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Well-Being and Homelessness

A recent study confirmed what most people believe about homeless people — they report low levels of satisfaction, especially with material resources such as income and housing. But the study also found...

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Politics as a Stimulant

Make no mistake about it. Many people enter politics for one fairly simple reason — it’s highly stimulating. Look at the candidates running for President. Crowds of people hanging on their every word....

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Adaptation and Happiness

Evidence keeps building that adaptation plays an important role in one’s well-being. Studies suggest that once a significant event occurs in our lives, whether it’s good or bad, we eventually adapt to...

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Best Possible Self

It turns out thinking positively about yourself in the future improves present happiness as well. Researchers dub this the “best possible self” approach. The idea is to set aside 20 minutes each day to...

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Happiness and Decision-Making

On average, happier people are more successful, do better in social relationships, and like themselves and other people more. They are also usually more creative and better able to cope with difficult...

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The Broaden-and-Build Theory

Positive emotions not only help people today, but lay the groundwork for happiness tomorrow. Researchers continue to build evidence supporting that common-sense idea. One of the latest — the...

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Financial Aspirations and Happiness

Psychological studies have consistently linked materialism or financial aspirations with unhappy and unsatisfied lives. But recent research shows a more complex picture. For example, one study found...

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Friends and Happiness

When it comes to friends and happiness, quality matters. People have known this for centuries. One good friend means more to us than 20 acquaintances. But now recent studies appear to back up this...

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Do Your Duty

Can social duties contribute to one’s well-being? The notion seems counterintuitive. Duties, after all, suggest obligations — having to do something not because you want to, but because you have to do...

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The Physiology of Wanting

Pop a sugar cube in your mouth and what happens? You taste sweetness, right? Pretty simple. Not so, according to researchers. Simple pleasures actually hide a complex dance between the brain, the...

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The Roads to Happiness

Which road leads to a fuller, more satisfying life — the road through pleasure, engagement or meaning? Philosophers have grappled with this question since Ancient Roman times, but recently researchers...

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Bouncing Back

Resilient individuals tend to experience positive emotions even during stress. That was the conclusion reached by researchers Michele M. Tugade and Barbara L. Fredrickson several years ago after...

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Undoing Negative Emotions

Fear can be a useful emotion. It might protect us by causing a “fight” of “flee” reaction to a threatening environment. But there’s a downside to this type of “negative” emotion. Studies show that the...

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Forecasting Future Happiness

Think you can predict your future happiness? Guess again. A number of studies have consistently shown that we all incorrectly predict whether or not something in the future will make us happy. Here’s...

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Cultural Influences on Happiness

When it comes to happiness, culture plays a big role. For years researchers have pondered whether or not happiness is a universal trait. Many have concluded that most people across the globe do desire...

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Happy Children Over Achievement

A number of parents want teachers who make their children happy, perhaps even over those teachers who emphasize academic achievement. That’s the conclusion reached by researchers at the University of...

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Happiness and Motherhood

Whether a woman has had children or not isn’t likely to affect her psychological well-being in later life. That’s the conclusion reached by several researchers in a recent study about childrearing....

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The Happiness Rewind

People can change their happiness levels through intervention. That is, unhappiness need not be preordained and forever. But what works? Besides expressing gratitude and helping others, some research...

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Low Self-Esteem and Happiness

Can you have low self-esteem and still be happy? Research suggests you probably can. Clearly, people who report being happy tend to also have high self-esteem. High self-esteem helps those people find...

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Unhappy Professionals

Don’t count on a professional degree to guarantee happiness. According to recent reports, about 20 percent of all male lawyers report being depressed, which is nearly three times higher than the...

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Optimal Happiness

If only we could find our optimal level of happiness. Studies suggest it has a lot to do with specific circumstances and activities. For example, an optimal level of happiness seems to work best for...

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The Trade-Off of Goals

Goals typically produce feelings of contentment and well-being. Without them, life often seems without purpose or meaning. But is there a flip side? Can goals be harmful as well? Researchers have...

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Positive Illusions

So he leaves the lights on around the house. She barely picks up after herself. So what? Studies show positive, idealized illusions about our spouse or partner often generate greater satisfaction and...

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Curiosity Builds Happiness

Want a simple way to add more happiness to your life? Become more curious. Studies have clearly demonstrated the value of gratitude and acts of kindness as they relate to one’s well-being. Could a...

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Flourishing

“She flourished in her new job.” If there’s one word that encapsulates much of the research surrounding happiness it would be flourish — to live within an optimal range of human functioning. But what...

