Just as black is the opposite of white, happiness seems to be the opposite of sadness. The two emotions differ in many respects. Those who are satisfied with their current state, typically feel happy and those who are dissatisfied, feel sad (Russell &Carroll, 1999). Those who get what they want, feel happy, and those who do not, feel sad (Schaver, Sachwartz, Kirson & O’Connor, 1987). The purpose of this study is examine factors that influence feeling of happiness and sadness. A total 467 senior high school students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (male =190, female = 269) completed an open-ended questionnaire developed by Kim (2008) that asks event that made them most happy and sad. The data were analyzed using indigenous psychological approach of analyzing the content of open-ended responses and categorizing the responses. The results indicate that family is the most important factors that influence adolescents’ happiness (e.g., family gathering). The other factors include achievement, love, spirituality, friendship, money and leisure time. Secondly, what makes them sad? The responses indicate failures in their lives, loss or death of significant others, disappointing others and family problems. The detailed results and implications will be discussed
