and its relationship with wellbeing. Our first hypothesis (Hypothesis 1) was that contentment is distinct from other similar emotions across multiple dimensions. We examined how contentment may be perceived as different from happiness and other emotions using an emotion concept mapping methodology (Study 1), a dimensional analysis (Study 2), and a free-response narrative analysis (Study 3). Guided by theoretical analyses on links between contentment, self-acceptance, and wellbeing (Cordaro et al., 2016a), we predicted that contentment will be associated with a sense of self-acceptance and increased wellbeing (Hypothesis 2). We tested this hypothesis through a set of two studies exploring whether trait (Study 4 & 5) and state levels (Study 6) of contentment support this relationship. We predicted that dispositional contentment would uniquely predict psychological wellbeing, satisfaction with life, and self-acceptance above and beyond other dispositional positive emotions and tested this prediction using an emotion-rating method (Study 4 & 5). In our final study, we sought to experimentally test our second hypothesis by inducing various affective states to ascertain whether state contentment predicts wellbeing through states of self-acceptance (Study 6). Our bottom-up semantic approach of studying people’s perceptions about emotions and related emotional dimensions (i.e., similarities and differences, valence and arousal, etc.; Study 1–3) should complement the survey and experimental methods used (Study 4–6) in studying people’s emotional experiences that are more episodic and contextualized (Robinson & Clore, 2002). We believe together, these studies would provide a robust investigation of contentment as a discrete positive emotion that is uniquely linked with higher well-being.

In Study 1, we used a cluster analysis to test the familywise relationships between 29 different emotions. Guided by previous theoretical analyses of contentment as a unique low-arousal positive emotion (Fredrickson, 2001), we hypothesized that contentment would belong to a different family of emotions than happiness, specifically, a family of emotions associated with low-arousal, pleasant experiences (e.g., peace, calm, tranquility, relief).

A random item generator on Qualtrics.com assigned participants to rate 30 of the 406 possible emotion pairings, where participants were instructed to rate the similarity of different emotion pairs using an adjustable Venn diagram. Emotion comparisons have been used in other studies and theoretical descriptions of emotion (Lerner & Keltner, 2000) and were selected to equally cover the full range of emotions around the circumplex, including unpleasant emotions of both high and low arousal (Russell, 1980). Informed by the emotion literature, the 29 comparison emotions are presented and accompanied by references to experimental or theoretical treatments of each emotion (Table 1). The Institutional Review Board at Yale University approved this study.

We conducted a cluster analysis using the K-Means Cluster procedure on all 29 emotions and 406 pair permutations (Likas et al., 2003; Macqueen, 1967). Using the mean similarity rating for each pairing, we ascertained which emotions were most related according to the participants, and how they might be categorized. This procedure has been used in prior studies to compute clustering based on similarity of qualitative variables (e.g., Bigné & Andreu, 2004; Dhall et al., 2011). This type of agglomerative clustering is appropriate for studies where the number of clusters is theoretically hypothesized (Macqueen, 1967). Based on the circumplex model of emotions (Russell, 1980), which categorizes emotions along two dimensions (arousal and valence), we predicted a four-cluster valence and arousal system. Table 2 presents the mean similarity ratings across all emotion pairs, and Fig. 1 illustrates the same data using Gephi, a program that produces 3-dimensional visual spaces for comparing relative Euclidean distances between nodes. In the figure, the colors represent emotion families derived from the cluster analysis, and the line lengths indicate the relative similarities between concepts (shorter and thicker is more similar).

When applying the cluster analysis described above, the positive emotions clustered in accordance with our hypotheses. There was one ‘high arousal positive’ cluster (yellow) containing all seven emotions hypothesized to fit into this group, with the addition of surprise (see Table 2). There was also a ‘low arousal positive’ cluster (green), which contained all of the emotions hypothesized to belong to this group, with the exception of sympathy (i.e., still clustered with the low-arousal emotions but not considered similar enough to the emotions of positive valence; See Fig. 1). Supporting our main hypothesis, the cluster analysis revealed that happiness and contentment belonged to separate affect categories.

