Hic Habitat Felicitas

How Many Freinds Should You Have?

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

 

According to Dr. Richard Tunney, of the University of Nottingham, lottery winners who have at least 10 good friends are likely to be happier than those with less than five. This unsurprising finding kind of corroborates another unsurprising study which shows that happy people have more friends than their less happy counterparts. In an interview, Dr. Tunney reported that "people who were 'extremely satisfied' with their lives had twice the number of friends of people who were 'extremely dissatisfied'."

The details of this study can be found in the Circle of Friends Report, commissioned by The National Lottery. I wouldn't begin adding or subtracting friends just yet as this might just be another case in which psychologists confuse correlation with causation; evidence suggests that the common cause here might be an extroverted personality-type. There might also be a self-reinforcing cyclical relationship of some sort: happy people are more successful, socially, and social success makes people happier.

 

There might even be a hedonic ideal that varies from person to person: an optimal friend number/closeness ratio that depends on your innate personality traits.

 Excelsior!

 C.L.Sosis

Who Needs Dayquil?

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

It being cold and flu season, you should know that Vitamin C doesn't work when you're at war with the common cold and over-the-counter drugs merely mask the symptoms. In fact, there is no FDA approved cure for (or vaccination against) the common cold.

A couple of years ago, Dr. Sheldon Cohen (Carnegie Mellon University) gave a bunch of people the cold. He demonstrated that even though  a positive emotional style isn't associated with a lower risk of contracting the cold, it is associated with exhibiting fewer symptoms of the cold. I guess what I'm trying to say is, put down that bottle of Dayquil and smile sniffles!

    Excelsior!

C.L.Sosis 

   

Happiness is Heritable...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

An article in the March issue of Psychological Science by Tim Bates, Alexander Weiss and Michelle Luciano supports old findings that your level of happiness depends on internal (in this case, genetic) as well as external (relationships, for instance) factors. Apparently, the genes underlying personality traits such as conscientiousness, extroversion and emotional stability are the foundation of an 'affective reserve' we can draw upon during periods of duress. The good news is that those without the prerequisite genetic foundation might still be able to cultivate the character traits of happy people, and reap the corresponding rewards.

                                                                                       Excelsior!

                                                                                       C.L.Sosis

P.S. Thanks for sending me this article, Adam Feltz!

P.S.S. You should read this response to these findings by one of the founding fathers of positive psychology, Ed Diener.