Happiness Research

"Most studies on happiness find older people and ask them to recall what made them happy. But as we've just seen, memory is unreliable. So a better way to conduct a study would be to follow people throughout their entire lives, capturing the choices they make and how those affect their happiness. That is really hard to do. But there is one study like this that's been running since 1938. Now, 85 years is a long time to run a study so it has been passed down from one generation of researchers to the next. It's currently run by its fourth director, Robert Waldinger. What is the claim to fame then of the study? You know, the claim to fame is that it is, as far as we know, the longest study of human development that's ever been done. The longest study of any depth. These are studies that take deep dives into people's lives and their mental and physical health."

Click on the link below for the results of the longest-running study on happiness:

What The Longest-Running Study on Happiness Reveals

Happiness: What Is It And How Is It Achieved?

"Dr. Robert Waldinger is director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been investigating the human experience since 1938. Now he’s sharing his findings in a new book, "The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness," and he explains all to Walter Isaacson."

Click on the link below for this positive interview:

What's the key to Happiness?

What Is The Most Important Factor In Raising Happy And Successful Children?

One does not have to look very far to see the lengths that parents will go to in an effort to help their children (link). Click on the link below for recent research on the subject:

Teaching Kids Kindness Prepares Them for Success

This is consistent with what we know about the connection between evolution and empathy (link).

Sexual History And Marital Happiness

"Premarital sexual experience affects marital happiness, but perhaps the more important story in these data is that almost two-thirds (64%) of Americans are happy in their marriages."

Many religious apologists make claims that research supports their dogma regarding sexual history before marriage and marital happiness. The link below is a comprehensive look at the data regarding this topic:

Does Sexual History Affect Marital Happiness?

Science-Based Keys To Happiness

https://www.businessinsider.com/happiness-behaviors-characteristics-science-2017-7?fbclid=IwAR3G_0g9ZNmgstREBHD2aILjEGFdP4B43Nmj51ugDrKIC0vNkqQWxKeZV5A

Two Attributes Correlated With Societal Happiness

Note the political system under which the happiest countries operate. Not said in the article, but true: they are the least religious.

Want to be happy, move to one of these Top Ten countries.

A Look At Happiness

"So why aren’t we happier? Why have self-reported measures of happiness stayed stagnant for over 40 years?

"Perversely, such efforts to improve happiness could be a futile attempt to swim against the tide, as we may actually be programmed to be dissatisfied most of the time."

Why You Shouldn't Want to Always Be Happy

There Is No Good In Life That Requires Religion

"So if religious belief makes people more satisfied with their lives, why is secularism growing in many countries? A new study offers one possible answer: A belief in scientific and technological progress can also serve as a source of life satisfaction. Indeed, it may even offer more lifetime happiness than religion does."

Science Is a Good Substitute for God

Smart People Better Off With Fewer Friends?

The results of fascinating new research into what makes a life well-lived.

When smart people spend more time with their friends, it makes them less happy.