Health and happiness are'nt always linked - in a study of Princeton researchers (1) . Healthy people and those with terminal ailments displayed the same levels of happiness at various times of the day. However, healthy people greatly overestimated how unhappy the sick ones would be. Conversely the sick people overestimated how happy the healthy ones would be.
. Achieving and sustaining happiness is done through intentional activity changes, rather than a result of circumstantial changes. These findings from a joint research of the Universities of Missouri and California point to how our happiness levels are well within our control (2)
Happiness comes more easily and frequently to people using cognitive imagery than those using simply memorabilia in positive reminiscing (3) - per a study of the University of Chicago
Men and women scored differently on "perceived sources of happiness" where men ranked "sexual activity", "sports","having a good social life" significantly higher than women. Conversely, women ranked "helping others", "having a close family" and "being loved by loved ones" as more important compared to men (4)
Children who receive more maternal care and warmth grow up with more self-esteem and are happier (5)
Hedonism (the maximisation of pleasurable activity) in its initial and infrequent stages leads to higher levels of happiness, however tapers off quickly with hedonism in larger doses related more to lower levels of happiness (6)
Higher levels of political freedom and rationality enhance one's perceived happiness levels - per a study of the University of Oldenburg, Germany (7) . This is re-instated by a Swiss study of 6,000 persons which established that (a) the more developed the institutions of direct democracy, the happier the individuals (b) people derive satisfaction from voting, whether or not a favourable political outcome is reached.
Health research is demonstrates that physical, emotional and spiritual well-being are deeply inter-related (8), each greatly influencing the other. The upshot is that higher levels of SWB and happiness inevitably lead to better physical health.
Dan Baker, author of the best-selling What Happy People Know, asserts that the greatest barrier to individual happiness is fear (9) - the fear of loss (of our job, our spouse, a child, a relationship), fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of death and so on - all these which can be grouped into three basic fears (a) survival (b) fear of not having enough and (c) fear of not being enough. The amygdala is the portion of our brains where fear resides and this forms 90% of our response pattern. Materialism is a shelter for hiding from these fears, stressing people into a "life or death" need to hunt "for more, more, more - or our very survival will be threatened." Apparently the neocortex in our brain - where love, compassion and happiness are experienced - forms a small minority of our response pattern. We seem to be hardwired for "fight or flight" and only when we can through positive behavioral changes alter our primal reactions to love and compassion, can true happiness be experienced.
Reinstating the above para, in times of loss, we mope and cry for days, whereas feelings of joy for an equivalent gain are short-lived. In several workshops (10) participants recalled most the unpleasant experiences over the past 2 weeks, but could not recall the happy times/days. We seem more adept at retrieving bad memories, and seem to recall better those who abused than the ones who helped.
To examine environmental factors , behaviors and habits that correlate to personal happiness , a national sample of American Youth was studied by the Claremont University (11) . School activities rated below average scores in happiness, whilst social, active and passive leisure activities scored above average. Being alone rates the lowest levels of happiness, while being with friends rated the highest.
To study the attributes of happy people, a study of the University of California (12) concluded that after experiencing failure, happier people do not get bogged down on negative self-reflection and are resilient to such events. Both the happy and less happy people do experience much the same negative moods and negative life events, however the happier people respond to these in more positive, affirming ways.
The link between Pace of Life and Enjoyment of Life shows that Time prosperity is increasingly considered more important than consumer wealth, even though paradoxically increasing time pressure goes hand in hand with increased Subjective Well-Being (SWB) (13)
Religion and Quality of Life (QOL) were related and examined. Happiness is associated with the frequency of attendance of religious rituals, as also with certain religious-related beliefs. Whether this is because the religion itself has caused "happiness" or that it has attracted people of a happier disposition - is not clear, but community integration is an important factor enhancing QOL (14)
Happiness is not associated with peoples' material wealth accumulation but with their perceived inner world. Happy people see their religion not so much as something they "do" as what they "are" (15)
Older people with positive perceptions of ageing lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive ideas, and were happier - from research at Yale University
Current studies agree that life satisfaction often increases, or at least does not drop, with age. Older people, as compared to younger ones, demonstrate a closer fit between ideal and actual self-perceptions and score higher on SWB scales to measure happiness (16)
The attribute of "being grateful" boosts the immune system and is good for health. Grateful people are generally more optimistic, happier , suffer less depression and are more resilient in the face of stress. (17)
Wealthy people are only slightly happier than poor people in rich nations and the effects of additional income on happiness are small even for extremely wealthy individuals (18)
Married persons are consistently far happier than those never married or divorced, separated or widowed (19)
Job satisfaction and life satisfaction seem to be positively related (20)
Exercise, such as aerobics regularly performed two to four times a week has increased happiness and reduced clinical depression and anxiety (21)
The greatest satisfaction and happiness is derived from activities in which challenges are met by skills (22) and surprisingly heavy television watchers are less happy than others.
