happiness

Secrets of Happiness

More psychologists are closing in on the secrets of happiness in their studies.
And the answers are quite simple, really.

NEW YORK - The happiest people surround themselves with family and friends; do not care about keeping up with the Joneses next door, lose themselves in daily activities and most importantly, forgive easily.

The once-fuzzy picture of what makes people happy is coming into focus, as psychologists no longer shun the study of happiness.

In the mid-90s, scientific journals published about 100 studies on sadness for every one study on happiness. Now a burgeoning "positive psychology" movement that emphasizes people's strengths and talents instead of their weaknesses in rapidly closing the gap, says University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness.

His work and that of other experts in the field are in the early stages, but they are already starting to see why some people are happy while others are not;

"Materialism is toxic for happiness," says University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener. Because the December holidays are friend and family-orientated, they painfully reveal the intimacy missing in some lives, he says.

Add in the commercial emphasis - keeping up with the Joneses and the Christmas enjoyed by the Joneses' kids - " and it's a set-up for disappointment".

Everyone has a "set-point" for happiness, just as they do for weight, Dr. Seligman says. People can improve or hinder their well-being, but they are not likely to take long leaps in either direction from their set point.

Even physical health, assumed by many to be the key to happiness, has an impact only if people are very ill.

Objective health measures do not relate to life satisfaction, but subjective feelings do. Plenty of healthy people take their health for granted and are none the happier for it, Dr. Diener points out.

Meanwhile, the sickly often bear up well, and hypo-chondriacs cling to misery despite their robust health.

Good feelings are not "all in the head", though, Actions matter just not in the way often believed.

Life satisfaction occurs most often when people are engaged in absorbing activities that cause them to forget themselves lose track of time and stop worrying.

"Flow" is the term that Claremont Graduate University psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined to described this phenomenon.

People in flow may be sewing up a storm, doing brain surgery, playing a musical instrument or working on a hard puzzle with their child.

The impact is the same: A life of many activities in flow is likely to be a life of great satisfaction, he says.

"One of the happiest men I ever met was a 64-year-old Chicago welder with a fourth-grade education," he adds.

The man took immerse pride in his work, refusing a promotion to foreman that would have kept him from what he loved to do.

Gratitude, the ability to forgive, learning to savour even small pleasures and altruistic acts also amplifies adult's happiness, according to studies.