The science of happiness

The pursuit of happiness has been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years. We all want to feel the joy, energy and confidence that comes with being happy. It’s even mentioned in the 1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence. And there’s now an International Day of Happiness on March 10. Up until recently, most research of the past century has been dominated by studies focused on people struggling with negative emotions. It’s only in recent decades the science of happiness has really exploded.What is happiness?Happiness is a complex emotion. And as with any emotion, it can seem abstract, or something that just happens to you. Happiness can be defined as a state of well-being and joy. It can also be defined as the presence of positive feelings and absence of negative ones.The feeling of happiness is both passing and stable. Winning the lottery, getting a promotion or your first kiss can all result in happiness. But this feeling subsides over time, which is normal. There’s also your stable state of happiness. This is the level of happiness you return to after those positive events happen. Happiness also doesn’t mean never feeling sad. In fact, some argue sadness is needed to feel happy because happiness is a relative emotion. This means you won’t ever know if you’re happy, if you’ve never been sad.Pursuing happiness has become so popular there are numerous surveys around the world measuring it. One survey conducted in 30 countries found on average, 71% of people are happy with the Netherlands being the highest at 85%. The World Happiness Report 2024 indicates that happiness differs by age, with the young generally being happy than older people. However, the opposite was true in North America. There’s also the Happy Cities Index which ranks cities; a ranking that various tourism organizations take advantage of to promote their cities.Benefits of HappinessBesides the obvious of being happy making you feel better, there are numerous other benefits of happiness. Some theorize happiness guides us to things that were necessary for survival and reproduction. Things such as food, socialization, task completion and sex.Health is another possible benefit. People who report greater well-being are less likely to develop heart disease, have a heart attack or have a stroke. And happiness is associated with less chances to die from cancer in people with cancer or without. However, a large study in the United Kingdom found no relationship between happiness and early death. But that study has been criticized by others as it’s likely the benefits of happiness may be related to healthy behaviours. For example, teens who were happier were less likely to start smoking than those who weren’t.Being happy may also help your career. While some research suggests those who have experienced career success are happier, the effect is small. And what effect it has may be temporary. This may be due to some people viewing success as a key to happiness in which they need to continually achieve. Or worse, define themselves based on career success. In other cases, it may be unlikely for career success to lead to happiness in someone who’s unhappy. However, happiness may lead to success through its link with increased productivity.How can we make ourselves happy?It’s been suggested 30%-50% of happiness is genetic. While it may not be so black and white to say half of you feeling happy is because of your genes, it does mean that much of your happiness can be within affected by you and your environment.It’s long been said that money can’t buy happiness. This saying has been popularized for generations. In 2010, Nobel-prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman published a paper that pretty much confirmed it—happiness did increase with income, but only up to $75,000 per year. More money didn’t mean more happiness. However, later research, which included Dr. Kahneman, found money can buy happiness in those people who were already happy. In those who were unhappy, money can help but only up to a certain amount as previously proven.People who exercise know about its mood-altering effects. In surveys, exercise led to increased happiness following exercise, which can last for more than 24 hours. And biology backs this up. When you exercise, endorphins and endocannabinoids increase. These hormones reduce pain and improve mood. At the same time, the stress hormone cortisol is reduced. Other ways to increase your happiness include positive thinking. Positive thinking can increase life satisfaction and releases hormones related to feeling happy. Being socially active has also been shown to increase happiness through the release of “feel-good” hormones endorphins and oxytocin. And helping others, compared to receiving help, engages certain areas of our brain related to reward activity.Lastly, you can reflect on times when you’ve been happy. Asking yourself a few simple questions. What was going on? Were you alone or with people (who are they?)? Were you inside or outside? The answer to these may lead to greater happiness in the future.Dr. Scott Lear is a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He holds the Pfizer/Heart & Stroke Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research at St. Paul’s Hospital.

The science of happiness

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