Category: Happiness

How beliefs about what makes us happy have changed in the last 80 years.

Eighty years ago the top three things people thought were most important for happiness were security, knowledge and religion.

By 2014 only security was still in the top three, and the other two spots had changed to good humour and leisure.

Meanwhile religion had dropped to tenth, and last place.

The results come from two surveys carried out almost 80 years apart.

For both surveys people in Bolton, England replied to an advert asking them to answer the question “What is happiness?”

Here are some of the responses form both 1938 and 2014:

“Enough money to meet everyday needs and a little for pleasure.” (1938)

“Knowing that my rent is paid on time and I can afford to eat healthily.” (2014)

“I would like a little home, not many possessions … congenial and satisfying companionship, the availability of good music and books.” (1938)

“Engaging in my hobbies, spending time that is free of worry … Simple things like enjoying a nice meal or receiving care and affection.” (2014)

“When I come home from the pit and see my kiddies and wife, I am happy.” (1938)

“Simple things like going out for a walk…….you don’t need tons of material things to be happy, you just have to be happy in the place you live and with the people around you.” (2014)

Despite the changes in the top three, Sandie McHugh, one of the study’s authors, pointed out that there were a lot of similarities:

“The overall impression from the correspondence in 1938 is that happiness factors were rooted in everyday lives at home and within the community.

In 2014 many comments value family and friends, with good humour and leisure time also ranked highly.”

The results were presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society in Liverpool.

Image credit: nosha

Only one country in North America is amongst the world’s happiest.

Switzerland is the world’s happiest country, according to the 2015 World Happiness Report.

The next four spots are taken by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada.

The United States came in 15th spot, while the UK is at 21 and Australia at 10.

Unsurprisingly, four of the five least happy countries in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa: Rwanda, Benin, Burundi and Togo.

The three countries that have seen the biggest gains in happiness are Nicaragua, Zimbabwe and Ecuador.

The biggest drop in happiness is in Greece, where the economy has collapsed.

Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, said:

“The aspiration of society is the flourishing of its members.

This report gives evidence on how to achieve societal well-being.

It’s not by money alone, but also by fairness, honesty, trust, and good health.

The evidence here will be useful to all countries as they pursue the new Sustainable Development Goals.”

The Gallup organisation surveyed people across 158 countries about their happiness.

They found that most of the differences in happiness could be explained by six factors:

• Real GDP per capita,
• healthy life expectancy,
• having someone to count on,
• perceived freedom to make life choices,
• freedom from corruption,
• and generosity.

Professor Richard Layard, Director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, and one of the study’s editors, said:

“A positive outlook during the early stages of life is inherently desirable, but it also lays the foundation for greater happiness during adulthood.

As we consider the value of happiness in today’s report, we must invest early on in the lives of our children so that they grow to become independent, productive and happy adults, contributing both socially and economically.”

The study also found that long-established social norms were important to national happiness.

People were happier when they could rely on family, friends and social institutions.

Professor John F. Helliwell, of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and another of the report’s editors, said:

“As the science of happiness advances, we are getting to the heart of what factors define quality of life for citizens.

We are encouraged that more and more governments around the world are listening and responding with policies that put well-being first.

Countries with strong social and institutional capital not only support greater well-being, but are more resilient to social and economic crises.”

Happy man image from Shutterstock

One more reason why happiness is so infectious.

People communicate their happiness to others through their perspiration, a new study finds.

There are chemical compounds in sweat, it turns out, that can be detected by others.

Previous studies have shown that we can smell fear and disgust in sweat — but happiness has been more of a gray area.

Professor Gün Semin, a psychologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, who led the study, said:

“Our study shows that being exposed to sweat produced under happiness induces a simulacrum of happiness in receivers, and induces a contagion of the emotional state.

This suggests that somebody who is happy will infuse others in their vicinity with happiness.

In a way, happiness sweat is somewhat like smiling — it is infectious.”

For the study people watched videos that were designed to elicit emotional reactions.

At the same time they had sweat pads taped under their armpits.

Women — whose sense of smell is generally stronger than men — were then asked to smell the sweat samples.

When asked consciously, the women could not tell the different between ‘happy sweat’, ‘fearful sweat’ and ‘neutral sweat’.

But here’s the clever bit.

The researchers also recorded their faces to monitor their unconscious reactions to the sweat samples.

What they saw was that when women smelled the ‘happy sweat’, the muscles in their face moved to indicate a smile.

The researchers controlled for all sorts of other possible explanations, such as the intensity of the smell.

Professor Semin said:

“This is another step in our general model on the communicative function of human sweat, and we are continuing to refine it to understand the neurological effects that human sweat has on recipients of these chemical compounds.”

Imagine what will happen once perfume manufacturers get onto the fact that happiness can be communicated by smell…

The study was published in the journal Psychological Science (de Groot et al., 2015).

Smell image from Shutterstock

Conservatives may say they are happier than liberals but that’s not the whole truth.

While conservative say they are happier, it’s liberals who act and look happier, according to a new study.

The research questions the modern myth that conservatives are happier than liberals.

The key difference in this study is in how happiness was measured.

Professor Peter Ditto, one of the study’s authors, explained:

“If you want to know how happy someone is, one way to do it is to just ask them, and this logic has been relied upon heavily in research on subjective well-being.

But another way to think about it is that happy is as happy does, and looking at happiness-related behavior avoids the issue of someone striving to present him- or herself as a happy person.”

Liberals look and sound happier

The researchers analysed huge amounts of data from all sorts of sources.

