The Data Don ’ t Really Support the Most Popular Happiness Strategies

When it comes to life hacks, the secret to happiness is among the things people seek the most (along with how to get rich), at least according to internet searches. And there’s no dearth of advice on how to get happier, from expressing more gratitude to practicing mindfulness and meditation to exercising. Some of these strategies are so entrenched in the modern consciousness that you’d be excused for thinking there’s a lot of scientific evidence behind them. All those people on the internet and running wellness centers can’t be wrong. Or can they? In a study published July 20 in Nature Human Behavior, happiness researchers at the University of British Columbia report that for the most popular happiness strategies there is at best little solid, scientifically sound evidence—and in some cases, there is none. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Like many in the happiness field, Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Dunigan Fox, a PhD student in Dunn’s lab, took for granted that the strategies many people turn to in order to boost happiness came to prominence because the data documenting their effect justified the connection. But a recent push among experts in the psychology field to apply more stringent measures to research studies and the interpretation of data made the pair question how strong the historical happiness-research data really was. Read more: The Daily Habits of Happiness Expe...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Wellbeing Source Type: news