PSYchology

This little test shows that our ideas about happiness are not always supported by research data. Check how close you are to scientific truth.

Are the following statements true or false in your opinion? Answer «yes» or «no» and find out if your ideas are consistent with scientific research.

  1. The lucky ones who win a large amount in the lottery (more than a million euros) are indeed much happier than the rest.
  2. Happiness is more of a serene state of mind than moments of joy.
  3. Believers are usually happier than non-believers.
  4. The degree of happiness available to us is genetically predetermined (we are born more or less happy).
  5. Beauty is the source of happiness.
  6. Married people are usually happier than single people.
  7. You can make a decision and become happier.
Read more:
  • Happiness: A Short Course in Programming

RIGHT ANSWERS

1. Wrong

Studies of people who have received large winnings show that when the moment of euphoria passes, they do not feel happier. A year later, a person feels no happier than before.

2. Wrong

Both are components of happiness, like two facets of the same reality.

3. True

People who lead an active spiritual life usually consider themselves happier than non-believers. True, belonging to any traditional religion does not play a decisive role.

4. True

The natural tendency to experience pleasant emotions depends on temperament. We’re talking about the genetic lottery. But we can, of course, model this tendency.

5. Wrong

Those who resort to the services of plastic surgery, some time after the operation, do not talk about themselves as happy people, except when it comes to severe deformity.

6. True

Family life, subject to mutual respect and closeness, enhances the feeling of happiness. Meanwhile, with the birth of children, this advantage may evaporate.

7. True

You can build your happiness: it depends only on our efforts, but on great efforts (scientists involved in the study of happiness estimate this possibility at 40%). Does happiness depend on…?

  • material well-being? No, money is not happiness, provided that you have enough of it to satisfy your basic needs: to eat, to have a roof over your head and to be safe.
  • Social status or higher education? Intelligence does not help to become happy.
  • Beauty? People who everyone considers especially attractive are by no means the happiest (as popular magazines try to convince us). You will feel happier not because you become more beautiful, but because you love yourself more;
  • Health? Contrary to all expectations, even people suffering from chronic diseases manage to feel happy in life.

What can actually make us happier?

Social ties—married life, circle of friends, forming relationships that promote personal development (for example, with family members)—play a crucial role in our sense of happiness.

Activities, whether professional or leisure related. What makes us happy is what we do ourselves.

Faith. All studies agree that those who believe in God consider themselves happier (with the exception of fundamentalists). Why is that? First of all, because such people count on the support of a community that shares the same moral values ​​and a system of beneficial beliefs (life has meaning, God helps us).

Happiness has more to do with the feeling of being than with material possessions.

Four facets of happiness

  1. Enjoyment of the senses and perceived joy
  2. Involvement in some meaningful activity (volunteer work, raising children…)
  3. Satisfaction with the result of what you have done
  4. Equanimity and detachment in relation to what is happening

These four facets indicate how our vision of happiness changes with age:

  • Childhood: joy
  • Youth: involvement
  • Maturity: Satisfaction
  • Old age: serenity

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