Happiness hacks, p.1
Happiness Hacks, page 1
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CONTENTS
1: What Is Happiness?
2: Happy at Work
3: Happy at Play
4: Happy in Love
5: Happy at Home
6: Happy in Friendship
7: Happy in Health
8: High-Tech Happiness
9: Finding Your Happy Place
10: The Downside of Happiness
Where to Find the Science
About the Author
Landmarks
Cover
Contents
1: What Is Happiness?
HAPPINESS HACKS: 100% Scientific! Curiously Effective!
Copyright © 2018 by Alex Palmer
All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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This book contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the book. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any other kind of personal professional services in the book. The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk—personal or otherwise—that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Palmer, Alex, 1981- author.Title: Happiness hacks : 100% scientific! curiously effective! / by Alex
Palmer.
Description: New York, NY : Experiment, [2018] | Includes bibliographical
references. Identifiers: LCCN 2018000505 (print) | LCCN 2018006836 (ebook) | ISBN
9781615194438 (ebook) | ISBN 9781615194421 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Happiness. | Self-actualization (Psychology
)Classification: LCC BF575.H27 (ebook) | LCC BF575.H27 P356 2018 (print) | DDC
158--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018000505
ISBN 978-1-61519-442-1
Ebook ISBN 978-1-61519-443-8
Cover and text design by Sarah Smith
Author photograph by Greg Naeseth
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing May 201810 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1:
WHAT IS HAPPINESS
“I must learn to brook being happier than I deserve.”
JANE AUSTEN, PERSUASION
In an age of anxiety and uncertainty, we’re all searching for ways to feel better. One in six Americans is on some kind of antidepressant. Beer, wine, and liquor sales have been on a steady incline for years ($25.2 billion in U.S. sales for 2016). Viewings of baby goat videos are up dramatically (data to come). Even those who are doing relatively well have become aware that material success does not necessarily translate into a more durable sense of well-being.
So it’s no surprise that everyone is looking to add more happiness to their lives. We want to know how to stop feeling stressed and to smile more. Or how to bring more fun into our date nights. Or what kinds of plants will improve our mood (hint: Stay away from pointy leaves). With such demand to get happier, there’s been perhaps an even greater supply to meet it; from feel-good inspirational quotes to in-depth scientific studies, happiness has become big business.
But the abundance of information out there can leave the average person overwhelmed. You are busy and likely just looking for some simple tips to add more fun to your day—without all the scientific jargon or unrealistic advice about the best yoga positions to save your marriage. If you’re feeling stressed or unsatisfied, you’re likely looking for sensible, actionable, and ultimately fun tips to help you get happy. And that’s what this book aims to deliver. As you read, some of the tips might sound familiar (maybe since you’re already a generally happy person) but others will, I hope, catch you by surprise or get you to see your habits or daily life in a new light.
Word of warning: I’m not a scientist or an academic, and this book is hardly a comprehensive guide to the mountain of happiness research that is out there. But it does provide some accessible insights that will help you live your life with a little more cheer and a few more laughs throughout the day. I dove into the vast amount of data available and interviewed psychologists, researchers, and happiness experts to find some of the most surprising, useful, and interesting research about happiness and how we can get more of it in our lives. Happiness Hacks aims to keep things light and in layperson’s terms, but if you do want to dig more deeply into any of the science discussed, see the extensive endnotes with all the details on the numerous studies and researchers referenced.
But before we get started, we should probably answer the question:
What Exactly Is Happiness?
It’s a question that has been pondered by everyone from Plato to Al Green, and the answers vary as widely as the people asking. The word happiness derives from the word for luck, as in “happenstance” or “haphazard.” At least going back to before the Enlightenment, many viewed it as a matter of random luck or divine fortune if someone felt happy or not. To a degree, this is true—several researchers have made a case that happiness is genetic or hardwired into our personality. At the other end of the spectrum are those who believe happiness can be boiled down to an equation: a certain level of dopamine plus stimulation to a particular part of the brain, and bingo, you’re happy. But for many who have looked into the question, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Two Types of Happiness: Instant Gratification Versus Long-Term Fulfillment
Researchers have answered the question “What is happiness?” with two different, awkward-to-pronounce adjectives: hedonic and eudaemonic. Hedonic happiness is all about maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, and tends to be characterized as momentary or superficial. It may be the satisfaction you get from eating a great meal, or the good feeling after a workout or a successful date—whatever experience gives you, personally, enjoyment and delight.
