happiness pays?

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja/

Sonja Lyubomirsky

Professor

Ph.D. Stanford University

(951) 827-5041 (msg)

The majority of my research career has been devoted to studying human
happiness. Why is the scientific study of happiness important? In
short, because most people believe happiness is meaningful, desirable,
and an important, worthy goal, because happiness is one of the most
salient and significant dimensions of human experience and emotional
life, because happiness yields numerous rewards for the individual,
and because it makes for a better, healthier, stronger society. Along
these lines, my current research addresses three critical questions -
1) What makes people happy?; 2) Is happiness a good thing?; and 3) How
can we make people happier still?

Why Are Some People Happier Than Others?

I have always been struck by the capacity of some individuals to be
remarkably happy, even in the face of stress, trauma, or adversity.
Thus, up until recently, my research efforts have been focused on
trying to understand why some people are happier than others. To this
end, my approach has been to explore the cognitive and motivational
processes that distinguish individuals who show exceptionally high and
low levels of happiness. These processes include social comparison
(how people compare themselves to peers), dissonance reduction (how
people justify both trivial and important choices in their lives),
self-evaluation (how people judge themselves), and person perception
(how people think about others). All of these processes, it turns out,
have hedonic implications - that is, positive or negative consequences
for happiness and self-regard - and thus are relevant to elucidating
individual differences in enduring well-being. My empirical findings
over the years have revealed that chronically happy and unhappy
individuals differ systematically and in a manner supportive of their
differing temperaments in the particular cognitive and motivational
strategies they use. For example, my students and I have found that
truly happy individuals construe life events and daily situations in
ways that seem to maintain their happiness, while unhappy individuals
construe experiences in ways that seem to reinforce unhappiness. In
essence, our research shows that happy individuals experience and
react to events and circumstances in relatively more positive and more
adaptive ways.

On-going studies in my laboratory are exploring additional cognitive
and motivational processes that support the differing worlds of
enduring happiness versus chronic unhappiness. For example, current
research is examining the role of extensive self-reflection and
"dwelling" in well-being. Several investigations have revealed that
unhappy individuals are more likely than happy ones to dwell on
negative or ambiguous events. Such "dwelling" or rumination may drain
cognitive resources and thus bring to bear a variety of negative
consequences, which could further reinforce unhappiness. These
findings demonstrate some of the maladaptive by-products of
self-reflection, suggesting that not only is the "unexamined life"
worth living, but it is potentially full of happiness and joy.

To cast our work on happiness in a broader framework, we have also
been exploring the meaning and expression of happiness and suffering
across cultures and subcultures. For example, current research is
investigating the value and reasonableness of the pursuit of happiness
in "meritocratic" vs. "non-meritocratic" cultures (e.g., U.S. and
Russia, respectively). Our preliminary findings suggest that Russians
are less concerned with the pursuit of happiness, less likely to deem
happiness as attainable or stable, and less likely to publicly express
happiness than their American counterparts.

What Are the Benefits of Happiness?

A recent interest has steered me from the search of the roots of
happiness to an examination of its consequences. Is happiness a good
thing? Or, does it just simply feel good? A recent review of all the
available literature has revealed that happiness does indeed have
numerous positive byproducts, which appear to benefit not only
individuals, but families, communities, and the society at large. The
benefits of happiness include higher income and superior work outcomes
(e.g., greater productivity and higher quality of work), larger social
rewards (e.g., more satisfying and longer marriages, more friends,
stronger social support, and richer social interactions), more
activity, energy, and flow, and better physical health (e.g., a
bolstered immune system, lowered stress levels, and less pain) and
even longer life. The literature, my colleagues and I have found, also
suggests that happy individuals are more creative, helpful,
charitable, and self-confident, have better self-control, and show
greater self-regulatory and coping abilities. On-going and future
experimental and longitudinal studies that attempt to increase the
long-term happiness of students and working adults will give us the
opportunity to assess whether increases in durable happiness predict
changes in other positive outcomes, such as altruistic behavior,
creativity, work performance, physical health, and social
relationships.

