Happiness… what do we know about it?

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health

are three requirements for happiness,

though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.

Gustave Flaubert

Smart people against happiness:

Freud SartreSchopenhauer

Smart people against happiness:

Every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour.

Freud SartreSchopenhauer

The intention that man should be happy is not included in the plan of Creation.

Smart people against happiness:

Freud SartreSchopenhauer

@#%$*$( happiness %^!#@(^*)!@#!@__*#@!^#!!!!

Smart people against happiness:

Freud SartreSchopenhauer

359,295

242,134

93,381

23,79043,52938,349

4,247933

Courage Fear Happiness Depression Prophy-lactics

Therapy Good BAD

Amount of articles in psychology magazines from 1887 to 2003:

Who needs happiness?

They do:

Martin Seligman

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Daniel Gilbert

Sonja Lyubomirsky

Ed Diener

They are positive psychologists

They research happiness(maybe not exactly this way)

Intellect Money Income Love All the rest…?

They research, how happiness links to...

For instance:

Source: Lisa Simpson

Is it true, that only fools are happy?

Is this happiness?

Actually…

HAPPINESS I N T E L L I G E N C E

There’s a mildly positive correlation between happiness and intelligence.

Source: Choi and Veenhoven (2008)

Is it true that happiness leads

to laziness?

Source: Lyubomirsky, King, Diener (2005)

Actually, happy people are

MORE achievement oriented.

In companies, where happy people work…

Source: Harter, Schmidt (2002)

ProfitsProductivityCustomer

satisfactionPersonnelturnover

Work-related injuries

Happy people earn more:

Source: Diener, 2008

Happy in 1976: Income in 1990:

$50,000

$65,000

:-(

:-)

Does money bring happiness?

Text

To some extent — yes

êÓÒÒËfl

If everybody’s poor — 

there’s no difference.

the happierThe richer —

êÓÒÒËflNobody to envy again.

The real income increased by 100%, but the happiness level is…

In the US, as of today:

Source: Lucas and Schimmack (forthcoming)

Happiness

level

Income, thousand US$ per year

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

< 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 > 200

7.856.38

Money could make

you happier, but if

they are TOO

important for you...

Source: Diener and Oishi (2000)

Source: Diener and Oishi (2000)

If you are concerned with money

you are more likely to be unhappy.

Happiness is in marriage!

Family life Friends Work Income

15%26%22%

37%

It’s a popular opinion…

Source: Loewenstein

What makes you happy?

Marriage correlates with happiness

10%

Married

are happier than

single

Source: Diener (2008)

Got divorced

Got married

However, there are some nuances…

The effect lasts for ~ 2 years

Wedding!...

Children:Small negative impact*

Source: Gilbert, 2007*Yes, that’s shocking!

Exception: women with their first child

Source: Myers, 1992

Friends are more reliable: if you can name 5 or more close friends you are 60% more likely to be very happy.

Good health is essential!

Typical emotions of a recovering patient

Source: Diener (2008)

Point of recovery

Gerald is the happiest person

I ever met.

Age

Happiness

Source: BHPS

Older people are happier!

True happiness

lies in faith.

Percentage of very happy people in the US:

Atheists Former believers Believers New believers

41%36%

21%16%

But this is true only for religious countries. (Also, non-religious Denmark and Netherlands are happier than the US.)

Denmark

Afghanistan

India

Nepal

So where is it?

Factors that affect happiness:

Genes

Income

Employment

Family status

Health

Age

Religiousness

Hedonic affectFlowMeaning of life

Source: Lyubomirsky (2008), consensus estimate

40%

10%

50%

Pleasures bring happiness (nothing new)

(people adapt easily)

But not the purchases — activities!

Source: Fontane (1996)

Start exercising:

+12%to the happiness level

minus 8% for every hour if less than 8 hours

Sleep enough:

Source: Pilcher, Ott (1998)

Sex* = a lot of happiness

* with someone you like ;-) Source: Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz and Stone (2003)

Happiness is in the FLOW

Flow

Source: Csikszentmihalyi (1975)

Too boring

Too hard

Skills

Challenge

The flow is a psychological state where things just happen…

+28%Source: Thakar and Misra (1995)

Work that you like:

Can do

Want to do

There’s a market for that

Source: loosely adapted from Jim Collins’ Good to Great

Stop doing!

Practice!

Monetize!

Happiness

There’s only one thing you need

to know about sustained

individual success: "Discover

what you don't like doing and

stop doing it."— Marcus Buckingham

Happiness is finding the meaning of life

Does your life have meaning?

Yes No

Source: Lepper, 1996

30%

70% 30%

70%

Happy

Unhappy

— Daniel Dennett

(he’s an atheist)

The secret of happiness is finding something bigger than

you and devoting your life to it.

What’s YOUR Holy Grail?

What are you SEEKING?(maybe not exactly this way)

Contents:

Slide design:

Alexei Kapterevkapterev@gmail.com

www.newcode.ru

www.kapterev.com