Happiness Flashcards
Happiness and luck study
- People with good luck (ie. Ones who won lotteries) -> not much happier than controls
- People with bad luck (ie. Paralyzed in an accident) -> not that much unhappier than controls
- Happiness does relate to luck in the “genetic lottery” -> if you come from a really happy family, you’ll have an easier time being happy (and vice versa)
hedonic adaptation
- After major life events, people eventually return to their original level of happiness
- Example: Marriage -> happiness increases before wedding, peaks on wedding day, then returns to baseline
- Example: Widows -> happiness drops steeply before death, then returns to baseline after a couple years
recipe for creating happiness
- be social
- be kind
- be present
happiness and being social studies
- Study: What do very happy people have in common? -> Strong social relationships
- Dr. Dunn’s study:
Instructed Starbucks patron to be either efficient (ie. Just order and leave) or social (ie. Chat with barista, smile, etc.) -> social were happier
happiness and being social: Introverts and Extroverts study
- Introversion and extroversion measured
- People in study then told to act outgoing or shy
- Extroverts much happier when told to act outgoing than shy -> same goes for introverts!
happiness and kindness: Dr. Dunn’s studies
- The more people volunteer, the happier they are
- Pro-social vs. Personal spending study:
- Gave people at UBC a $5 or $20 bill that they had to spend by the end of the day -> assigned them to either spend it on themselves or on others
- People assigned to spend on others (prosocial spending) were significantly happier at the end of the day than people who spent on self (personal spending)
happiness and being present phone studies
- Study: researchers sent people messages on their phones at random times of the day and asked them to report mind-wandering
- Found that individuals were happier when focused on the present
- Dr. Dunn’s study: had people come in with friends and family, told them they’d either have to put phones away and fill-out a one-item survey on paper, or keep their phones out so they could fill out a survey on their phones
- People with phones out felt more distracted and had lower enjoyment
happiness and being present meditation study
- Experimental group got 6 weeks of loving kindness meditation training
- Control group waitlisted for meditation training
- Experimental group showed increased positive emotions
the happiness equation
Happiness = set point (due to genetic lottery) + intentional activity (ie. Being kind, social, and present), + circumstances (what happens to you)… in that order
Dunn et al. prosocial spending studies
- People who spend money on others universally report higher happiness
- prosocial spending works with toddlers too
- Prosocial spending promotes happiness when it meets 3 basic psychological needs
Dunn et al. toddler prosocial spending study
Toddlers given goldfish crackers and asked to give a cracker to a puppet -> happier when giving to puppet than when receiving the crackers themselves
Dunn et al. prosocial spending and 3 psychological needs
- Relatedness: when giving provides opportunity to connect with others, especially others you’re close to (ie. Friends and family)
- Competence: when people can see how their generosity makes a difference (ie. $10 donation will buy a medical kit for child in need)
- Autonomy: when people have a choice about whether to give
Hsee et al. unit-asking study: what did they do/find?
Hypothesized unit-asking method would increase charitable donations -> true in all fundraising experiments (at schools, workplaces, etc.)
Hsee et al. unit-asking study: why did they find what they did?
- Works because it makes the donor scope consistent rather than scope insensitive
- Scope insensitive: people don’t think about the number of needy persons because that’s hard to evaluate
- Scope consistent: when asked how much you’d donate for one person, you’re compelled to donate more when asked how much you’d donate to help all needy people to keep it consistent
Hsee et al. unit-asking study: what is unit-asking?
asking a donor how much they would hypothetically donate to help one person before asking them how much they want to donate to the cause in general