They included millions of words from Congressional records of known conservatives and liberals.

They also included posts to Twitter and LinkedIn which were categorised as liberal or conservative by links to organisations with clear viewpoints.

For example, users who like Fox News are likely to be conservative, while users who like Planned Parenthood are likely to be liberal.

They found that liberals were more likely to use positive language while writing and talking.

Liberals were also were more likely to be smiling in photographs.

Sean Wojcik, the study’s first author, said:

“We were surprised by how consistently happiness-related behavior was predicted by having a liberal political ideology.

We saw similar patterns of emotional language and smiling behavior among Congress members, Twitter users and LinkedIn users.”

So, why is it that when asked in surveys, conservatives claim to be happier than liberals?

Mr Wojcik explained:

“People tend to report all kinds of traits and abilities in an overly favorable way.

If you ask people to rate themselves across almost any set of positive traits — intelligence, social skills, even driving ability — most will rate themselves above average.

We observed that effect to be stronger among conservatives than liberals.”

The news isn’t all bad for conservatives, though, Mr Wojcik said:

“There’s research saying that self-enhancement is related to improved social relations, productive and creative work, and other beneficial outcomes.”

The study is published in the journal Science (Wojcik et al., 2015).

Smiling woman image from Shutterstock

Five prosocial activities proven to be perfect for boosting happiness and well-being.

There’s one key thread that links these five simple ways of feeling happier and enhancing life.

It’s unselfish behaviour that is not only good for us but also for the people around us.

They’re great reminders for this time of year…

1. Sleep to feel grateful

People who feel more grateful are happier with their lives, have more hope and more positive attitudes.

But how can you feel more gratitude?

One option is to get a little more sleep because sleep makes people feel more grateful, according to a University of California study.

Dr. Amie Gordon, who led the study said:

“…our research […] is the first to show that everyday experiences of poor sleep are negatively associated with gratitude toward others — an important emotion that helps form and maintain close social bonds.”

The knock-on effects of getting more sleep are felt by all the family, Dr. Gordon explained:

“…people reported feeling less appreciated by their partners if they or their partner tends to sleep poorly, suggesting that the lack of gratitude is transmitted to the partner.”

2. Notice a kind gesture

It’s easy to take other people for granted.

But, being grateful to others partner for any little kindnesses they do can make all the difference to a relationship.

Research by Dr. Sara Algoe and colleagues, found that gratitude helps to maintain intimate relationships.

Algoe said:

“Feelings of gratitude and generosity are helpful in solidifying our relationships with people we care about, and benefit to the one giving as well as the one on the receiving end.

Gratitude triggers a cascade of responses within the person who feels it in that very moment, changing the way the person views the generous benefactor, as well as motivations toward the benefactor.

This is especially true when a person shows that they care about the partner’s needs and preferences.”

So, say thank you to those around you.

3. Give away time to feel time-rich

It may sound counter-intuitive, but psychological research shows that when people give away their time, they actually feel they have more time themselves.

Not only that, explain the study’s authors Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn:

“In fact, giving time away alleviates people’s sense of time famine even more than receiving unexpected windfalls of free time.”

And that is apart from the good feelings you engender in other people.

4. Give away money to feel wealthy

It’s not just giving away time that makes you feel good.

Studies from all around the world, in India, Canada, South Africa and the US, consistently tell us that, paradoxically, giving away money makes people feel more wealthy.

Again, that’s apart from the gratitude that people feel towards you.

5. Buy experiences to be happy

At a time of year when many people are buying goods, according to the psychological research it might be better to spend on experiences.

Clothing, jewellery and electronic gadgets are all very well, but it’s often a concert, vacation, or meal out that lives long in the mind.

Experiences are also easier to talk about with others, which is another way they continue to give us pleasure long after they are over.

• Want more suggestions? Read on: 10 Ways Gratitude Can Change Your Life & 4 Step Gratitude Plan and 10 Easy Activities Science Has Proven Will Make You Happier Today.

Image credit: Sam Stanton

Our mood clearly affects how we walk, but how does our walking style affect our mood?

It’s well-known that when we’re in a good mood, our style of walking tends to reflect how we feel: we bounce along, shoulders back, swinging our arms in style.

Sometimes, just from our gait, it’s more obvious to other people how we feel than to ourselves.

Now, a new study finds that it also works the other way around: people who imitate a happy style of walking, even without realising it, find themselves feeling happier (Michalak et al., 2015).

The study had participants walking on a treadmill after looking at a list of positive and negative words.

While on the treadmill each person’s gait and posture was continuously measured and fed back to them visually.

On the screen they had to try and move a bar either one way or the other by changing their walking style.

Although they didn’t realise it, walking in a happy way made the bar move in one direction and walking in a depressed way moved it the other.

Nikolaus Troje, who co-authored the study, explained:

“They would learn very quickly to walk the way we wanted them to walk.”

Afterwards, they were asked to write down as many of the positive and negative words that they’d been shown earlier.

Those who’d been walking in a happy, upbeat way remembered more of the positive words, suggesting they were happier.

The study also found that those who walked in a slumped, round-shouldered, depressed way, remembered more of the negative words.

This ties in with research on people who are depressed: they have a strong tendency to remember negative events, rather than the positive.

A bias towards recalling negative events is part of the vicious cycle that perpetuates a depressed state of mind.

Troje continued:

“If you can break that self-perpetuating cycle, you might have a strong therapeutic tool to work with depressive patients.”

So: shoulders back, swing those arms, and let’s see you bounce along!

Image credit: Robert Couse-Baker