Happiness

Question 1

What Makes People Happy

Answer 1

1. Satisfying Relationships
2. Flow
3. Accumulate Experiences, Not Things
4. Helping Others

Question 2

Satisfying Relationships

Answer 2

The quality of one’s social relationships is perhaps the best predictor of whether someone is happy. Researchers generally agree that having high quality relationships is a major source of happiness (e.g., Diener & Oishi, 2005).

Question 3

Flow: Becoming Engaged in Something You Enjoy

Answer 3

Although it can be gratifying to have our dreams come true, there is evidence that we are happier when engaged in something we enjoy and making progress (Haidt, 2006). Flow is a highly desired state that occurs when people are “lost” in a challenging but attainable task (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). When we are working toward a goal, it is hard to think of anything else. When we have reached the goal, our thoughts turn to other things and obligations. Flow, on the other hand, is totally absorbing and highly pleasurable.

Question 4

Accumulate Experiences, Not Things

Answer 4

Research indicates that the correlation between the amount of money one has and his/her happiness is weak at best. Once people have enough to provide for basic necessities, additional money doesn’t increase happiness much at all (Diener & Seligman, 2004; Howell & Howell, 2008; Kahneman & Deaton, 2010). People who are materialistic are less happy than people who place less value on money and possessions.

Question 5

Helping Others

Answer 5

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade (2005) randomly assigned students to perform five acts of kindness in one day. People assigned to this condition were happier than those randomly assigned to go about their normal routines, and this elevated happiness persisted for several weeks. Helping others can connect us to others and enhance our social relationships. It also helps us view ourselves in a more positive light.

Question 6

Do People Know What Makes Them Happy?

Answer 6

Research on affective forecasting, the extent to which people can predict the intensity and duration of their emotional reactions to future events, has found that people often make systematic mistakes about what will make them happy in the future (Gilbert, 2007; Gilbert & Wilson, 2007; Wilson & Gilbert, 2003). People often strive for things that are unlikely to make them happy (e.g., having lots of money) and overlook things that will make them happier (e.g., spending time with friends and loved ones).