How To Be Happy: A research-based guide to psychological well-being

Anna Zhucova, July 2011.

Are you one of the lucky people who knows what makes you happiest, and are able to pursue it? If so, I congratulate you and you need not read any further. However, if you find yourself or someone you care for down with the blues a lot of the time, you may want to read on.

Consumption is not enough

Having recently read yet another anti-hedonistic work (this time, the famous novel 'Brave New World'), I was reminded once again that there is more to live for than just pure enjoyment. While ignorance is bliss, life is a challenge requiring effort, pain, and patience in order to reap its rewards. If one is afraid of this discomfort, then life is not for you. Even if you try to escape through ignorance and pleasure, life will catch you and test your ability to master it. The more you hide from the challenges of life, the more painful are reality's blows. This is not to say that I disagree with happiness being an individual's or society's goal – I simply have a broader definition of it. I believe that learning, morality, self-improvement, wisdom, making the world a better place for others, etc. are all constituents of happiness – and that all are good in moderation.

Why? Well, as Marx said quite correctly, an individual and society have needs – and it is the fulfillment of these needs that bring happiness. Needs have diminishing value, meaning they bring less happiness the more available they are. So if you had been longing to exercise, once you have exercised for two hours, your craving for physical work has duly diminished. Some ways of meeting our needs are counterproductive, as they take away our ability to fulfill our other needs. For example, binge-drinking the night before work may have fulfilled the need for relaxation the night before, but the next day one feels unhappy about themselves (lowered self-esteem, less achievement or self-improvement) and probably increases the conflict in their relationships (negative emotion, loneliness). Luckily for us, psychology has been investigating happiness and found some effective methods to achieving greater life statisfaction! I will describe these below:

According to research by Seligman, et.al, there are three stages of happiness - with the attainment of each stage bringing greater overall happiness. The first stage is what is called 'pleasant life', and is characterised by positive emotion, pleasure. The second stage is the 'good life'. This stage involves active engagement and positive self-development. The third and final stage is the 'meaningful life', which refers to positively contributing to something greater than oneself (Seligman, et.al, 2004).

Stage one is relatively simple, and hedonic in nature. You could easily achieve a pleasant life as long as you have enough resources to spoil yourself with everything that gives you a thrill and gets you high. For some of us this may be eating chocolate, having sex, or watching a movie. This is the least potent mood medicine as it usually doesn't leave us happy for very long, and in some cases even produces guilt, self-loathing, or other bad consequences. Not to mention that acknowledging and understanding one's negative emotions (rather than simply erasing them) is helpful to making decisions about what we want and don't want in life!(Bolton, 1979) In addition, levels of positive affect are strongly influenced by genetics, and so will be easier for some than others. Comparing our cheerfulness to others will only make us feel worse. On the other hand, reflecting on past experiences with gratitude and forgiveness, mindfulness in the present, and hope and optimism about the future can increase the derived positive emotions regardless of genetics.

Stage two happiness is achieved through active engagement in tasks that are fully absorbing and rely on character (perseverence, patience, humour) and skill (physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, interpersonal, aesthetic, creative...) to overcome a challenge. This stage is not always accompanied by positive emotion – for example, a novice learning guitar will develop painful blisters and feel embarassed when making mistakes or unable to play as they want. However, each puzzle that is unlocked, and every new ability gained during their training results in gratification more fulfilling than simple intake of pleasure(Seligman, et.al, 2004). This 'good life' is closely linked to improvements in self-esteem (how good we feel about who we are), and self-development, which (as we will see below) are two very important ingredients for human happiness. Engaging activities make us feel capable of overcoming difficulties, which counteracts anxiety, depression, self-handicapping behaviours, and gives us the skills we need to move onto stage three. As one feels genuinely better about themselves, they are less tempted to use underhanded tactics to win love and respect from others. Their egos and self-worth is fulfilled within themselves, not by external validation. As a result, they can focus on enhancing their interpersonal connection with others (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2005).

Engagement keeps that motivation going, making achievement of self-development easier. This is best done through what is know in the field of positive psychology as flow. Flow occurs when you do an activity for the sake of the process, and it results in achievement of specific goals. To find your flow, stay mindful of activities that are mostly:

1)Engrossing, enjoyable experience , positive affect, satisfaction (subjective well-being)

2)Autoletic (self-motivated) –intrinsic motivation

3)Loss of self-consciousness – (in constrast to the pursuit of self-esteem, where self-awareness is high and self-validation is the goal).

