The Science of Happiness

The online Berkeley Wellness Newsletter from the University of California covers nutrition, fitness, emotional health, community harmony, and self care. A recent edition covered the science of happiness the key points of which are summarized here:

• Money increases happiness when it moves people from a threatening environment to personal security and safety. 
• After we reach an income level around $75,000 annually our emotional well-being doesn't increase with income. Think of it this way: The boat that gave us so much happiness the first few months soon becomes moored to the dock; our large home requires more maintenance than we originally thought and when the kids move away the empty space engulfs us; the second home becomes difficult to manage; our flashy sports car makes us happy until driving it becomes routine. All those toys we were so excited about soon collect dust in the attic. Clutter and an overabundance of things makes our lives more complicated and less happy.
• Hormone measurements indicate that the happiest people are those with strong social connections. 
• The mesolimbic dopamine system that is linked to addiction is also activated when we help others.
• Functional MRI studies have shown that giving money to charity stimulates the brain's pleasure center as much as earning money. 
• Social psychology tests and neuroscience research has shown that being alone produces much more stress than being together with others.
• Affluence, marriage, and having children accounts for 10% of the variance in happiness while our daily life experiences---the friendships we cultivate, the people we interact with, the activities we  participate in, the things we learn, our world view---accounts for 40% of the variance in happiness. 
• Those who cultivate a more courageous and cooperative lifestyle can boost their happiness factor. Those who look on the bright side can have brighter lives.
• Twin studies show that about 50% of the happiness factor depends on genetics. Some people are born happier.
• People who focus on the pursuit of happiness tend to accentuate personal gain that can damage social connections actually reducing happiness.
• Constantly seeking emotional highs by frequent partying or high risk taking or becoming an adrenaline junkie decreases creativity and flexibility.
• Perfectionism decreases happiness.
• Maximizing---the idea that if we fail to get the most out of every moment we will be dissatisfied---reduces happiness.

Science has shown what we innately know. Gratitude, forgiveness, kindness, friendship, emotional support, generosity, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, someone to love and someone to love us brings happiness.