Objective: Although multiple studies have linked orientations to happiness to various well-being indicators, such as positive emotions, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain less understood. Given that orientations represent behavioral tendencies rather than concrete actions, this study aims to explore whether engaging in happiness-enhancing activities mediates their effect on positive emotions.
Methods: At baseline (T0; N = 349), participants completed an online survey assessing their happiness orientations. Over the following three weeks, participants reported their involvement in pleasure-, engagement-, and meaning-enhancing activities and their positive emotions (T1: N = 166; T2: N = 164; T3: N = 129).
Results: Multilevel mediation analyses showed that pleasure-enhancing activities partially mediated the pleasure orientation–positive emotions link (beta coefficient = 0.08, p < 0.05), while engagement-enhancing activities fully mediated engagement orientation (beta coefficient = 0.08, p < 0.05). Meaning-enhancing activities partially mediated the effect of meaning orientation on positive emotions, with a marginally significant indirect effect (β = 0.07, p = 0.050).
Conclusions: Findings suggest that translating happiness orientations into concrete, activity-based behaviors is important for sustaining positive emotions. Engagement orientation appears to rely fully on active participation in engagement-enhancing activities, while pleasure and meaning orientations benefit from such activities but may also be influenced by cognitive processes or other psychological mechanisms.