A public experiment designed to lift the nation’s spirits has reported its hopeful conclusions – that smiling, counting your blessings and reliving happy memories will make you happier.
The Science of Happiness study said thinking of a positive thing that happened the day before was by far the most effective way for people to cheer themselves up. continue reading 😉
Source: The Guardian, The Science of Happiness study
Today, British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman (University of Hertfordshire) invites the public to take part in an ambitious five-day experiment that aims to boost the happiness. Participants will first rate their mood and then be randomly assigned to one of four groups. People in each group will watch a video describing one of four techniques commonly used to boost happiness, and use the technique during each day of the study. At the end of the experiment everyone will reassess their mood, allowing the research team to identify the most effective way of making people happy. http://www.ScienceOfHappiness.co.uk It will take place next week, between Monday 3rd – Friday 7th August. Those taking part first complete a quick questionnaire assessing their current level of happiness. They then see a short video describing a happiness boosting exercise and are asked to repeat it each day of the study. At the end of the project they again rate their level of happiness.To test whether this happens in the UK, a poll will be commissioned to measure Britain’s level of happiness at the start and end of the project. [continue reading…]
In 1881, the optimistic Irish economist Francis Edgeworth imagined a strange device called a “hedonimeter” that would be capable of “continually registering the height of pleasure experienced by an individual.” In other words, a happiness sensor.
His was just a daydream. In practice, for decades, social scientists have had a devilish headache in trying to measure happiness. Surveys have revealed some useful information, but these are plagued by the unpleasant fact that people misreport and misremember their feelings when confronted by the guy with the clipboard. Ditto for studies where volunteers call in their feelings via PDA or cell phone. People get squirrely when they know they’re being studied.
But what if you had a remote-sensing mechanism that could record how millions of people around the world were feeling on any particular day — without their knowing?
That’s exactly what Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth, a mathematician and computer scientist working in the Advanced Computing Center at the University of Vermont, have created. [continue reading…]
Sam Harris on Happiness
Source: big think
According to Albert Schweitzer – ‘Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory’. A recent study on aging by Pew Research Centre found the factors that predict happiness among younger adults are the same for older adults – namely good health, good friends and financial security. In a more light-hearted vein we have just discovered from the previous post today that happiness for Dr. O is driving a fast and fancy car! We’d love to hear what makes you happy and how you would define happiness.
