If you can't get no satisfaction, then maybe it's because happiness does not only stem from pleasure or a meaningful existence. Instead, a new Simon Fraser University study suggests that freedom is the key to happiness.

Researchers found that while positive feelings and pleasure are important, autonomy and the freedom to make your own choices is a better gauge of happiness.

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Unsurprisingly, positive and negative emotions were strong indicators of happiness. But autonomy--the sense that you are free to make your own choices--was a better indicator of life satisfaction.

"Even after accounting for how good or bad people felt, those who felt more autonomous were more satisfied with their lives," says Payne. "Autonomy was the only psychological need that seemed to contribute something that feelings alone did not explain."

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