1 00:00:00,130 --> 00:00:04,500 Participant 1: Shut up [laughs] Participant 2: What? Wait, wait. 2 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:06,000 Participant 3: Oh he's gonna be so embarrassed. 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:15,600 [title music] 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,810 Julian Huguet: What makes you happy? Having fun? 5 00:00:21,810 --> 00:00:25,339 Hanging out with friends? Delicious food? 6 00:00:25,339 --> 00:00:29,679 Making money? Well consider this. Psychologists have scientifically 7 00:00:29,679 --> 00:00:33,040 proven that one of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness in your life 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:37,680 is how much gratitude you show. Yup. Think about that. 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,940 Go ahead and marinate on that for a second. You can thank me later if you want. 10 00:00:40,940 --> 00:00:42,710 It will make you feel better according to this study. 11 00:00:42,710 --> 00:00:46,490 You go ahead and click on it and read it if you want. 12 00:00:46,490 --> 00:00:50,970 Or, you can keep watching because we read it, we thought it might be fun to test out 13 00:00:50,970 --> 00:00:53,260 for ourselves. We gathered a selection of volunteers to act 14 00:00:53,260 --> 00:00:56,100 as our subjects. First we gave them a test. 15 00:00:56,100 --> 00:00:59,620 They didn't know what we were looking for. But they gave us a pretty good idea of their 16 00:00:59,620 --> 00:01:02,739 current level of happiness. We asked them to close their eyes and think 17 00:01:02,739 --> 00:01:05,009 of somebody who was really influential in their life. 18 00:01:05,009 --> 00:01:07,560 Somebody who did something really amazing or important for them. 19 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,369 We had them write down as much as they could about why this person was so important. 20 00:01:11,369 --> 00:01:15,140 Now a lot of them thought at this point the experiment was over until we really put them 21 00:01:15,140 --> 00:01:19,299 on the spot and tried to get them to call that person and read what they wrote about 22 00:01:19,299 --> 00:01:21,229 them. Thank you Jessica. We are going to have to 23 00:01:21,229 --> 00:01:23,759 have you call your mother. So who was that right person for you? 24 00:01:23,759 --> 00:01:26,810 Participant 1: The person is my sister Erica. JH: We're gonna give Erica a call. 25 00:01:26,810 --> 00:01:29,009 Participant 1: [laughs] Okay. JH: Who'd you end up picking? 26 00:01:29,009 --> 00:01:31,869 Participant 3: Friend of mine, Greg Haines. Participant 4: Her name is Dora. 27 00:01:31,869 --> 00:01:35,889 Participant 5: My college accounting instructor. JH: Really! Is this someone you're still in 28 00:01:35,889 --> 00:01:39,240 touch with today? P 5: No I'm assuming that he is passed on. 29 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,139 JH: That's a shame. P5: To the great beyond. 30 00:01:41,139 --> 00:01:44,310 JH: You up for it? P3: Um, uh yes. 31 00:01:44,310 --> 00:01:50,560 JH: What would you say if we called up Dora? P4: We can try but she lives in Britain. 32 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,009 JH: In Britain? P2: I don't know her number by heart, this 33 00:01:53,009 --> 00:01:55,090 is awful. JH: That's fine, I don't know my mom's phone 34 00:01:55,090 --> 00:01:58,090 number by heart. P5: If it's true that those who are gone 35 00:01:58,090 --> 00:02:01,649 on are looking down on us, maybe he'll recognize he is great. 36 00:02:01,649 --> 00:02:07,689 [on phone]: Hi sweetheart! P2: Hey how you doing. Um you gotta second? 37 00:02:07,689 --> 00:02:12,600 Where you at, the hotel? [phone]: I am, I'm in the hotel. You scared 38 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,510 me when you asked if I had a second, I thought something was wrong 39 00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:20,470 P2: No I'm on this little TV show and they told me to talk about the person that influenced 40 00:02:20,470 --> 00:02:26,000 me the most, and I picked you and they're making me call, they're making me call you. 41 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,000 [phone]: Oh wonderful! [phone dialing] 42 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:35,000 [voicemail] 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,030 [phone dialing] 44 00:02:37,030 --> 00:02:43,090 P1: Oh come on. [phone]: Hello? 45 00:02:43,090 --> 00:02:50,090 P1: Hi! Erica, it's me. P2: Alright so I gotta read you this paragraph, 46 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,780 can you hear me? [phone]: Yes I can. Go ahead sweetheart. 47 00:02:53,780 --> 00:02:59,010 P2: Alright. The person that influenced me the most would be my mother, Marlow Dawson. 48 00:02:59,010 --> 00:03:04,070 She is a single mother of two, she is a very hard-worker and dedicated to her family. 