4)Merging of the self and the activity - "when the dancer becomes the dance"

5)Total concentration

6)Sense of effortless performance, sense of control – a combination of high challenge and high skill (confidence and efficacy)

7)Specific requirements and specific goals

8)Immediate, unambiguous feedback

9)Transformation of time - lose track of time while engaged in the activity

10)Reported as most positive state to be in

This is also where the concept of self-congruence fits in nicely. Clinical research by a psychologist Carl Rogers has found that depression can be cured by decreasing the gap between one's 'inner self' and their behaviour (Rieger, 2008). In other words, if you are doing things in accordance with your values and who you want to be, you will be happier (refer to my article on People Skills for further tips to help you identify these). Flow allows you to express yourself and follow your heart, so it leads to greater congruence.

While environmental mastery is important, achievement for the sake of achievement isn't fulfilling, as there are always higher goals to set. In contrast, flow allows one to enjoy the process which creates extended periods of happiness. Persistence is high when in flow, and so it is easier to preserve through difficulties and achieve high competency, as compared to a non-flow activity. Whether flow is achieved through one's job or one's hobby, if pursued, will result in competencies that can be used for stage three.

Be warned - it is very easy to ignore other needs/obligations when in the state of flow. Exercise good judgment as to whether to stick with an activity or put in on hold (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2005).

Stage three, regarded by Seligman and followers as the highest state of happiness for a human, is attainable upon developing the necessary competencies from stage two (Seligman, et.al, 2004). It involves us using our strengths in service of something outside of ourselves. This includes contributing new knowledge, innovation, helping the community, justice, and empowerment of others. These activities satisfy our need for a meaningful life, and bring lasting happiness known as 'fulfillment'.

Now, that's all good but how does one get there?

It can be hard sometimes to truly understand one's own feelings and preferences. To take the pressure off your mind and make things clearer, I suggest making a diary/log, make headings for each stage, with a definition, and bring the log with you wherever you go. Discipline yourself to write down activities, events, and experiences where you were at stage 1, 2, or 3. Seligman and Steen (2005) also suggest doing the ‘good things in life’ exercise – where you record three good things that happen to you (and why they happen) each day for a week. They have conducted a study that showed the exercise itself increased self-reported happiness and decreased reported levels of depression three months later.

Another useful piece of research is Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs'. There is a limitation to the model, as priorities of needs are largely individual, but nevertheless it does give us a good insight into the needs fundamental to the basic-level well-being of most humans.

These needs include physiological (e.g.food, water, clothes, sex), safety (shelter, financial security), belonging (positive relations with individuals or groups, feeling loved and wanted), self-esteem (self-acceptance, autonomy, environmental mastery). Once a person has satisfactorily fulfilled those needs, they are 'free' to self-actualise (reaching their full potential, fulfilling a purpose)(Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2005).

The hierarchy was created by Maslow in 1943, and since then the pyramid of needs has been studied in more depth and refined. Here is a more precise version:

As you can see, there are two stages added as part of self-actualisation – for understanding the world around you and finding its beauty (intensifying and refining your consciousness) is part of being the best you. In addition, the transcendence stage has been added at the top – which matches well with Seligman et.al's third stage – the 'meaningful life'.

Once an individual is self-sustained, with their basic needs (physiological, safety, and belonging) fulfilled, they can use the competencies they gained through flow (esteem and self-actualisation) for the benefit of those around them (transcendence).

Money and happiness

You may have heard the phrase “money cannot buy love and happiness”. This is true, (at least for many people in the Global North). Scholars of happiness argue that the relationship between income and well-being is curvilinear - being close to zero in developed but positive in developing countries. Generally, money appears to have a positive effect on well-being at the subsistence level (fulfilling the physiological and safety needs for food, clothing, and shelter). Any additional wealth, according to research, has shown no significant benefit to well-being (Argyle,1999).

Looking back to Maslow's hierarchy, you will see that belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualisation become aspirations after subsistence needs are met. All three can be obtained through self-improvement activities. While extra income can theoretically contribute to belonging, it can be achieved just as well without overtime, a boring job, or criminally exploiting legal loopholes.