Critics point out that using this simple “more pleasure than displeasure” equation fails to really get at what it means to be happy. These folks embrace a different definition of happiness: eudaemonic happiness, a broader sense of psychological well-being—that you are living a fulfilling life in line with your personal goals and values, and perhaps contributing to the larger good of society while you’re at it. It’s a concept Aristotle defined in his Nicomachean Ethics as a flourishing, fulfilled life, rather than a transitory feeling of pleasure, “for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.”
Both forms of happiness will put a smile on your face, but each leads to a distinctly different kind of fulfillment. From a scientific perspective, assessing what can foster these different types of happiness requires different types of measurements and different criteria as well.
While the term hedonism is usually applied to high-living libertines looking to indulge every vice they can think of, hedonism in the study of happiness isn’t just about physical pleasure. It can include your feelings about a wide range of positive and negative aspects of your life, summed up as subjective well-being.
Edward F. Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sees subjective well-being as the combination of three ingredients:
1 Life satisfaction
2 Positive mood
3 Absence of negative mood
Put them all together, and you get your happiness level. Reflecting how happiness can be measured at different levels, Diener developed three different scales to analyze different types of happiness: the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience measures more immediate positive or negative feelings; the Satisfaction with Life Scale asks about one’s general outlook on life; and the Flourishing Scale has an eight-item summary that measures one’s self-perceived success in areas such as relationships and self-esteem.
Be Your True Self
But getting your immediate needs met in the form of a good meal or workout doesn’t equate to true long-term happiness, according to the eudaemonic view. As developmental psychologist Alan Waterman puts it, eudaemonic happiness is “where what is considered worth desiring and having in life is the best
In Waterman’s study of more than 200 college students, what he calls the “personal expressiveness” of eudaemonic happiness was more strongly associated with feeling challenged, competent, and assertive, while those experiencing hedonic enjoyment were more likely to feel relaxed, content, and excited, and to have a sense of losing track of time.
So happiness is far from a simple concept. It can refer to a wide range of moods, emotions, sensations, and traits, each with its respective benefits and drawbacks.
Focus on the 40 Percent
There would not be much point to this book, or the vast happiness industry, if it were not possible to boost your happiness, at least temporarily. But researchers have found that genetic factors play a significant role in one’s level of subjective well-being. For example, identical twins have been found to be much more similar in their happiness levels than fraternal twins.
Not only is happiness partly genetic, it has also been found to be a personality trait that remains stable for much of our lives. A meta-analysis covering more than 40,000 adults found that personality could, to a large degree, predict subjective well-being, life satisfaction, and happiness. “Sunny disposition” is not just an expression; people really are naturally disposed to being cheery, or melancholy, or quietly satisfied.
But while a significant part of our happiness levels is determined by things we are unlikely to change, if you feel there is not enough joy in your life, don’t despair.
University of California, Riverside psychology professor and happiness expert Sonja Lyubomirsky sums this up as a pie chart in which approximately 50 percent of our happiness is genetic and 10 percent is related to life circumstances; the remaining 40 percent is under our power to change. That 40 percent can be the difference between doing pretty well and doing great, or feeling cruddy and feeling okay. And researchers have found plenty of evidence to back up the assertion that change is possible, whether through modifying work habits, taking a different approach to your communication style with friends or partners, or just rethinking the interior design of your home.
Read on for these science-based ways to positively impact that 40 percent of your happiness.
2:
HAPPY AT WORK
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”
ANDREW CARNEGIE
Unhappiness can be expensive. According to a Gallup-Healthways study, unhappiness is costing the United States as much as $300 billion annually in lost productivity.