49 00:03:04,070 --> 00:03:11,070 P3: Hey Craig, this is Lowy. Um, this is gonna be a funny little voicemail so I hope you 50 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,800 enjoy it. P4: I'm so sorry for calling you at 4 o'clock 51 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,580 in the morning! P1: I have to read this to you okay? You can't 52 00:03:18,580 --> 00:03:23,630 say anything or I don't know. You can respond but, I probably will just keep going [laughs] 53 00:03:23,630 --> 00:03:25,860 okay? [phone]: Is everything okay? 54 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:28,470 P1: Yes! But I have to read this out loud to you. 55 00:03:28,470 --> 00:03:33,200 P5: The person who has had the biggest impact on my life, outside of Jesus Christ who is 56 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:41,200 responsible for my existence, was my college accounting instructor. He had a joy and enthusiasm 57 00:03:41,220 --> 00:03:44,070 for his job like no other teacher I have ever known. 58 00:03:44,070 --> 00:03:48,150 P2: I love her to death, and she keeps me going with positive talk, she is a woman that 59 00:03:48,150 --> 00:03:52,500 knows what she wants and won't give up until it is achieved. 60 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:59,500 [phone]: Oh pumpkin, I don't know what to, I'm about to cry because that's so beautiful. 61 00:03:59,860 --> 00:04:06,500 I have to say that's just wonderful. P3: I first met Craig on an independent feature 62 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:10,860 film set in Whitefish, Montana. I recently have been sending Craig a lot of positive 63 00:04:10,860 --> 00:04:15,819 thoughts as he suffered a series of health problems. Despite his medical problems, he's 64 00:04:15,819 --> 00:04:19,889 continued to work and take pleasure in the small things in life like sitting quietly 65 00:04:19,889 --> 00:04:25,670 with his wife Jeanine on the porch. P1: Erica is my older sister and my best friend. 66 00:04:25,670 --> 00:04:31,220 Sometimes it even feels like we are twins! She is my number one fan and my number one 67 00:04:31,220 --> 00:04:36,040 supporter. She makes me happy because despite all my mistakes and my decisions, she still 68 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:40,910 loves me no matter what. P4: Your friendship is everything. And you 69 00:04:40,910 --> 00:04:44,180 are one of the most important person in my life. 70 00:04:44,180 --> 00:04:49,340 P1: Even when she has a kid and many children I will love her more than her kids! Okay, 71 00:04:49,340 --> 00:04:53,880 maybe not. I will never forget when she flew 3000 miles at the drop of a phone call to 72 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:58,800 save me from a break-up. [phone]: I'm being blessed by having a son 73 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:05,800 like you. I love you. P3: Bye! 74 00:05:06,020 --> 00:05:10,000 [phone]: Why did you do this to me? P1: [laughs] I don't know because they made 75 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,560 me do it! P4: Thank you for picking up, bye sweetie! 76 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,680 P1: And then they're like here you're gonna write this letter and then I wrote like this 77 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,120 whole long-ass letter which you know I don't write. And then all of a sudden they're like 78 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,000 "hey guess what you're gonna call her and you're gonna read her this letter and it was 79 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000 like what the [expletive] [laughs]. 80 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,200 JH: Before we let them go we gave our subjects 81 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,800 one more happiness test. Now we mixed up and rephrased the questions so they didn't know 82 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,560 they were taking the same test twice. For those who took the time to actually write 83 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,840 something down but couldn't make the phone call for whatever reason we saw happiness 84 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:57,870 increase between 2 and 4 percent. Good, but not exactly mind-blowing. Now for those who 85 00:05:57,870 --> 00:06:01,980 actually picked up the phone and personally expressed their gratitude, we saw increases 86 00:06:01,980 --> 00:06:08,980 between 4 and 19 percent. So either way! Expressing your gratitude will making you a happier person. 87 00:06:09,419 --> 00:06:14,610 But you want to know something really interesting? The person who experienced the biggest jump 88 00:06:14,610 --> 00:06:20,139 in happiness was the least happy person who walked in the door. What does that mean? That 89 00:06:20,139 --> 00:06:24,340 means if you're having a particularly tough time, trying this out will more likely have 90 00:06:24,340 --> 00:06:31,340 a greater impact on you. Trust me! I'm in a lab coat. In fact, while you're at it, film 91 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,430 it and upload it to us and we'll do something awesome with it. I'm Julian and this has been 92 00:06:36,430 --> 00:06:38,919 The Science of Happiness. 93 00:06:38,919 --> 00:07:10,000 SoulPancake Subscribe!