The negative emotions, in contrast, did not follow a clean division by arousal, though this finding was less germane to the hypothesis. These final two clusters comprised of a large ‘negative emotion’ group (red) that contained shame, despair, disappointment, anxiety, confusion, contempt, embarrassment, pain, anger, fear, disgust, and sadness. The final cluster was the smallest (blue) and belonged to boredom and sympathy, emotions that were perceived as more neutral than the others, without being rated as highly similar to positive nor negative emotions.

Contentment was perceived to be significantly more similar to pleasant emotions (51.7%, M = 5.17, SD = 3.09) than to unpleasant emotions (7.1%, M = 0.71, SD = 1.58), F(1, 1104) = 958.23, p < 0.001, d = 1.833, 95% CI [−4.72, −4.20]. We found that happiness was perceived as 59.95% similar to all other positive emotions, which was the highest overall similarity rating in the positive emotion group (M = 5.95, SD = 2.61), F(13, 7498) = 49.79, p < 0.001, d = 0.51. Contentment, on the other hand, (M = 5.17, SD = 3.09) was perceived as significantly less similar (51.7%) to all other positive emotions compared to happiness, F(1, 1020) = 18.85, p < 0.001, d = 0.230, 95% CI [−1.08, −0.48]. Additionally, contentment was perceived to be 63.5% similar to low arousal pleasant emotions (M = 6.35, SD = 3.01), and 41.8% similar to high-arousal positive emotions (M = 4.18, SD = 2.80). The difference between these ratings was statistically significant F(1, 497) = 68.84, p < 0.001, d = 0.744, 95% CI [−2.48, −1.86]. It is important to note that a limitation of the cluster analysis is that we do not distinguish between clusters that are negatively related or unrelated since we are primarily interested in distinguishing between clusters. Taken together, these results provided new evidence using unidimensional similarity ratings that contentment was perceived as a positive, low-arousal emotion that is distinctly different from happiness.

In Study 2, we aimed to understand the differences between contentment and related positive states. We used a dimensional approach to identify the specific differences between contentment and three well-studied positive emotions: joy, happiness, and relief (see Fredrickson, 1998; Lazarus & Lazarus, 1994). The dimensions used to ascertain differences between these states are well-established characteristics of affect, including pleasantness and activation (i.e., similar to valence and arousal described in Study 1; Posner, et al., 2005), temporal orientation (Aspinwall, 2005), and acquisition orientation (Bonanno & Keltner, 2004). Guided by previous theoretical analyses of contentment (Cordaro et al., 2016a) and prior empirical studies of contentment, we predicted that contentment would have the lowest perceived activation (Kreibig, 2010), pleasantness (Cordaro et al., 2016a), and acquisition-orientation of the four comparison emotions (Sinnott & Berlanstein, 2006), as compared with three related positive emotions of varying degrees of arousal, happiness, relief, and joy. Additionally, we predicted that contentment would be perceived as a comparatively present-oriented emotion along the temporal-orientation dimension (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).

Significant differences in perceived activation levels were found among the four emotions (contentment, happiness, relief, and joy) via ANOVA, F(3, 1484) = 359.30, p < 0.001, d = 1.28. A post-hoc Tukey HSD test revealed that contentment (M = −1.81, SD = 2.53) was rated with the lowest activation score compared to the other three emotions, happiness (M = 2.00, SD = 2.05), p < 0.001, 95% CI [3.47, 4.15], relief (M = −1.15, SD = 2.51), p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.32, 1.00], and joy (M = 2.60, SD = 1.84), p < 0.001, 95% CI [4.07, 4.75].

Significant differences in pleasantness were found among the four emotions using an ANOVA, F(3, 1516) = 86.43, p < 0.001, d = 0.527. A post-hoc Tukey HSD test revealed that contentment (M = 2.98, SD = 2.05) was perceived as lower in pleasantness compared to happiness (M = 4.20, SD = 1.30), p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.98, 1.46] and joy (M = 4.22, SD = 1.24), p < 0.001, 95% CI [1.00, 1.48]; but perceived with similar levels of pleasantness as the emotion of relief (M = 2.82, SD = 1.63), p = 0.49, 95% CI [−0.40, 0.08].

