Tag: science of happiness
Science says there’s a good chance you don’t know what really makes you happy. When estimating our happiness, we humans tend to engage in something called “impact bias” where we overestimate the actual effect that different outcomes will have on our lives.
When if they think they’d be happier winning the lottery or becoming paraplegic, most people quite understandably respond that they’d be happier with all that money and no handicap.
Still, real life statistics show that one year after winning the lottery or losing the use of their lower body, people in both these groups are equally happy. Yes, really, EQUALLY.
Do you want to deepen your social connections and explore the roots of your own happiness? If so, enroll in the “Science of Happiness” – a free online course by U.C. Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center
Decades of studies have suggested that happy people live longer, which makes the cultivation of subjective well-being seem like a matter of life and death. But a new analysis of data from the UK Million Women Study concludes that happiness has no bearing on mortality.
Moments where people recorded the highest levels of happiness were all related to beauty: when at the theater, ballet, or a concert; at a museum or an art exhibit; and while doing an artistic activity (e.g. painting, fiction writing, sewing).
