The Surprising Science of Happiness

Jordan Peterson said “I don’t think we are really in the pursuit of happiness; we seek a meaning that will sustain us amid tragedy” We seek a purpose that will sustain us in our inherent suffering through life. He urges “Don’t pursue what makes you happy. Pursue what is meaningful.”

Amid our capitalist society which posits that happiness involves having things and certain experiences, the message of Daniel Gilbert's research and his research andd TED talk may seem counterintuitive.  But it makes sense in the context of the gospel and gratitude.  

Take a moment to think of some difficulty in your life. Consider something that you really wish was not the case and was different for you. Now express gratitude to God for that setback as something helpful for your growth. “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble”... have faith, then He will “make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27). If you are grateful in all things ye shall be made glorious. (D&C 78:19)

Depression is the inability to synthesize happiness… Robert Sapolsky says depression is worse than cancer because of anhedonia (i.e., an inability to experience joy).

Class Activities

Below are five statements with which you may agree or disagree. Using the scale below, indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that item. Please be open and honest in your response.

Scale

1 = Strongly Disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Slightly Disagree
4 = Neither Agree or Nor Disagree
5 = Slightly Agree
6 = Agree
7 = Strongly Agree

____ 1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
____ 2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
____ 3. I am satisfied with life.
____ 4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
____ 5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

A score of 20 represents a neutral level of satisfaction: equally satisfied and dissatisfied with life.

The Pursuit of Happiness

Here is the link to a chapter section called The Pursuit of Happiness.

1. According to Seligman and colleagues (2002; 2005), happiness is a combination of the following three “lives” EXCEPT:
   1. enjoying daily pleasures (living a pleasant life)
   2. subjective well-being (living a happy life)
   3. contributing to a greater good (living a meaningful life)
   4. developing one’s skills in enriching ways (living a good life)
2. Which of the following is false about studies of happiness?
   1. The average person in the world tends to experience more positive feelings than negative feelings.
   2. Worldwide the United States is ranked 17th in terms of happiness.
   3. Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden are among the happiest countries.
   4. The wealthiest countries are the happiest.
3. Which of the following is false about studies of happiness?
   1. Individuals overestimate the durations of their happiness or unhappiness from fortunate events like winning the lottery or unfortunate events like the death of a friend
   2. Money is associated with happiness but only up to a point ($75,000 annual income in the United States)
   3. Religiosity correlates with happiness, most clearly when there are poor living conditions
   4. Individuals are happier when they have children.
4. Which of the following is false about happiness studies?
   1. Nearly all newlyweds predicted that their marital satisfaction would remain stable or improve over the ensuing four years, yet it usually declined.
   2. After winning the lottery, studies suggest that your happiness is likely to eventually return to where it was before you won the lottery one year later.
   3. After a misfortune, your happiness is likely to eventually return to where it was before the incident.
   4. People tend to adapt to where they were before even after the death of a spouse or a permanent loss of employment.
5. All of the following seem to have a long-lasting effect on one’s levels of happiness (as measured by positive and negative emotion/affect) EXCEPT:
   1. The death of a spouse
   2. Marriage
   3. Unemployment
   4. Having a reasonable income
6. Danner et al. (2001) conducted a famous longitudinal study of Catholic nuns, and they found that positive emotional expression in the spiritual autobiographies of these young women when they entered the convent predicted their longevity. More positive emotional expression (e.g., love, hope, gratitude) in their spiritual autobiographies many decades earlier was associated with a longer life, when compared to other nuns in the same convent. This demonstrates the importance of _____________.
   1. social support
   2. religiosity
   3. positive affect (emotional expression)
   4. spirituality
7. ______________________seeks to identify and promote qualities that lead to a greater fulfillment in our lives
   1. Positive psychology
   2. The biopsychosocial model
   3. Interpersonal psychology
   4. Rehabilitative psychology
8. Which of the following is false about happiness studies?
   1. One’s own perceived, subjective level of attractiveness seems to predict happiness.
   2. A person’s objective physical attractiveness is only weakly correlated with their happiness.
   3. Having children increases one’s levels of happiness (as measured by positive and negative affect/emotion).
   4. People are very bad at predicting the intensity and duration of their own future emotions.
9. Which of the following involves losing yourself and your sense of time in an activity?
   1. Optimism
   2. Positive affect
   3. Flow
   4. Positive psychology
10. Which of the following is false about happiness studies?
    1. Married people do not report being happier than people who are single, divorced, or widowed.
    2. Satisfaction with marriage and family seems to be a strong predictor of happiness
    3. Happy people tend to have more friends and high-quality relationships.
    4. Happy people tend to have frequent contact with friends.

Discussion Questions

11. Many individuals instantly recognize the concept of flow. Describe flow in your own words and describe a time when you experienced flow. If you cannot think of an example from your own life, then consider a hypothetical example.
12. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1999), creating conditions that make flow experiences possible should be a top social and political priority. Given what you know about the experience of flow, how might such efforts be worthwhile? In other words, why is flow so potentially beneficial? (Note: There is no specific answer to this question in this section).
13. Research has shown that we are poor at predicting what will make us happy/unhappy. We overestimate the effects of both positive and negative events on our happiness. Dan Gilbert calls this the impact bias in his popular and surprising TED talk “The Surprising Science of Happiness.” Even after knowing about our tendencies to this, most people continue to overestimate the effects of events on their happiness. List two things that people tend to overestimate that are summarized in the chapter or in Gilbert’s TED talk. Then take a moment and consider that you are likely to do the same and try to lower your estimations about such events so that they are closer to reality.
14. Chicago Cubs fans were elated when their team won the World Series in 2016 for the first time since 1908. What were they likely to anticipate about their happiness after winning and what likely happened?
15. Many of the factors that are discussed in this section only correlate modestly with happiness, under certain conditions, etc. These factors include money, education, employment, and religiosity. Describe at least one topic from this section other than these that shows a substantial and significant connection with happiness.
16. Can you describe a time when you have forgiven someone? What did you think? What did you feel?
17. It is easier to count your blessings for things that are going well. Consider a time when you experienced higher-level gratitude for something that was difficult to see or even difficult. What happened? What was that experience like for you?