Significant differences in temporal orientation were found among the four emotions using an ANOVA, F(3, 1504) = 19.138, p < 0.001, d = 0.266. A post hoc Tukey HSD test showed that contentment (M = 0.54, SD = 1.81) was rated as more present-orientated than joy (M = 1.03, SD = 1.76), p = 0.002, 95% CI [0.21, 0.77].

Finally, significant differences in perceived acquisition orientation were found among the four emotions using an ANOVA, F(3, 1520) = 76.45, p < 0.001, d = 0.544. A post hoc Tukey HSD test showed that contentment (M = 1.08, SD = 2.08) was perceived with lower acquisition orientation than happiness (M = 2.48, SD = 2.01), p < 0.001, 95% CI [1.10, 1.70] and joy (M = 2.60, SD = 1.94), p < 0.001, 95% CI[1.22, 1.82], but not from relief (M = 0.96, SD = 1.83), p = 0.822, 95% CI [−0.42, 0.73].

Study 2 provided broader support for the outcomes of Study 1 using a dimensional approach and found that contentment is distinguishable from happiness, joy, and relief along four key dimensions. Consistent with the literature and Study 1, participants rated contentment and relief as low-activation pleasant emotions, while happiness and joy were rated as high-activation pleasant emotions. Contentment was also perceived to have lower pleasantness and lower acquisition orientation than both happiness and joy, as well as lower on activation compared to relief. Temporally, contentment and relief were rated as more present-oriented emotions, while happiness and joy were rated as more future-oriented. We have shown that emotions may be subjectively perceived as more or less similar in general (Study 1) and along certain dimensions (Study 2). Next, we explore how these emotions may be experienced in qualitatively different ways (Study 3).

In Study 3, we used free-response narratives (Haidt & Keltner, 1999) where we asked participants to write a short, 4–5 sentence story describing a time when they felt contentment, happiness, joy, or relief. To provide further support for Study 1 and 2’s findings, we focused on the activation, pleasantness, temporal orientation, and acquisition orientation dimensions. We hypothesized that contentment stories would be reliably differentiated from the comparison emotions across the four rating dimensions and would be low arousal, pleasant, present-moment oriented, and non-acquisition orientated by comparison.

Due to the large number of tests (6 tests for each dimension yielding a total of 24 tests), we used the False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction to interpret statistical significance (Benjamini & Hochberg, 1995). FDR correction compares the largest p-value to the set alpha level (i.e., 0.05), and then compares each descending p-value to an increasingly smaller alpha level. We selected the critical p-value from set of tests and applied FDR correction to each p-value separately for each dimension. FDR-corrected p-values (psFDR) and uncorrected 95% CIs are reported. Results that were significant after FDR correction are interpreted as reliable and results that were significant before FDR correction (i.e., 95% CIs that do not contain 0) are considered suggestive.

There was an overall difference by emotion condition for perceived activation, F(3, 163) = 34.30, p < 0.001, η² = 0.393. The Tukey HSD post-hoc tests demonstrated that contentment (M = −0.12, SD = 1.28) had significantly lower ratings of activation compared to joy (M = 2.40, SD = 1.21), p_FDR = 0.008, 95% CI [−3.21, −1.83], happiness (M = 1.96, SD = 1.03), p_FDR = 0.017, 95% CI [−2.77, −1.39], and relief ratings (M = 1.16, SD = 1.23), p_FDR = 0.025, 95% CI [−1.96, −0.58]. Relief also differed significantly from both happiness, p_FDR = 0.042, 95% CI [−1.49, −0.13]. and joy, p_FDR = 0.033, 95% CI [−1.93, −0.57]. Happiness and joy did not differ significantly along the activation dimension, p_FDR = 0.05, 95% CI [−1.12, 0.24].

There were significant differences in ratings of temporal orientation between the emotion categories, F(3, 163) = 12.68, p_FDR < 0.001, η² = 0.193. The Tukey HSD post hoc test showed that contentment stories (M = 0.23, SD = 1.04) were significantly different in temporal orientation from happiness (M = 1.57, SD = 1.34), p_FDR = 0.017, 95% CI [−2.03, −0.65], relief (M = 1.58, SD = 1.01), p_FDR = 0.008, 95% CI [−2.04, −0.67], and joy (M = 1.56, SD = 1.31), p_FDR = 0.025, 95% CI [−2.02, −0.64]. There were no significant differences among the other comparisons among the positive emotions, p_FDRs < 0.05. These results suggest that contentment stories are uniquely attuned to the present moment.

