Happiness News

Happiness: What Works?

The authors’ systematic review explored popular strategies for increasing happiness. Analyzing media articles, they identified five commonly recommended techniques: expressing gratitude, enhancing sociability, exercising, practising mindfulness/meditation, and increasing nature exposure. Then, they reviewed scientific literature and found 57 well-designed studies testing these strategies on subjective well-being. Surprisingly, some commonly recommended strategies lack a strong scientific

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Hiking with Joy: The Power of Intergenerational Connections with Brad Ryan

Brad Ryan and Karen Allen weigh the pros and cons of ambition, and how the untold pressure of social perception and judgement keeps us silent.
The post Hiking with Joy: The Power of Intergenerational Connections with Brad Ryan appeared first on SUCCESS.

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13 Healthy Cookbooks and Books About Food to Improve Your Brain and Body

Want to improve your brain and body through your diet? These are the best healthy cookbooks and books about food you should check out today!
The post 13 Healthy Cookbooks and Books About Food to Improve Your Brain and Body appeared first on SUCCESS.

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People in historically rice-farming areas are less happy and socially compare more than people in wheat-farming areas.

Using two nationally representative surveys, we find that people in China’s historically rice-farming areas are less happy than people in wheat areas. This is a puzzle because the rice area is more interdependent, and relationships are an important predictor of happiness. We explore how the interdependence of historical rice farming may have paradoxically undermined happiness by creating more social comparison than wheat farming. We build a framework in which rice farming leads to social comparison, which makes people unhappy (especially people who are worse off). If people in rice areas socially compare more, then people’s happiness in rice areas should be more closely related to markers of social status like income. In two studies, national survey data show that income, self-reported social status, and occupational status predict people’s happiness twice as strongly in rice areas than wheat areas. In Study 3, we use a unique natural experiment comparing two nearby state farms that effectively randomly assigned people to farm rice or wheat. The rice farmers socially compare more, and farmers who socially compare more are less happy. If interdependence breeds social comparison and erodes happiness, it could help explain the paradox of why the interdependent cultures of East Asia are less happy than similarly wealthy cultures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

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Take it from the experts, a pet can change your life

Some people should not have pets. They’re expensive and can make you sneeze. They require time, attention, and stability. If you have allergies, don’t make yourself suffer. If you travel frequently, think twice. If you simply can’t warm to the idea of an animal companion, then by all means, forget the pet. Otherwise, there are

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