Happiness Research Still Needed

 

A popular expression advises that at times the perfect can be the enemy of the good.  Such is the case with happiness research.  Since the 1960's over 3,000 published studies have explored happiness, and while much has been learned, much more can still be known.  The problem is that happiness research is not about understanding happiness as perfectly as possible; it is about understanding how to help individuals and societies become as happy as possible.  We generally know what makes people happy and what doesn't.  We also know how to make people happier.  What we don't yet know is how to practically apply that knowledge in ways that help our world become happier.  The following proposals are presented to inspire this research.  In essence, for our many happiness findings to gain real-world relevance, happiness research MUST progress from the domain of basic psychology to that of applied psychology (consumer behavior, motivation and advertising), and marketing.

Research Proposals

 

How can consumers best be helped to understand that happiness (or greater happiness) is their basic goal in life, and to begin seeking it directly through training rather than through often ineffective strategies like achieving greater wealth, possessions, power, knowledge, prestige, success, etc.?

How can entrepreneurs and business leaders best be introduced to the concept of selling happiness as a product?

 

What presentation strategies are necessary in order to convince consumers that their level of happiness can be dramatically increased in a few months through simple classroom or one-to-one training?

 

How much will consumers pay to become substantially happier through participation in a training course?

 

How long should happiness training courses be, taking into account both course effectiveness and consumer motivation?

 

One quarter of the American population is 57- 71 percent happy and 8 percent are even less happy.  Given that it is far easier to substantially increase the happiness of unhappy and marginally happy individuals than it is to substantially increase the happiness of much happier individuals, how is this less happy market segment best identified and solicited?

 

Why has psychology shied away from conducting studies designed to find simple and effective strategies by which to help human beings achieve their most basic goal in life?

The Case for Happiness-Increase Research by George Ortega

            Since the 1960's when such comprehensive research began, there have been over 3,000 published papers on Subjective Well-Being (SWB), or happiness, and the number of publications is increasing exponentially (Veenhoven, in press).   During these last forty years, however, less than a dozen published studies have attempted interventions to increase happiness (see Fava, 1999; Fava, Rafanelli, Cazzaro, Conti & Grandi, 1998; Fava & Ruini, 2003; Fordyce 1977, 1983; Lichter, Haye & Kammann, 1980; Reich and Zautra 1981; Sheldon, Kasser, Smith, & Share, 2002).  [Citations are from a citations list compiled by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ken Sheldon and David Schkade]. This scarcity is highly anomalous especially considering that initial SWB increase experiments were highly successful, (Fordyce, 1977, 1983; Lichter, et al., 1980). 

The majority of Americans rate personal happiness as very important, (Diener, Suh, Smith, & Shao, 1995; Triandis, Bontempo, Leung, & Hui, 1990), and respondents in England have rated happiness as their most important component of Quality of Life; even more important to them than money, health, and sex  (Skevington, MacArthur, & Somerset, 1997).  However, the average American is only 69 percent happy, and happy only 54 percent of the time (Seligman, 2002).  Also, at any given time, one in every four Americans is suffering from mild depression (Seligman, 1994).  While the happiness level of over one quarter of the American population falls between 57 and 71 percent, and 8 percent are even less than 57 percent happy, one fifth of Americans are over 85 percent happy, (Andrews & Withey, 1976) suggesting that much greater happiness is also quite possible for less happy individuals.

While we might be inclined to attribute this greater happiness to greater wealth, or related advantages, Diener, Horwitz, and Emmons (1985) found that Americans with a net worth of over $125 million were only trivially happier than randomly selected controls, and that 37 percent of the people on Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans were less happy than the average American.  Also, personal wealth in the U.S. has more than doubled since W.W.II, however, Americans are no happier today than they were in 1945 (Myers, 2000).   In fact, Nigeria is now the happiest nation in the world, followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico, with the U.S. ranked 16^th.  (World Values Study Group, in press).