Why? A higher level of life satisfaction or a cheery disposition will actually make you better at your job, more likely to get a promotion, and less likely to quit. One study of government workers found that happy people are more productive, and people are more productive when in a happy mood. Another report, out of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, put a precise number on it: Happiness led to a 12 percent jump in productivity, while unhappy workers are 10 percent less productive than their happier peers. Sales? Thirty-seven percent higher from happy workers. Creativity? Three times higher.
These aren’t isolated findings; a meta-analysis of 225 academic studies by some of the most prominent researchers in the field of positive psychology found direct causality between life satisfaction and positive business results.
But being happy at work is easier said than done. Even if you love your job, there’s probably something you hate about it: a long commute, a boss who doesn’t give you the credit you deserve, a coworker who eats lunch with their mouth open. Even if you start the day eager to dive into a project, by late afternoon you are likely struggling to stay focused. Even if you’re great at what you do, there’s that nagging voice in the back of your mind asking if you wouldn’t be happier in another job, or if you shouldn’t be getting paid more for this one.
Whatever the reason, if you’re one of the majority of people who aren’t exactly tap dancing to work, here are some ways to tick up your level of on-the-job happiness.
Ask: Why Are You Doing This?
It’s the basic question every person should ask themself every now and then. A person is more likely to find satisfaction in their job and be better at it if they pursue work goals that are in line with their core values, or are what psychologists call “self-concordant.” A pair of researchers found that those pursuing goals in line with their interests put more sustained effort into accomplishing the goals and felt a greater sense of well-being when they accomplished them.
The researchers validated this through a study of 169 students who were asked to list ten personal goals they wanted to pursue for the semester. They were asked to rank from one to ten their reasons for pursuing each goal (e.g., “you pursue this striving because of the fun and enjoyment it provides you”). Throughout the semester, they noted how much effort they were putting in toward each goal and rated their progress on each. There was a positive correlation between self-concordant goals and both effort toward and attainment of the goals, compared to those that were not. The study also found that those who achieved these goals felt a greater sense of well-being than those who pursued goals based on more external pressures.
• Ask yourself why you are working on a particular project, or even in the line of work you’re pursuing. If you aren’t doing it because you are passionate about it or feel it aligns with who you truly are, sooner or later, the work will become a slog.
It’s Not About the Paycheck
Whatever meaning you are drawing from your job, one thing is for certain: Doing it for money won’t bring you happiness. Numerous studies have found no correlation between higher salaries and higher levels of happiness. Surveys of the wealthiest Americans find their happiness scores on par with the Amish. A survey of thousands of twins found that income accounted for less than 2 percent of the difference in their respective levels of well-being.
A good rule of thumb: $80K is enough. Researchers have found that once a person earns an average of $75,000 per year, they experience a “happiness plateau.” Those making millions may be able to buy nice things, but they don’t enjoy a higher level of happiness commensurate with the higher salary.
When happiness does relate to a person’s paycheck, it’s usually in how it compares to other workers in that person’s peer group. A pair of researchers drawing on data from 5,000 British workers found that their reported satisfaction levels were higher when they compared themselves to people making less than they did.
One other point they found: While absolute pay did not predict a person’s sense of satisfaction, their education did—as in, the higher their education level, the lower their sense of life satisfaction. The researchers suggested that this was because of the higher aspirations that education creates.
• Stop putting so much importance on making more at work. A fatter paycheck is not going to make your smile any wider.
It’s Not Even About a Really Big Paycheck
A separate study of the Forbes 400 richest Americans found them just slightly happier than the Maasai people of East Africa—hunter-gatherers who live in mud huts without electricity or running water.
Track Your Progress
Viewing your activities as part of a long-term goal improves your mood—on a chemical level. Participants in a study were asked about personal and family goals, rated their mood, and assessed the relevance of their current activity to these goals during the day, every three hours over a week. At each check-in, subjects also provided saliva samples so their levels of cortisol—informally known as the “stress hormone”—could be measured.
Activities that participants identified as furthering their goals correlated with more positive mood ratings and lower levels of cortisol in their saliva, suggesting that goal-oriented behavior is important to mood and stress management.
• Make a daily goal chart and track how each step forward is moving you toward accomplishing a long-term goal.
Show Your Happiness