Gone in the blink of an eye

Accumulation of wealth functions at the level of 'pleasant life' - a one-off joyful experience that quickly loses its charm. The next day you wake up just as unhappy as before, and worse, the next increases won't feel as exciting. This assertion has strong backing from research by Brickman, et.al. (1978) on major Illionis State lotto winners that were compared to people selected at random from the same geographical area. The study found that the major lottery winners were not happier than the average citizen in their area. The current psychological theory suggests this is due to the contrast and habituation effects. Contrast refers to the comparative evaluation of pleasures in relation to other (previous) experiences. The study showed that lotto winners found ordinary pleasures less fulfilling, contrasted with the excitement of winning a huge sum of money. Because aspirations grow with income, nothing else quite measured up, and the happiness gained by winning lotto was offset by that lost to ordinary pleasures. In addition, with time lotto winners habitutated to the pleasures gained through increased wealth, and thus the value of new pleasures decreased (Brickman, et.al., 1978). And so, the sudden excess in the pleasant life made it less valuable.

6 billion competitors in the game of financial glory. How do you like your chances?

Research also shows that our happiness is affected by our comparisons(Argyle,1999). It is easy to feel unhappy when we compare our bodies to the photoshopped models we see in magazines (unless you know they are photoshopped), or when your friend of similar age has a better-paying or more significant job than you do(unless you find something to compensate). This doesn't mean that you should lower your standards, but rather compare the you now to the you before. Of course, if you had an accident and became less capable than before, then it is better to use the time of injury as the baseline. Comparison to yourself is the only meaningful measure of self-improvement and success – a sure path towards a 'good life'.

Standard of living norms in our communities also play a big part in satisfaction derived from wealth:

“Raising the incomes of all does not increase the happiness of all, because the positive
effect of higher income on subjective wellbeing is offset by the negative effect of higher
living level norms brought about by the growth in incomes generally.” (Easterlin, 1995, p36)

Here, country t0 has a developing, and country t2 has a developed economy. The dotted lines represent individual happiness and the solid an aggregate happiness at the national level. As expected, the graphs show diminishing increases in happiness as income increases.

Clark, et.al. (2006) showed that people tend to compare their living conditions (including wealth) to reference groups they consider similar (e.g. others from their city, same age cohort, etc.). The competition for wealth becomes a zero-sum game between members of society, as those who obtain comparatively more take away the happiness from those who are left with comparatively less. In addition, increasing wealth requires increased use of natural resources which destorys habitats and reduces diversity(Diener and Oishi, 2000). If you care about the happiness of others and the environment, then there is little incentive to take part in this no-winner race. Sure if wealth was distributed equally, the comparative wealth issue would not be there and all could increase their happiness through increased consumption (albeit this would still need to be regulated so as to protect natural resources). However, this is not how Capitalism works.

More goods and services for...nothing?

Easterlin's research provides evidence in the form of aggregated research to demonstrate that there has been no improvement in happiness in the United States over almost a half century in which real GDP per capita more than doubled. In Japan, per capita income levels multiplied five-fold from 1958 to 1987. More consumer goods became available, with car ownership increasing from 1 to 60 percent. Yet despite all this economic growth, levels of happiness did not increase. Similar effects can be seen in 20^th Century Europe (Easterlin, 1995).

These facts should be known by every child, every parent, every worker, and every policy maker. Basically by anyone who is doing anything. So spread the awareness around. :)

You are encouraged to leave comments. Indifference is the greatest plague of the 21st Century, so your care and honesty will be appreciated.

Do remember to write that log! Do your homework and you'll be a star! :)

References:

Argyle, M. (1999). Causes and correlates of happiness. Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology, pp. 353-373. New York, NY, US: Russell Sage Foundation, xii, 593

Bolton, R. (1979) People skills: how to assert yourself, listen to others, and resolve conflicts. Simon and Schuster.

Brickman. P., Coates, D., and Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol.36, no.8, 917-927.

Clark, A.E., Frijters, P., and Shields, M.A. (2006). Income and Happiness: Evidence, Explanations and Economic Implications. Unpublished paper, retrieved from Google Scholar on July 15, 2011.

Diener, E. and Oishi, S. (2000). Money and Happiness: Income and Subjective Well-being across Nations. Chapter 7, in Diener, E. and Suh, E.M. Culture and Subjective Well-Being.

Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Easterlin, R.A. (1995). Income and Happiness: Towards a Unified Theory. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, vol.27, 35-47.

Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2005). The concept of flow. Chapter 7, in CR Snyder & SJ Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology, 89-105.

Seligman, M. EP., Parks, A.C., and Steen, T. (2004). A balanced psychology and a full life. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 359(1449): 1379–1381.

Rieger, E. (2008). Abnormal psychology: Leading researcher perspectives. North Ryde, NSW, Australia: McGraw Hill.