There were significant differences between emotional categories on acquisition orientation, F(3, 163) = 18.24, p < 0.001, η² = 0.256. The Tukey HSD tests indicated significant differences between contentment (M = 0.28, SD = 1.02) and two of the comparison emotions, happiness (M = 1.90, SD = 1.32), p_FDR = 0.017, 95% CI [−2.36, −0.88], and joy (M = 1.92, SD = 1.58), p_FDR = 0.008, 95% CI [−2.38, −0.89]. Contentment and relief (M = 0.60, SD = 1.11) were not significantly different from each other, p_FDR = 0.042, 95% CI [−1.05, 0.43], nor were happiness and joy, p_FDR = 0.05, 95% CI [−0.75, 0.72]. Relief was significantly different from happiness, p_FDR = 0.033, 95% CI [0.58, 2.04] and joy, p_FDR = 0.025, 95% CI [−2.05, −0.59]. Our hypothesis was mostly supported as contentment stories were rated significantly lower in preoccupation with acquisition compared to happiness and joy, but not relief.

After our naïve coders rated the emotion stories along the above dimensions, they were asked to identify the emotion associated with each story. We calculated the percentage of correct guesses and calculated whether they were able to correctly categorize the stories at above-chance rates. We conducted non-parametric t-tests comparing the proportion of correct guesses to chance (0.25) for each of the four emotion categories. All of the proportions were significantly greater than chance: t = 10.73, p < 0.001 for contentment; t = 3.57, p < 0.001 for happiness; t = 13.12, p < 0.001 for relief; t = 5.55, p < 0.001 for joy. A confusion matrix is provided in Table 4, which illustrates the guessing frequency for each story and answer type.

To test whether contentment stories were more readily distinguishable from the group, we cross-tabulated the frequencies of correct guesses and conducted a Pearson chi-square analysis testing the association between emotion category and guessing accuracy, which was statistically significant, χ² (6, N = 158) = 37.923, p < 0.001. The Phi and Cramer’s V tests of association strength were both significant as well, p < 0.001. The cross-tabulation revealed a higher frequency of instances when both coders correctly guessed the emotion for contentment (75.7%) and relief (80.5%) than for happiness (28.6%) and joy (36.8%). These findings provide additional support for contentment as reliably distinguishable from happiness, and for happiness as less distinguishable from other positive emotions. Even though contentment and relief were similar along many dimensions, contentment was consistently rated as lower in activation than relief in both Study 2 and 3.

Studies 1–3 provided evidence that contentment is unique from three comparison positive emotions, and this set the stage for investigations into the traits of the dispositionally contented individual. Across two investigations in Study 4 and Study 5, we ascertained the extent to which dispositional contentment is associated with key wellbeing outcomes, such as psychological wellbeing, subjective wellbeing, and self-acceptance.

Especially pertinent to this discussion is the question of whether dispositional contentment is associated with these outcomes above and beyond other emotion dispositions, like amusement, awe, compassion, joy, love, and pride. Study 4 tested the hypothesis that dispositional contentment predicts psychological wellbeing and satisfaction with life, two cornerstone wellbeing measures, above and beyond six other positive emotions from the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (Piff, et al., 2015; Shiota et al., 2006).

Prior to conducting a hierarchical multiple regression, the relevant assumptions of this statistical analysis were tested. Firstly, a sample size of 135 was deemed adequate given nine independent variables to be included in the analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). The assumption of singularity was also met as the independent variables (i.e., the emotions) were not a combination of other independent variables. An examination of correlations (see Table 5) revealed that no variables were highly correlated with contentment, with the exceptions of joy, pride, and love (i.e., similar to the high intercorrelations in the original paper by Shiota et al., 2016). Upon further examination of the tolerance statistics (see Table 6) for these correlations, we found no violations of multicollinearity, as all tolerance values were above 0.10; the minimum tolerance value was 0.253. Further, no Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) exceeded 10; the largest was 3.959.

