Unlocking True Happiness: Simple Secrets to Achieve a Joyful Life

Where to Begin to Understand Happiness?

Is happiness measurable, and more importantly, is it something achievable by individuals through conscious effort? Decades of research have been dedicated to pursuing this elusive goal, this mirage of life. From molecular science to psychology, economists and development researchers have tried to address both individual and societal happiness and understand it.

One key milestone in the human happiness project was the book ‘The Science of Subjective Well-Being’ by Michael Eid and Randy J. Larsen. This book narrates the story of Ed Diener, a pioneer in the study of subjective well-being.

Ed Diener, the Happiness Scientist

Ed Diener is one of the most significant scientists who have studied the human sense of well-being. He published an article titled “Subjective Well-Being” in 1984. His parents owned a big farm. When he was a student in school, he submitted a research proposal to his teacher to measure the happiness of farmworkers. The teacher rejected the proposal on two grounds – one, he did not think happiness could be measured, and two, he thought farm workers could not be happy. This was an eye-opening moment for Diener. Later in his life, Ed Diener, working with a team of scientists, developed a Satisfaction with Life Scale. He found scientific ways to measure happiness. However, Diener did not offer a single-stop solution to understand what percentage of people are happy with their lives and why. His research proved that the happiest people in any sample are highly sociable, with good romantic and social connections, and that the social environment affects people’s happiness.

The book, ‘The Science of Subjective Well-Being”, observes that in Western countries, happiness is related to independence and a sense of meaning but not so much in Eastern cultures.

Ancient cultures were more proactively engaged with the idea of happiness than modern civilisation. In contemporary society, moral behaviour has gained more significance than happiness, as evidenced by the extensive discussions on both topics over time, a shift attributed to the rise of individualism, where personal autonomy entails greater moral responsibility.

The Science of Happiness

Our hurried, distracted, and pressured lifestyles have disrupted the neurochemical balance in our bodies, leading to more anxiety and higher levels of unhappiness compared to previous generations. On the other side of this argument stands the fact that technology and civilisational tools such as democracy and human rights have made our lives safer and easier, enhancing the potential for happiness.

There is a set of key areas in the brain that work together in giving us the sensation of happiness- for example, the orbitofrontal cortex where the taste and smell function is controlled, the medial prefrontal cortex where social cognition resides, and the anterior singular region that controls self-awareness about one’s subjective feelings. Many neurochemicals generate and control happiness such as endocannabinoids, dopamine, oxytocin, endorphin, and serotonin. Endocannabinoids, otherwise named bliss molecules, are found to be the cause of the state of bliss that one feels after running, in other words, what we call the runner’s high. Similarly, dopamine is the reward molecule that gets stimulated when we get rewards, both physical and emotional, and oxytocin is the bonding molecule that works behind the happiness that we feel over bonding with another human being. Serotonin is responsible for the confidence and self-worthiness that we feel and adrenaline is the excitement molecule related to fear-induced excitement as well.

Future research might reveal efficient ways to reinstate the neurochemical imbalances of a person's body and help avoid the unnecessary burden of emotional excesses that we shoulder because of them. Modern mental health science already has developed medicines that specifically address these chemical deficiencies. Undoubtedly, many ethical questions also would arise since tampering with the mind of an individual without valid medical reasons can be against the free will that humanity values the most.

A Survey on Happiness

Ipsos Global Advisor conducted a happiness study involving 28 countries in 2019 and reported that 64% of global adults are either very happy or rather happy. According to this study, Australia and Canada are the happiest countries. The study also reported that the greatest source of happiness for people across the globe is good health and physical well-being. Next in the line are children, and then the relationship that people have with their spouse or partner. The fourth position belongs to a sense of meaning, and the fifth position is commanded by safety and security. Now we are beginning to get an idea of what happiness is, aren’t we? For the people of Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Japan and Malaysia, the greatest source of happiness is their children. For the people of Belgium, the greatest source of happiness is a feeling that their lives have meaning. For the people of some other countries, it is safety and security. Reflect on where you might belong. Is it Belgium?

Post-Pandemic World and Happiness

A 2020 study conducted by NORC, University of Chicago, found that Americans are at their unhappiest moment in the last 50 years. The UN-supported World Happiness Report that came out in March 2022 meanwhile found that Finland for the 5th consecutive year bagged the position of the happiest country in the world. The report also shows that worldwide, acts of kindness are on the rise. At least that is one reason to be happy about the state of the world! The first and foremost reason cited for Finland’s people being happy is- that the state and its institutions take care of most of the people’s needs. A true welfare state can bring happiness to its people.

Harvard Study on Happiness

The results of a Harvard study that spanned 80 years came out in 2017. The study revealed that good relationships have a positive impact on health and happiness and that a lonely life reduces your mental and physical health.

Physical Activity and Happiness

The positive correlation between physical activity and happiness is stronger than we might imagine. A global study by Zhanjia Zhang and Weiyun Chen in 2018 showed that at least 10 minutes of physical activity per week or a single day of physical activity per week will result in an increased level of happiness. The most happiness-invoking exercises are aerobic and stretching exercises.

The U-Curve

In a person’s lifetime, there seems to be a U-curve of happiness that begins at the peak of their happiness during their 20s, then touches the bottom level in middle age, and again reaches a level of positivity in old age. In other words, there is a midlife crisis in an average person’s life from where things eventually get better. However, when a group of scientists (Galambos et al., 2021) compiled all the study results in this area in a single review, they got only mixed results; some studies showed that the U-curve is real, and some proved otherwise.

The Okinawan Revelations

While studying the people in Okinawa, one of the longest-living populations on earth, Dan Buettner, in his book, ‘The Blue Zones of Happiness: Secrets of the World’s Happiest Places”, identified many factors that helped them live happily for a longer time – they walk more, they have a simple sense of purpose in life, they have relaxation routines such as prayer sessions and happy hours, they eat only to fill 80% of their stomach, they eat more vegetables than meat, they drink alcohol moderately, they belong to the community more, they take care of children and old people more, and they move in the right group of people, that is, a tight group of good friends.

These are the ways to be happy. Happy to know.

References

The Science of Subjective Well-Being, Michael Eid and Randy J. Larsen, 2008.

Global Happiness Study: What Makes People Happy Around the World, Ipsos Global Advisor, 2019.

Americans are the Unhappiest They’ve been in 50 Years, Poll Finds, 2020, nbcnews.com

Ranked: The 20 Happiest Countries in the World in 2022, Forbes.com.

Good Genes Are Nice, But Joy is Better, 2017, The Harvard Gazette.

‘The Blue Zones of Happiness: Secrets of the World’s Happiest Places”, Dan Buettner, 2017.

Zhanjia Zhang and Weiyun Chen, A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Happiness, 2018.

Galambos et al., The U-shape of Happiness Across the Life Course: Expanding the Discussion, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2021.