Category: Happiness

Over four hundred studies including 50,000+ people reveal the best happiness techniques.

Meditation, mindfulness and conscious breathing are some of the best techniques for improving happiness, a review of over 400 studies reveals.

Positive psychological interventions like a gratitude journal, performing small acts of kindness and working on your sense of purpose are also effective.

Positive psychological interventions work best, though, when done together — individually they have little effect.

These techniques work well for people in good health and those with physical and mental illnesses, the research found.

However, it is important to find the right technique that fits you.

Mr Joep Van Agteren, the study’s first author, said:

“During stressful and uncertain periods in our lives, pro-actively working on our mental health is crucial to help mitigate the risk of mental and physical illness.

Our research suggests there are numerous psychological approaches people should experiment with to determine what works for them.”

Unsurprisingly, psychological therapies are also effective at improving well-being, although techniques need to be fitted to people’s requirements.

For people with mental health problems, cognitive-behavioural therapy was effective.

For those who already have good mental health, acceptance and commitment therapy works well.

Stick at it

All psychological techniques require that people stick at them for a period.

Mr Matthew Iasiello, study co-author, said:

“Just trying something once or twice isn’t enough to have a measurable impact.

Regardless of what method people are trying out, they need to stick at it for weeks and months at a time for it to have a real effect.”

While seeking professional help is important, there are many things individuals can do to improve their well-being, said Professor Michael Kyrios, study co-author:

“Implementing such interventions can be done safely for individuals on their own or in a group format, either in person or online.

It is therefore potentially a cost-effective addition to current referral pathways and treatment methods.”

The study was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour (Agteren et al., 2021).

The ironic reason chasing happiness can make you feel worse.

The pursuit of happiness can make you unhappy when it makes you feel short of time, research finds.

People in the study who had the continuous goal of being happier, felt there was less time to achieve it.

Because of this shortness of time, they felt less happy.

In contrast, those who let happiness ‘just happen’ and were not pursuing it, did not feel the same rush and, consequently, were happier.

The researchers explain:

“Time seems to vanish amid the pursuit of happiness, but only when seen as a goal requiring continued pursuit.

This finding adds depth to the growing body of work suggesting that the pursuit of happiness can ironically undermine well-being.”

Feeling short of time is just one way the pursuit of happiness can backfire.

We can also force ourselves into activities we don’t really enjoy, spend too much money or simply overthink it.

For the research, sometimes people were given a goal of being happier.

Other times their normal levels of happiness seeking were tested.

Across four studies the researchers found that pursuing happiness could ultimately decrease it: whether it is in a person’s make-up or if they are given the goal.

It is a useful reminder that we all need time to stop and enjoy the fruits of our labours.

In the rush to be happy, we can find the goal is easily lost.

The researchers say:

“Because engaging in experiences and savoring the associated feelings requires more time compared with merely, for instance, buying material goods, feeling a lack of time also leads people to prefer material possessions rather than enjoying leisure experiences.

By encouraging people to worry less about pursuing happiness as a never-ending goal, successful interventions might just end up giving them more time and, in turn, more happiness.”

The study was published in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (Kim and Maglio, 2018).

Study of more than 10,000 people reveals how the grumpiest people can be more happy today.

The key to being more happy is simply to move around a little more.

A little extra physical movement makes people appreciably happier, research finds.

Activities that can’t even be classified as exercise, but do involve moving around a little are enough to provide a boost.

Getting up from the desk to walk around a little is one good example.

Dr Jason Rentfrow, one of the paper’s authors, said:

“Our data show that happy people are more active in general.

However, our analyses also indicated that periods of physical activity led to increased positive mood, regardless of individuals’ baseline happiness.

There have been many studies about the positive psychological effects of exercise, but what we’ve found is that in order to be happier, you don’t have to go out and run a marathon – all you’ve really got to do is periodically engage in slight physical activity throughout the day.”

The results come from a study in which data from over 10,000 people’s smartphones was analysed.

People who moved about more were happier and people were happier in those moments when they moved about more.

Dr Gillian Sandstrom, a study co-author, said:

“Most of us don’t keep track of all of our movements during the day.

A person might track whether they went for a walk or went to the gym, but when asked, most of them probably wouldn’t remember walking from the desk to the photocopier, or from the car to the office door.”

Professor Cecilia Mascolo, another study co-author, added:

“This study shows how mobile and wearable technology really can allow social psychologists to perform large longitudinal studies as well as open a direct and permanent connection with the users for advice and intervention.”

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE (Lathia et al., 2016).

Most people do not use this method of buying happiness, but perhaps they should…

Spending money to buy yourself time can bring happiness, research finds.

For example, hiring someone to clean your house or do other odd-jobs is beneficial to mental well-being.

Dr Ashley Whillans, the study’s first author, said:

“People who hire a housecleaner or pay the kid next door to mow the lawn might feel like they’re being lazy.

But our results suggest that buying time has similar benefits for happiness as having more money.”

The survey of 6,000 adults across the US, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands asked people how much they spent ‘buying time’ for themselves.

Those who spent the most (as a percentage of their income) were more satisfied with life.

Professor Elizabeth Dunn, who led the study, said:

“The benefits of buying time aren’t just for wealthy people.

We thought the effects might only hold up for people with quite a bit of disposable income, but to our surprise, we found the same effects across the income spectrum.”

A field experiment also backed up the survey finding.

People were randomly asked to spend $40 on either saving time or buying some material good.

People felt happier when they saved time.

However, most people don’t like outsourcing activities that save them time.

A survey of 850 millionaires found 50% did not spend a single dime on outsourcing disliked tasks.

And the rest of us are no different, with 98% of people surveyed saying they would NOT spend a $40 windfall in a way that saved them time.

Professor Dunn said:

“Although buying time can serve as a buffer against the time pressures of daily life, few people are doing it even when they can afford it.

Lots of research has shown that people benefit from buying their way into pleasant experiences, but our research suggests people should also consider buying their way out of unpleasant experiences.”

The study was published in the journal PNAS (Whillans et al., 2017).