A three-step hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with psychological well-being subscales, psychological well-being, and satisfaction with life as the dependent variables. At step one, age and gender were entered to control for the effects of demographics on well-being outcomes. At step two, all of the positive emotions (except contentment) were entered. At the last step, contentment was added to the model to test how much additional variance it accounted for above and beyond the other positive emotions.

Given that the current investigation is interested in the additional variance predicted by contentment, we focus our analysis and discussion on the final step of the regression model. For all dependent variables except autonomy and personal growth, the addition of contentment to the regression model explained a significantly greater proportion of the variation in well-being. This change in R² was consistently significant (see Table 7 for full results). These results support our hypothesis that dispositional contentment uniquely contributes to higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction above and beyond other positive emotions.

Study 5 extends the findings of Study 4 by examining whether dispositional contentment is associated with unconditional self-acceptance, a psychological outcome strongly related to psychological health (Chamberlain & Haaga, 2001), above and beyond other positive emotions. It has been theorized that the main appraisal of contentment is a sense of completeness or wholeness (Cordaro, et al., 2016a), which has been operationalized as unconditional self-acceptance in previous studies (Flett, et al., 2003). We therefore hypothesized that contentment would associate with unconditional self-acceptance above and beyond other positive emotion dispositions.

Prior to conducting a hierarchical multiple regression, the relevant assumptions of this statistical analysis were tested. Firstly, a sample size of 135 was deemed adequate given nine independent variables to be included in the analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). The assumption of singularity was also met as the independent variables (i.e., the emotions) were not a combination of other independent variables. An examination of correlations (see Table 8) revealed that no variables were highly correlated with contentment, with the exception of joy, pride, and love. However, as shown in Table 9, an examination of tolerance statistics confirmed no violations of multicollinearity; all tolerance values were above 0.10, and the minimum tolerance value was 0.251. Further, no Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) exceeded 10; the largest was 3.977 (Table 9). Given that we are interested in the predictive abilities of contentment above and beyond these other positive emotions, we still included them as covariates and presented the zero-order correlations to demonstrate the main effects of contentment without controlling for other inter-correlated positive emotions.

A three-step hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with unconditional self-acceptance as the dependent variable. At step one, age and gender were entered to control for the effects of demographics on well-being outcomes. At step two, all of the comparison positive emotions were entered. At the last step, contentment was added to the model to test how much additional variance it accounted for above and beyond the other positive emotions. The addition of Contentment to the regression model explained a significantly greater proportion (i.e., 32% vs. 30%) of the variation in unconditional self-acceptance (see Table 10 for full results).

Studies 4 and 5 together highlight the importance of contentment to human wellbeing above and beyond more well-studied positive emotions. However, the directionality of this relationship remained ambiguous. In our final study, we induced feelings of contentment and comparison states (i.e., pride and joy) and compared their impact on unconditional self-acceptance. Like contentment, pride is also based on a generally positive evaluation of self worth (Scheff et al., 1989), but contentment does not necessarily follow of positive external events (e.g., achievements). Joy is also a positive emotion but may have slightly higher arousal (Cordaro et al., 2016a; Shiota et al., 2007).

The induction task involved writing about a prototypical experience of the target emotion, a method that has been well-validated in past studies (Griskevicius et al., 2010). To further ascertain contentment’s unique impact upon the self, we contrasted the effect of contentment with two other similar positive emotions: pride and joy. Like contentment, pride is also related to changes in positive appraisal of the self (Scheff, Retzinger, & Ryan, 1989). Similarly, joy is one of the most well-studied positive emotions in the psychological sciences, and it has been widely used as a contrast emotion in previous emotion research (Shiota, Kelnter, & Mossman, 2007). Finally, guided by existing findings on self-acceptance association with wellbeing (Chamberlain & Haaga, 2001) as well as our finding from Study 4 on contentment and uplifted life satisfaction, we predicted that contentment, through an increased sense of self-acceptance, will enhance people’s wellbeing (Hypothesis 2).