A Traditional Retirement Isn’t for Everybody
Several studies on the relationship between retirement and happiness suggest that not retiring may be associated with greater happiness.
A Traditional Retirement Isn’t for Everybody Read More »
happiness
Boost Your ‘Happy Hormones’ to Fight Sadness and Anxiety
Are you sad or anxious and don’t feel like having sex? The happy hormones stimulated by sex help to lift your spirits.
Boost Your ‘Happy Hormones’ to Fight Sadness and Anxiety Read More »
Will Medically Induced Happiness Ever Be Possible?
At best, humans can induce fleeting and relatively unreliable pleasure—but not happiness. Here’s why.
Will Medically Induced Happiness Ever Be Possible? Read More »
What You May Not Know About the World’s Happiest Country
Each year, 155 countries are ranked by happiness. Although Finland won the prize for 6 years and counting, further examination of the data suggests this is misleading.
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5 Keys to a “Warrior Approach” for Sustainable Happiness
Are you a victim of self-inflicted unhappiness? The warrior approach will help.
5 Keys to a “Warrior Approach” for Sustainable Happiness Read More »
The One Thing That Predicts Adult Health and Happiness
How can children be better prepared to be happy and healthy adults?
The One Thing That Predicts Adult Health and Happiness Read More »
Self-Discovery as We Age
Sometimes pursuing happiness is about pushing the boundaries.
Self-Discovery as We Age Read More »
Happy Songs: These Are the Musical Elements That Make Us Feel Good
Listening to your favorite music has a positive effect on your emotional and psychological health. Researchers say music impacts the endocrine system, increasing levels of dopamine and decreasing the stress-associated hormone, cortisol.
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A closer look at the relationships between aspects of connectedness and flourishing
Everyone strives for personal happiness or well-being. Flourishing is a broader concept of well-being. To better understand which factors are associated to people’s flourishing, we took a closer look at the relationships of flourishing with three aspects of connectedness: Connectedness with oneself (self-love), with others (pro-socialness), and with the surrounding nature (nature connectedness). Participants were 138 adults between 18 and 71 years (M = 23.21, SD = 7.90, 98 women, 40 men). Significant positive correlations were found between flourishing and self-love and between flourishing and pro-socialness. Furthermore, nature connectedness correlated positively with self-love and with pro-socialness. A regression analysis revealed that all predictors explained 57.5% of the variance of the criterion flourishing. Self-love and pro-socialness were significant predictors of flourishing while nature connectedness was not. One explanation for the large correlations between self-love and flourishing could be overlapping aspects in both questionnaires. The fact that pro-socialness is a stronger predictor than nature connectedness could be due to a more reciprocal reinforcement of pro-social behavior. If a person treats another well, s/he is more likely treated well by that person which could reflect flourishing. Such a direct reciprocal relationship does not exist with nature.
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An exploration of happiness, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms among older adults during the coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide. Because of the challenges associated with the pandemic, universal levels of happiness have likely depleted. We know little about how those with prior existing mental health concerns have responded to the pandemic. Using cross-sectional (study 1; N = 1,366) and longitudinal (study 2; N = 262) data, we utilized a stress and resilience perspective to explore mental health symptoms and happiness among older adults before and after the declaration of the pandemic. Results for both studies indicated higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms predicted lower levels of happiness; however, for those who indicated higher levels of mental health symptoms, post-pandemic declaration happiness levels were higher than pre-pandemic happiness levels. Findings suggest that resilience may be learned throughout a lifetime, and that experiences from prior stressors may show benefits in responding to future ones, even among vulnerable populations.