The Architecture of Sustainable Happiness

A new program of research, funded by the National Institute of Health,
is asking the question, "How can happiness be reliably increased?"
Despite pessimism from the current literature that the pursuit of
happiness may be largely futile, my colleagues and I believe that
durable increases in happiness are indeed possible and within the
average person's reach. Thus, following my construal theory of
happiness, I have begun to explore how the cognitive and motivational
processes and biases associated with relatively greater happiness can
be nurtured, acquired, or directly taught. To this end, my current
research focus is investigating the architecture of sustainable
happiness - that is, the mechanisms by which a chronic happiness level
higher than one's genetically-determined set point can be achieved and
sustained. My colleagues and I believe that sustainable increases in
happiness are possible through the execution of intentional cognitive,
motivational, and behavioral activites that are feasible to deploy but
require daily and concerted effort and commitment

My students and I are currently conducting several experimental
intervention studies in which participants' cognitive and behavioral
strategies are systematically retrained. For example, three
intervention studies are testing the efficacy of three potential
volitional strategies, two cognitive and one behavioral: 1) regularly
setting aside time to recall moments of gratitude (i.e., keeping a
journal in which one "counts one's blessings" over the course of 6
weeks), 2) engaging in self-regulatory and positive thinking about
oneself (i.e., reflecting, writing, and talking about one's happiest
and unhappiest life events for 15 minutes a day during one week), and
3) practicing altruism and kindness for 6 weeks (i.e., routinely
committing acts of kindness).

Responses to Depression

Finally, a separate line of research focuses on people's responses to
depression. Many people believe that, when they become depressed, they
should try to focus inwardly and analyze their feelings and problems
in order to gain self-insight and find solutions. Contrary to such
beliefs, my research suggests that repetitive and self-focused
rumination about the implications of one's depressive symptoms
actually appears to maintain those symptoms and impair one's ability
to solve problems. In this work, I have been particularly concerned
with the mechanisms by which rumination may prolong depressed mood. I
also have recently been investigating the consequences of ruminative
thinking in the domains of health and academic achievement. For
example, several studies have shown that ruminative responses are
associated with delay of diagnosis-seeking for serious health
symptoms.

Selected Publications

    * Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing
happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General
Psychology, 9, 111-131.

    * Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. A., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits
of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?
Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.

    * Lyubomirksy, S., Sousa, L., Dickerhoof, R. (in press). The costs
and benefits of writing, talking, and thinking about life's triumphs
and defeats. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

    * Lyubomirsky, S., & Tkach, C. (2003). The consequences of
dysphoric rumination. In C. Papageorgiou & A. Wells (Eds.),
Rumination: Nature, theory, and treatment of negative thinking in
depression (pp. 21-41). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.

    * Ward, A. H., Lyubomirsky, S., Sousa, L., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S.
(2003). Can't quite commit: Rumination and uncertainty. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 96-107.

    * Schwartz, B., Ward, A. H., Monterosso, J., Lyubomirsky, S.,
White, K., & Lehman, D. (2002). Maximizing versus satisficing:
Happiness is a matter of choice. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 83, 1178-1197.

    * Lyubomirsky, S. (2001). Why are some people happier than
others?: The role of cognitive and motivational processes in
well-being. American Psychologist, 56, 239-249.

    * Lyubomirsky, S., & Ross, L. (1999). Changes in attractiveness of
elected, rejected, and precluded alternatives: A comparison of happy
and unhappy individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
76, 988-1007.

    * Lyubomirsky, S., Tucker, K.L., Caldwell, N.D., & Berg, K.
(1999). Why ruminators are poor problem solvers: Clues from the
phenomenology of dysphoric rumination. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 77, 1041-1060.

--
Jim Devine / "There can be no real individual freedom in the presence
of economic insecurity." -- Chester Bowles