Hic Habitat Felicitas

Happiness and Well-Being: It's About Time?

Philip Zimbardo, the man behind the Stanford Prison Experiments, has been dabbling in positive psychology. He argues that we can use framing effects, which can distort our recollection of our emotional states and by extension our ability to predict what will make us happy, to our advantage. The method, Time Perspective Therapy (TPT), involves determining our attitudes towards the past, present and future (using the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory) and, in some cases, adjusting these attitudes (you can check out the inventory and identify your 'time profile' here). So far, TPT has helped improve the lives of those with post traumatic stress disorder, but as Zimbardo points out in this quick TED talk, this research might be used to help us all get along better in one way or another. Naturally, part of this project involves identifying the ideal attitudes. I imagine which attitudes are 'ideal' depends, at least in part, on what we want and our environment. In any case, take a look at this compelling video in which he discusses his research as well as the fascinating work of social psychologist Robert Levine on time perception and it's relationship to culture, age and gender. 

 

 

While I Was Gone...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

The hustle and bustle of activity that has occured since my haitus is a bit overwhelming, but I am going to do my best to cover it here:

1) Peter Clough (University of Hull), in collaboration with AQR, has shown it is possible to teach kids to be tough (which they claim you can measure using the MTQ48) and that doing so has the beneficial effects you would expect, given other research on the benefits of resilience.

2) Research on hedonic adaptation has shown that “Within a few years, paraplegics wind up only slightly less happy on average than individuals who are not paralyzed.” Recently, researchers have shown that, ironically, functionally impaired patients with diseases such as amytrophic lateral sclerosis might be depressed (and, consequently, decline life sustaining treatment) because they don't realize that having the disease won't nessecarily compromise subjective quality of life (if they accept life sustaining treatment). It was also shown that, unsurprisingly, educated patients adapt to the illness better, from a hedonic point of view (this might be surprising if you buy into the myth of the melancholic genius). 

3) Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have shown that having strong family ties is a much bigger predictor of contentment than income. This research seems to support the jist of the Easterlin Paradox: money matters up to a point (when basic needs are met), then, other things matter more. In the words of Rebecca J. North, one of the researchers,"Our findings underscore the importance of additional policy indicators that can tap the well-being of individuals and families at the psychosocial level to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a nation's well-being." As I have argued in other places, researchers often forget that money is extrinsically valuable. If it has any influence on subjective well-being, it is probably because of how it is used.

4) It has previously been shown old people are as happy as young people. This is puzzling, in part, because old people spend more time alone, which has been shown to cause (and be caused by) depression. In the current issue of Psychology and Ageing, Bill Von Hipple has shown that "older people are just as satisfied with their social lives because they seem to get much more from the few interactions they have." In other words, the old aren't lonely because the elderly simply adapt, hedonically, to being less social than they used to be.  

5) Check out this Gallup graph. Apparently, everybody is, in fact, working for the weekend. Yet another reason to pursue a gratifying profession.

6) Previously, I have discussed the link between subjective well-being and health. A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown "that positive affective states are related to favourable profiles of functioning in several biological systems and may thereby be relevant to risk of development of physical illness."

7) Read this interesting how-to article on how to maintain a happy marrige (and your health, by extension).

                                                                                               Excelsior!

                                                                                               C.L.Sosis

                                      

Children, Spirituality and Happiness...

 

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

I'm an atheist. That being said, a new study (which I haven't read, I can't find it, I've seen reports but I don't think it has been published) seems to show that spirituality has a significant positive effect on the subjective well-being of children. Don't send your kids to Jesus Camp just yet. Keep in mind, this study seems to show that spirituality has a relatively enormous positive effect on the subjective well-being of children, not religiosity, so you might consider teaching your children the lessons of the Buddha before you ship 'em to a madrasah. This study doesn't examine the long term effects of spirituality on the subjective well-being of children but it has been shown over and over again that spirituality and religiosity do in fact (for one reason or another) have a small but significant positive influence on the subjective well-being of adults and it should be noted that the Character Strengths and Virtues handbook lists spirituality as a character strength/virtue.

                                                                                        Excelsior!

                                                                                        C.L.Sosis

Seligman Slams Schoch (and Vernon)!

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

Martin Seligman, the founding father of positive psychology, slammed Mark Vernons ridiculous report on Robert Schochs ludicrous inaugural lecture (based on his book) in the Guardian Unlimited. Here it is:

"Mark Vernon (2/2/2008), reporting a lecture by Richard Schoch, asks what has Positive Psychology taught us in the ten years since its inception. “In three words, not a lot - especially when compared with the insights buried in the ancient wisdom on the good life.” Perhaps Mr. Vernon and Mr. Schoch knew the following, but science did not know these things until recently, and the ancients certainly did not:

- Optimistic people are much less likely to die of heart attacks than pessimists, controlling for all known physical factors

- Women who display genuine (Duchenne) smiles to the photographer at age eighteen go on to have fewer divorces and more marital satisfaction than those who display fake smiles

- Externalities (e.g., weather, money, health, marriage, religion) totaled together account for no more than 15% of the variance in life satisfaction.

- Several specific exercises (www.reflectivehappiness.com) produce increases in happiness and decreases in depression six months later while other plausible exercises are mere placebos.

- The pursuit of meaning and engagement are much more predictive of life satisfaction than the pursuit of pleasure.

- Economically flourishing corporate teams have a ratio of at least 2.9 to1 of positive statements to negative statements in business meetings, whereas stagnating teams have a much lower ratio; flourishing marriages, however, require a ratio of at least 5:1

- Self-discipline is twice as good a predictor of high school grades as IQ

- Learning optimism at ages 10-12 halves the rate of depression as these schoolchildren go through puberty

- Happy teenagers go on to earn very substantially more income fifteen years later than less happy teenagers, equating for income, grades, and other obvious factors

- How you respond to good events that happen to your spouse is a better predictor of future love and commitment than how you respond to bad events.

- People experience more “flow” at work than at home.

More egregiously, Vernon tells us “the fundamental error of the science - and the reason why so many of its recommendations sound trivial or just confused - is the assumption that happiness is the same as positive emotion.” If Vernon had bothered to crack Authentic Happiness (2002), the first major book in Positive Psychology, he would have found that its foundation is the denial that happiness is the same as positive emotion. Positive Psychology is the study of positive emotion and engagement and meaning; how to measure them rigorously and how to reliably build them."

Good job, Marty! Stick to Shakespeare, Schoch! I bet Vernon soiled his underoos!

                                                                                       Excelsior!

                                                                                       C.L.Sosis

Mid-Life Misery...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

According to a new study in the Journal of Social Science and Medicine people, young and old, are significantly happier than middle-aged people (on average, men hit a hedonic low point at 50, women hit it at 40). According to the authors of the study, Andrew Oswald and David Blanchflower "it happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor and to those with and without children." This pattern was found in 70 countries.

This contradicts previous findings that your level of happiness remains relatively consistent or rises slightly (then declines slowly) throughout your life.

                                                                                            Excelsior!

                                                                                            C.L.Sosis

P.S. The good news: according to Oswald "by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit, then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old."

P.S.S. Check out this article from Judgement and Decision Making on the postive effect of positive affective states in the Iowa Gambling Task.