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The Happiness Index

Here’s an intriguing thought — what if our leading economic indicators were supplemented with a happiness or well-being index? Would we have a different appraisal of the U.S. economy? Would we create...

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Happiness and Peaceful Nations

Does increasing happiness foster or sustain the conditions for peace? Researchers explored that important question by reviewing the survey responses of 52,000 people in 51 countries. They found several...

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The Happiness Set-Point

One dominant belief in well-being and happiness research revolves around the idea that we all have a “set point” happiness level. That is, through genetics and early development we establish a stable...

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Serotonin and Happiness

Could naturally increased levels of blood serotonin improve mood? One Canadian researcher thinks so. He argues that elevated levels of serotonin may be an alternative to drug-induced mood improvement....

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Youth and Happiness

Today’s youth may be surrounded by technological wizardry, but are they mentally healthy or flourishing? We know some of them are clearly in an unhappy state. It’s estimated that two of every 10...

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Counting Kindness

People can become happier and more grateful by simply counting acts of kindness for one week. That’s the conclusion drawn by researchers who surveyed a group of Japanese undergraduate students and...

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Marital Status and Happiness

On average, most people do not experience long-term changes in satisfaction following marriage. That surprising conclusion was reached by researchers studying marital status and life satisfaction in a...

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Happiness and Health Outcomes

The probability of living longer increases by 14 percent for individuals with high well-being compared to those with low well-being. Researchers reached that conclusion as a result of a sweeping...

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Expensive Wine and the Pleasure Center

It turns out pleasure comes in a bottle — albeit an expensive one. That’s what researchers discovered recently when they tested the neural activity of study participants after showing them expensive...

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Here’s to the Danes!

Politicians who swear U.S. citizens will be happier if they just lowered taxes may want to give the people of Denmark a second look. Based on world-wide surveys, the Danes typically rank the highest in...

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Comparing Ourselves to Others

We compare ourselves to others. We compare our houses, our cars, our success and even our kids. In some cases, it makes us feel better. We feel better when we compare ourselves to those people who...

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Satisfaction and Job Performance

Keep a person satisfied in his or her job and it will result in superior job performance. At least that’s been the prevailing wisdom. But now a researcher says it doesn’t quite work that way. Nathan...

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Happiness Among Older Europeans

With European populations aging, researchers have been turning their attention to mature adults and their various levels of happiness and unhappiness. Here are some of their findings: Older people...

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Happiness and a Longer Life

Happiness helps you live longer. Most people ascribe to that maxim, even if they’ve never seen the research backing it up. It just makes sense. But for several years now, the research has demonstrated...

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Extroverts and Happiness

Are extroverts happier? The research points in that direction. While the actual mechanism remains unclear, a number of different studies seem to suggest that on average those people labeled as...

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Values and Happiness

That which we value tends to make us happier. That seemingly innocuous and obvious statement has a lot behind it. For example, what exactly do we value? Do we know? Is it material wealth? Is it...

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Mo Money, Mo Money

Why do people want more money? Philosophers, economists, and researchers have been pondering that question for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. One reason for the question — more money does not...

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College Happiness

Can higher income and higher job satisfaction be tied back to cheerfulness in college? That appears to be the case if you believe research conducted several years ago. The researchers looked at answers...

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The Broaden Hypothesis

Simply put — positive emotions broaden one’s thinking. Given the opposite environment — one in which negative emotions emerge — this makes perfect sense. What do people express when they are in a funk...

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Intrinsic Goals and Happiness

When it comes to goals, what you pursue and how you pursue them can make an enormous difference in your overall well-being. In the past several years researchers have studied what many of us know...

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Happiness: Bottom-Up or Top-Down?

Does a combination of positive events and circumstances result in happiness or does a happy mindset result in positive circumstances? Researchers have struggled with that question and it’s an important...

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Happiness in Simple Things

Simple things make us happy. That deceptively simple and obvious observation has now been backed up by research conducted last year in England at the University of Nottingham. Researchers wanted to...

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Happiness and Friendships

When it comes to friendships, is quantity or quality better for your overall well-being? Researchers have demonstrated convincingly that friendships matter when it comes to happiness. In fact, some...

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Positive Psychology and Depression

Could positive psychology techniques help reduce the effects of depression? That was the theory leading to a series of preliminary studies by renowned psychologist Martin E. P. Seligman a few years...

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Mid-Life Blues

Researchers confirmed recently what a lot of people are feeling — the mid-life blues. Researchers from Great Britain and the U.S. analyzed data of more than two million people and spanning 35 years....

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