            There are three basic reasons why happiness increase research has been so neglected.   Firstly, hedonic adaptation theory (Headey and Wearing, 1989; Frederick & Lowenstein, 1999) and genetic "set point" studies (Lykken & Tellegen 1996) have predicted that long-term happiness increase is not possible.  However, recent demographic data coauthored by the leading SWB researcher, Ed Diener, (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003) has shown long-term happiness increase to be a matter of fact.  Secondly, SWB has historically been greatly undervalued by psychology, and clinical psychology in particular.  For example, published psychological articles of negative emotions outnumber those of positive emotions by a ratio of 17 to 1 (Myers, & Diener, 1995), and SWB is generally not used as an outcome variable in therapy effectiveness studies, (Veenhoven, in press).  Thirdly, funding happiness increase research has been difficult because there has been no industry wide vested interest in these findings, as there has been in, for example, research to demonstrate the effectiveness of anti-depressant medications, (R. Veenhoven, personal communication, June 3, 2003).

             The psychologist most actively promoting happiness increase applications is former American Psychological Association president, Martin E. P. Seligman who published a book on happiness (Seligman, 2002), and currently offers extensive happiness coaching instruction through his website -  http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/  .  Giovanni Fava, Ken Sheldon and Sonja Lyubomirsky are the researchers most involved in happiness increase experimentation.  "Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change" by Sheldon, Lyubomirsky, & Schkade (Manuscript submitted for publication), provides a general review of happiness increase research.

            Happiness is supremely important to us, yet we marginally succeed in achieving it largely because we seek it in many ways that are either totally ineffective, or just slightly effective (For reviews, see Argyle, 2001; Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999; Myers, 1992).   When, however, over the course of four weeks, Fordyce (1977) instructed subjects in 14 fundamentals of happiness, and Lichter and colleagues (Lichter, et al., 1980) asked some subjects to discuss and consider happiness relevant issues, and others to recite happiness increasing affirmations for ten minutes each morning, subjects experienced an average 25 percent happiness boost.  These and several other successful happiness increase methodologies could be used in happiness training programs, however, because this body of research is so small, it has been largely ignored by business and government (Notable exceptions are Bhutan, which has officially declared itself more concerned with its citizens' happiness than the country's GDP (Bond, 2003), and Great Britain, who recently commissioned and published an extensive report on why and how their government should develop policies designed to raise the SWB level of its citizens. 

            A more extensive and authoritative body of happiness increase experiments would likely encourage businesses to take notice and offer happiness increase instruction as a product, and governments to use published methodologies as blueprints by which to develop happiness increase courses for school curriculums.  These two vehicles alone could produce substantial and lasting happiness increases for many millions of individuals throughout the world.  Psychologists have a profound responsibility as professionals uniquely qualified to encourage and conduct research needed to assist the world in better succeeding with our most fundamental desire; happiness.   

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 Argyle, M. (2001).  The Psychology of Happiness. (Rev. ed), East Sussex, Great Britain: Routledge.

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 Fava, G. A. & Ruini, C. (2003).  Development and characteristics of a well-being enhancing psychotherapeutic strategy: well-being therapy.  Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34, 45-63.

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 Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y.,  & Diener, E. (2003).  Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (3), 527-539.

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 Sheldon, K. M., Kasser, T., Smith, K., & Share, T. (2002).  Personal goals and psychological growth: Testing an intervention to enhance goal attainment and personality integration.  Journal of Personality, 70, 5-31.

 Sheldon, K. S., Lyubomirsky, S., & Schkade. (2003)  Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Manuscript submitted for publication.

 Skevington, S. M., MacArthur, P., & Somerset, M. (1997). Developing items for the WHOQOL: An investigation of contemporary beliefs about quality of life related to health in Britain. British Journal of Health Psychology, 2, 55-72.

 Triandis, H. C., Bontempo, R., Leung, K., & Hui, C. H. (1990). A method for determining cultural, demographic, and personal constructs. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 21, 302-318.

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 World Values Study Group (in press), World Values Surveys, 1999-2001, Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.