How Happy are you? (Taken from today's Straits Time 'mindyourbody')

Happiness can be measured and studied, says the new science of positive psychology.

Friendship has a significant effect on happiness. Two American psychologists studies the happiness levels of hundreds of students, and found that the happiest ones spend the least time alone and the most time socializing. The wider and deeper your relationships, the happier you're likely to be.

Circumstances also affect happiness, but not always in the ways that we would expect. For example, wealth doesn't seem to matter very much, Once you have sufficient income to feed, clothe and house yourself, extra cash does little to bolster well-being.
A 1970s study of lottery winners showed that after an initial boost, their happiness levels soon returned to normal. Education doesn't make much difference either. Highly educated people and those with high IQs are barely happier than the rest of us. Youth and good looks also contribute little to happiness.

Psychology have pieced together the data and produced a pie-chart of the factors determining happiness. Genetic disposition makes up a whopping 50%, while circumstances account for just 10%.
It comes as a surprise to many people that circumstantial factors like health wealth and good looks have so little impact. This is largely due to a psychology process known as adaption. Imagine that you have received a hefty pay rise. For a while you feel elated. But you soon get used to the extra income, and your happiness reverts to its original level. You adapt to your new circumstances, and require another pay rise to make you feel good.

Adaption works the other what too, allowing us to bounce back from setbacks. Accident victims who lose the use of limbs become very depressed for a short time, but soon start to feel better and eventually regain something very close to their original level of happiness.
Once genes and circumstances have been taken into account, there's still quite a large slice (40%) of the happiness pie left over. What does this represent?
Dr Sona Lyubomirsky, an experimental psychologist from Stanford University, believes that this remaining slice represents "intentional activities" - a term that refers to thoughts and behaviors that require EFFORT, INITIATIVE, and that we CAN CONTROL.
(So stop saying you're born like that or it's your character! You can control things like that. "We can do ALL things through Christ" and With God, ALL things are possible! Either that or you're calling Jesus a liar.)
Examples might include spending a few minutes each day meditating (For us it's praying in tongues) or performing weekly acts of kindness. (Blessing others etc...)

Positive psychologist believe that adopting appropriate intentional activities can make us happier. One happiness-boosting strategy is to perform acts of altruism or kindness. In one study, Dr Lyubomirsky found that performing 5 acts of kindness each week makes people measurably happier.
Cultivating and expressing gratitude also lifts happiness levels. Dr Seligman has pioneered 2 techniques for accomplishing this: "3 blessings" and "gratitude visits". 3 blessings involves writing a letter to someone you're grateful to but have never thanked properly, and then going and reading it to him/her. Both techniques have been shown to increase happiness.

It is interesting to note that the most effective happiness-boosting techniques involve INTERACTING with and HELPING others.


Samuel Leon