Frequency of sexual intercourse correlates with happiness, as does satisfaction with sex life, being in love, and frequency of interaction with spouse. However, having loose and liberal sexual attitudes correlates negatively with overall happiness.(23)
Physical attractiveness generates greater happiness, especially in younger women (24), however social skills are much more important in providing and perceiving happiness and SWB (25). This is so because extroversion and assertiveness work better in attaining desired relationships - ultimately resulting in higher levels of happiness
Extroverts were on average happier than introverts, whether living alone or with otthers, and across diverse ethnic, gender and age groups - suggesting once again that social skills is a critically important factor ruling happiness (26). Conversely, neurotic people have a tendency to dwell on negative affects and display anxiety, pessimism, irritability, bodily complaints and interpersonal sensitivity - these are the very roots of depression and unhappiness.
Optimistic people are generally happier than their more pessimistic counterparts - possibly because the optimists believe and persevere, whereas the pessimists expect failure and quit. (27)
A comparative study of positive moods from four common leisure activities: sport/exercise, music, church and watching TV concluded that only the first activity "sport/exercise" led to increased happiness and SWB (Subjective Well-Being) - (28)
A study of 171 subjects using the OHI (Oxford Happiness Inventory) found that happier people enjoy higher levels of self-esteem, satisfaction with life and sociability - whereas their less happy counterparts displayed symptoms of embarassability, loneliness, shyness and social anxiety.
Researchers in Sweden (30) concluded that working hard, using one's skills to reach a goal brings more self-satisfaction than the goal itself. Money, a holiday, success bring only temporary joy because of the "habituation effect" which occurs within a few weeks.
Studies show that the happiest people are those who help others and donate to worthy causes. "Sharing what you have makes you feel connected to others, which gives you a deeper feeling of satisfaction in your life" (31) This is endorsed by a study (32) at Columbia University which concludes that doing good deeds causes a rise in dopamine and other brain chemicals known to boost mood. Our motives for giving really don't matter but the more you give, the more happiness you get.
Buddhists not only seem calm and serene - they actually are, from a study of their brain scans by neuoscientists (33). The areas of their brain linked to positive emotions and good mood light up constantly, not just when they are meditating. Another research by Paul Ekman (34) suggests that meditation and mindfullness can tame the amygdala - the hub of fear memory which imprisons us in fear and gloom - see Para #9 above. This offers a powerful and workable tool to achieve the kind of happiness we all seek.
People who offer love and help to others are 16% less likely to get sick and 44% more likely to live longer. The reason: performing kind acts (even simply praying for others) reduces the leels of the stress hormone cortisol and increases levels of the happiness hormone oxytocin, triggering a spike in immune-boosting antibodies .
Positive feelings about oneself and being happy indeed are directly correlated with an increase in a person's length of life (35). Happy people tend to have better functioning immume systems and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. They are also more likely to recover from major surgery (36). When a person has a happy experience, the body chemistry improves and blood pressure/heart rate both tend to fall (37)
Further research findings are available on the sexy side of happiness , on relative happiness and on what matters.
1. Jason Riis et al, Princeton, U.S.A.
2. Kennon M. Sheldon and Sonja Lyubomirsky, Universties of Missouri & California, U.S.A.
3. Fred Bryant et.al, University of Chicago, U.S.A.
4. Adam Crossley and Darren Langdridge, Open University, Milton Keynes, U.K.
5. Helen Cheng and Adrian Furnham, University College, London, U.K.
6. Ruut Veenhoven, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands
7. Heinz Welsch, University of Oldenburg, Germany
8. Kass,2000; Seligman, 2004, Kabat-Zinn, 2004
9. Baker & Stauth, 2003, Baker, D. and Stauth, C. 2003
10. Phra Phaisan Visalo/Atika Achakulwisut, Bangkok Post
11. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Clarement Graduate University, U.S.A.
12. Allison Abbe, Chris Tkach and Sonja Lyubomirsky, University of California, U.S.A.
13. Manfred Garhammer, University of Bamberg, Germany
14. Abbott L. Ferriss, GA,, U.S.A.
15. William r. Swinyard, Ah-Keung Kau and Hui-Yin Phua
16. Herzog & Rodgers, 1981
17. Robert A Emlons - University of Californa in the "Journal of Positive Psychology"
18. Diener et.al, 1973
19. Glenn, 1975, Gove & Shin, 1989
20. Sones & Kozma, 1986
21. Biddle & Mutrie, 1991
22. Csikszentmihalyi 1988
23. Argyle & Lu, 1990
24. Agnew, 1984
25. Argyle & Lu, 1990
26. Diener, Sandvik, Pavot, and Fujita 1992
27. Lucas, Diener and Suh, 1996
28. Peter Hills and Michael Argyle from a study of 275 participants
29. University of Porto, Portugal
30.Bengt Bruelde, Gothenburg University, Sweden
31. Dan Baker, What Happy People Know
32. Michael Liebowitz, MD - Columbia University
33. Own Flanagan, Duke University, N. Carolina in New Scientist magazine.
34. University of California San Francisco Medical Center
35. Danner et al. (2001)
36. Ryff & Singer (2003), Goleman (1996), and Rosenkranz et al.(2003)
37. Ryff and Singer (2003) and Dvidson et al. (2000)
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