Jump on your couch
What makes people happy?
June 17, 3003
The Iranian
"What makes people sad, anxious, depressed,
or suicidal?" That is the type of question that
interests psychologists more than "What makes people happy?" Although negative
emotions have deservedly been the focus of extensive psychological
research for decades, psychologists have just recently
discovered the importance of studying happiness and life satisfaction.
In fact, when a psychologist named Fordyce
asked people what the most important thing in life
is, half of them immediately responded "happiness".
Presumably, after 9/11 and the military operations in Afghanistan
and Iraq, even more people have come to realization
that family and friends should not be taken for granted, and
that happiness and life satisfaction are very important in a world
with an uncertain future.
The question is: What makes us happy? Going back in history, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
suggested "a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion."
Amen to that! William James, however, had his own
ideas. He thought that the closer we come to achieving
our goals, the happier we become. Therefore, if you set goals that
are not too hard to accomplish (for example, getting
a 50% average instead of 98%), or if you work harder
to achieve your goals (studying 4 hours a day instead of daydreaming),
you are more likely to be happy.
Researchers, however, have extensively used social comparison theory
to explain happiness. Based on this theory, we look
at people around us and compare our lives to theirs.
Let me give you an example. Suppose the famous Bill Gates were
your neighbor.
How happy would you feel about your life? Interestingly, in general,
people tend to compare themselves with those less
fortunate to enhance their feelings of well-being.
After all, your '92 BMW does not look so bad, when compared with
Tina's 87 Corolla.
Advertisers, on the other hand, bombard us daily with images of
people who have a better life than we do, trying to
make us feel bad about our lives.
While you are having an argument
about who should wash the dishes tonight, a better-looking and
more confident couple on TV are driving their brand
new CLK on a winding road between a harsh gray mountain
and a calm greenish-blue ocean. His square jaw, strong arms, and
sharp eyes complement her radiant smile and her graphically
and surgically enhanced breasts. This couple does
not seem to have a care in the world. Their maid probably does
the dishes. Suddenly your '95 GMC looks extremely unrefined,
and all the hours you spent working out seem like
a big waste of time. The purpose of these commercials, of course,
is to make you feel bad about your life, and offer
to make you feel happy again, only if you buy the product.
The next question is: Does money bring happiness?
The answer is,
Yes, of course! Does the happiness last?
No, it does not.
In 1985,
Ed Diener and his colleagues studied the very rich
people, selected from a list of 400 wealthiest Americans. Compared
to normal participants who said they were happy
62% of the time, the rich said that they were slightly
happier (77% of the time).
Similar findings have been observed
in studying lottery winners. In fact, in a study
by Philip Brickman and Dan Coates in 1978, lottery winners described
themselves as no happier than nonwinners; they also reported
less satisfaction from simple pleasures such as
watching TV or eating a good breakfast.
In summary, it seems
that as long as one is able to afford life's necessities, there
are no significant differences in happiness, between the insanely-rich
and the fat hairy guy next door.
You might be wondering why lottery winners are no happier than
the rest of us. Adaptation theory has an explanation. When something
highly positive happens, such as winning the lottery or buying
a new car, we quickly adapt to this new level of fortune and accept
it as an integral part of our life. In other words, we get used
to it.
We all remember the thrill we first
felt months ago, when we bought a new car, moved to a new or
better house, or bought those chic pair of shoes.
How do you feel about those possessions now? You probably do
not clean the car or the house religiously anymore,
nor do you feel that everyone is staring jealously at your exclusive
shoes as you walk down the street.
You may now be asking, "Why then are some people so happy
all the time?" This may have to do with their
personality. Research has shown that people high in extroverted
traits (sociability, warmth, involvement with others) and low in
neurotic traits (a tendency to worry, be anxious and
irritable) are more likely to be happy. Self-esteem, optimism,
and a sense of personal control over one's life
are also associated with happiness.
Surprisingly, other factors such as age, gender, education, and
health have a very small effect on happiness. Faith
and religious beliefs, however, do seem to have a positive effect on life satisfaction, especially in older people.
Possible
explanations have focused on the supportive and
close relationships by those active in religious communities,
and the sense of meaning and purpose in life that
they acquire from faith. Based on a number of studies,
the most important life circumstance that leads to happiness
is a satisfying marriage and family life.
Researchers have also discovered that happiness has a strong
genetic component. That means if your parents are happy most
of the time, you and your children are more likely
to be happy as well. In addition, in contrast to the traditional
view of life as a misery and tragedy, research
shows that 80% of people consider themselves happy. Of course, people
from cultures that stress feeling good over other life-enhancing
factors such as achievement apparently enjoy life
more. That is why Latin people are much happier than Asians including even wealthy Japanese and Asian Americans (and
possibly Iranians).
You might be asking yourself, How much longer does this essay
go on? Just kidding! Seriously, you might be asking:
How can I bring more happiness to my life?
Fordyce suggests the following. Spend time with loved ones (we
are not talking about the beer can you keep under
the bed or the poster of Brad Pitt on your bedroom door; we are talking
about spending time with your family and friends). Look for challenging
but meaningful work; happy people work hard and
enjoy what they do. Help others because it relieves
stress and enhances self-esteem (let us not forget it also helps
the old lady with her groceries!)
Make time for activities that you enjoy, such as gardening, reading,
or writing a paper on happiness. Keep fit; run,
swim, dance, or jump on your couch. Plan ahead but be flexible;
new experiences will not hurt you. Think positively, and lastly,
keep things in perspective. In other words, if
you are having a bad hair day, if the dog ate your homework,
and if your boyfriend does not want to grow up today, do not
freak out. Today will pass, like every other day.
Trust me, I have had many bad days and they have all passed.
The preceding article made extensive use of
research cited in Wortman, Loftus, Weaver, and
Atkinson's textbook "Psychology"
(pages 392-395 in particular),
published in the year 2000, and to a lesser extent, "The Science of
Happiness" by
Myers and Diener, published in the Sept/Oct 1997 edition of The Futurist.
Please refer
to these
sources for a more thorough and much more boring analysis of the subject. Also,
see other research
papers by Ed Diener, who is an authority in the area of subject well-being and
happiness.
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