Happiness

When goals in life are too easy or too vague, it damages one's affect. This is a measure of the individual's well-being. A person's affect is his or her response to experiences, emotions, and evaluations. A person's affect can be either positive or negative. Goal-failure damages a person's affect. A high-value goal is associated with a negative affect. This is consistent with self-regulation theory. It suggests that people seek to reduce discrepancy between current actions and a reference value.