What do we know about happiness
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Transcript of What do we know about happiness
Happiness… what do we know about it?
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health
are three requirements for happiness,
though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.
Gustave Flaubert
Smart people against happiness:
Freud SartreSchopenhauer
Smart people against happiness:
Every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour.
Freud SartreSchopenhauer
The intention that man should be happy is not included in the plan of Creation.
Smart people against happiness:
Freud SartreSchopenhauer
@#%$*$( happiness %^!#@(^*)!@#!@__*#@!^#!!!!
Smart people against happiness:
Freud SartreSchopenhauer
359,295
242,134
93,381
23,79043,52938,349
4,247933
Courage Fear Happiness Depression Prophy-lactics
Therapy Good BAD
Amount of articles in psychology magazines from 1887 to 2003:
Who needs happiness?
They do:
Martin Seligman
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Daniel Gilbert
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Ed Diener
They are positive psychologists
They research happiness(maybe not exactly this way)
Intellect Money Income Love All the rest…?
They research, how happiness links to...
For instance:
Source: Lisa Simpson
Is it true, that only fools are happy?
Is this happiness?
Actually…
HAPPINESS I N T E L L I G E N C E
There’s a mildly positive correlation between happiness and intelligence.
Source: Choi and Veenhoven (2008)
Is it true that happiness leads
to laziness?
Source: Lyubomirsky, King, Diener (2005)
Actually, happy people are
MORE achievement oriented.
In companies, where happy people work…
Source: Harter, Schmidt (2002)
ProfitsProductivityCustomer
satisfactionPersonnelturnover
Work-related injuries
Happy people earn more:
Source: Diener, 2008
Happy in 1976: Income in 1990:
$50,000
$65,000
:-(
:-)
Does money bring happiness?
Text
To some extent — yes
êÓÒÒËfl
If everybody’s poor —
there’s no difference.
the happierThe richer —
êÓÒÒËflNobody to envy again.
The real income increased by 100%, but the happiness level is…
In the US, as of today:
Source: Lucas and Schimmack (forthcoming)
Happiness
level
Income, thousand US$ per year
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
< 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 > 200
7.856.38
Money could make
you happier, but if
they are TOO
important for you...
Source: Diener and Oishi (2000)
Source: Diener and Oishi (2000)
If you are concerned with money
you are more likely to be unhappy.
Happiness is in marriage!
Family life Friends Work Income
15%26%22%
37%
It’s a popular opinion…
Source: Loewenstein
What makes you happy?
Marriage correlates with happiness
10%
Married
are happier than
single
Source: Diener (2008)
Got divorced
Got married
However, there are some nuances…
The effect lasts for ~ 2 years
Wedding!...
Children:Small negative impact*
Source: Gilbert, 2007*Yes, that’s shocking!
Exception: women with their first child
Source: Myers, 1992
Friends are more reliable: if you can name 5 or more close friends you are 60% more likely to be very happy.
Good health is essential!
Typical emotions of a recovering patient
Source: Diener (2008)
Point of recovery
Gerald is the happiest person
I ever met.
Age
Happiness
Source: BHPS
Older people are happier!
True happiness
lies in faith.
Percentage of very happy people in the US:
Atheists Former believers Believers New believers
41%36%
21%16%
But this is true only for religious countries. (Also, non-religious Denmark and Netherlands are happier than the US.)
Denmark
Afghanistan
India
Nepal
So where is it?
Factors that affect happiness:
Genes
Income
Employment
Family status
Health
Age
Religiousness
Hedonic affectFlowMeaning of life
Source: Lyubomirsky (2008), consensus estimate
40%
10%
50%
Pleasures bring happiness (nothing new)
(people adapt easily)
But not the purchases — activities!
Source: Fontane (1996)
Start exercising:
+12%to the happiness level
minus 8% for every hour if less than 8 hours
Sleep enough:
Source: Pilcher, Ott (1998)
Sex* = a lot of happiness
* with someone you like ;-) Source: Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz and Stone (2003)
Happiness is in the FLOW
Flow
Source: Csikszentmihalyi (1975)
Too boring
Too hard
Skills
Challenge
The flow is a psychological state where things just happen…
+28%Source: Thakar and Misra (1995)
Work that you like:
Can do
Want to do
There’s a market for that
Source: loosely adapted from Jim Collins’ Good to Great
Stop doing!
Practice!
Monetize!
Happiness
There’s only one thing you need
to know about sustained
individual success: "Discover
what you don't like doing and
stop doing it."— Marcus Buckingham
Happiness is finding the meaning of life
Does your life have meaning?
Yes No
Source: Lepper, 1996
30%
70% 30%
70%
Happy
Unhappy
— Daniel Dennett
(he’s an atheist)
The secret of happiness is finding something bigger than
you and devoting your life to it.
What’s YOUR Holy Grail?
What are you SEEKING?(maybe not exactly this way)