Happiness

Hi, everyone.

In this unit, we are focusing
on the big question

of how we can be happy,

and what you're doing right now

in this particular unit
that you're working on

is really tackling that
question head-on.

It's one of the great
questions, of course:

What can we do to be happy?

And one of the great aims of life, I think,
is to try to figure out how to be happy.

So we're studying that and

we're trying out some things
related to that in this unit.

I'm reading through the application
assignments that you're working on here,

and I find myself really humbled.

you might remember
that the major task

is to expose yourself to an episode

of a podcast series called
"The Science of Happiness,"

in which there is a
happiness guinea pig

that tries out a research-supported
happiness practice.

And then to listen to that and then
to try out the practice for yourself

and, in the discussion boards,

to write about how
that goes for you.

And so, I feel humbled by it

because what I'm reading
is really amazing to me.

I see a lot of students
thinking really critically

about what they need in their lives,

where they might feel
like they're not happy

and choosing episodes that match that,

and then trying out practices,
and based upon what I'm reading,

really benefiting from the practices.

So I feel really encouraged by that.

I think it's probably a good
time for me to acknowledge

that I have kind of a hidden agenda
here in some ways in this course.

Now, of course, in an Introduction
to Psychology survey course like this,

I want you to become familiar

with what psychology is all about and
the different topics that are studied

and the knowledge that we
have created about behavior.

I want to learn to think critically about
research and claims about behavior.

I want you to apply some of what
has been learned to your own life,

and that's where this
application assignment

(as many of the other
application assignments) relate.

You're trying out things

that come from psychology,
that come from research,

and trying to see how it might
relate to your life and then

see if maybe it can somehow
improve your experience of life.

But beyond that, there's another kind
of wish I have for you in this course,

and that's to expose you to
different ways of learning.

I have assigned you
a textbook, of course,

but I also have, I think, assigned to
you a variety of less traditional ways

of learning material in this course --

TED Talks, many different kinds of
podcasts, articles, and things like that --

and one of my goals there
is for you to kind of check out

these different popular ways

of learning about psychology
and culture and living well

so that when the course is over,
you can continue that if you want to.

Now, I know you get points
for doing all of this now and

there's an instrumental
motive that you have,

but I'm hoping you realize

that there is also an
intrinsic internal motive

to learning about psychology
and culture and living well

that go beyond the value of points.

You know, I hope --

Maybe this goes without saying,

but there's benefit to learning

about the new research that's
coming out about happiness

and you might want to consider
continue learning about that

after the semester is over even if
you don't get any points for it.

I know that in my life,

there was a time where my wife and I,
at night before we went to sleep,

would oftentimes watch a TED Talk for many
months and then we would talk about that,

and that really enriched our lives.

And regularly now, we listen to podcasts,

and many of the podcast series that
you've been exposed to in this course --

many from National Public Radio,

you've got this one on
The Science of Happiness --

we listen to those when we go to the gym,
when we're driving in the car, or whatever,

we talk about those,
we try out different activities.

So on my phone,
I have a podcast app

(which most of you probably
have access to also) and

and I just have my favorite
podcast series there,

and when a new episode comes up,

it notifies me that there's a
new episode that's available

kind of like if you're watching Netflix

and there's a new series,
new episodes available,

I find out about that, I listen to it,

and it gives me something a little bit
more productive to think about, I think,

when I am at the gym
or driving in the car.

It generates interesting conversation with
my wife and my family, my friends, and I.

So that's a possibility, and I hope
maybe being in this course and

being exposed to these different ways
of learning might encourage you to

think about how you might continue
learning after the semester is over.

Now in the reflection assignment

that you're doing right now
related to happiness,

there are a lot of really classic
questions being posed and

I thought I would take a few minutes
here and just give a little context

for the study of happiness by
addressing some of those questions

So, of course, one of the one of the classic
questions is: What is happiness?

What do we mean by the term "happiness"?

And I think that's a really
important question

because people use that word
(happiness) in many different ways.

Now in psychology, the study
of human happiness has been

influenced by a model of happiness
where happiness is considered to be

consisting of 3 different
types of happiness,

3 different aspects of happiness.

One is positive emotion,

so part of happiness is feeling good,

feeling happy, feeling joyful,
feeling grateful, feeling awe,

feeling content, laughing,
feeling amused, that kind of stuff.

That is different than a
second aspect of happiness,

which is more the absence, the lack of.

The management of
negative emotion or stress,

so we've kind of
discussed this

in different ways
during this course.

There of course are uses.

There is benefit sometimes
to having some degree

of sadness or fear or
anger or stress in our lives.

These negative states do serve a function.

But I do think that we would all
probably agree that a life overwhelmed

by a sadness or fear or anger or stress
is probably not a real happy life.

So a second element of happiness is
having some management or control

or maintenance of the extent

to which we feel those kinds of
negative experiences in life.

And then a third aspect is kind of
a broad appraisal of satisfaction,

where we look at our
whole lives as a whole

and we feel satisfied,

or sometimes people say they feel
like their life has meaning or a purpose.

And so those three different
elements of happiness

in some ways paint a picture

of what we mean by
happiness in this study.

Now, one interesting aspect of this is,

those three different aspects of
happiness do not always go together.

So one of the classic research
studies, for instance, is,

when people have children,

they are a little bit lower on
average on positive emotion,

a little bit higher on average
on negative emotion and stress

because having
children is difficult.

But having children is oftentimes seen

as the single most
meaningful aspect of life.

And so, that's why we consider those
different elements of happiness because

they potentially are unique.

Now another classic question
I see being raised

(and maybe this follows from
what I'm saying here already) is:

What causes happiness?

And something that we have
discussed at different points,

that you've been exposed to at
different points, is this myth

about external circumstances
dictating how our life goes.

I think a lot of people
(in our culture, especially)

believe that external circumstances
determine how well we do in life,

including how happy we are.

And the research shows that
that's generally not the case.

For instance, a lot of people believe
money is necessary to living well

or being happy or possessions or being
physically attractive or being famous.

Sometimes even, you know, you think
about things like health or education,

a lot of people believe you have to
have those extra circumstances

in order to live a good life
or be happy,

and there's some
research support for that,

but it's relatively a weak predictor
of happiness, so about 10 percent

of the individual differences among us
in terms of happiness can be explained

by the presence of all these
external circumstances combined,

which means that overall,

there are a lot of people who have
a lot of money who are not that happy;

and there are a lot of people who don't
have a lot of money who are very happy.

And same thing with all these
other variables I mentioned.

some people have really nice
cars and aren't that happy.

Some people have really poor health but

have found a way to be happy,
so it's a very complicated picture

and it's an interesting
and important finding

when we think about our lives because

it seems like a lot of people are really
instrumentally motivated to acquire

these external circumstances; and in some
ways they're basing their lives, then,

on a myth in that those extra no
circumstances that they think will make

them happy oftentimes don't.

There's something else that seems to be

involved in happiness to a greater extent
than having external circumstances.

Now we go back to the nature/nurture
debate and we consider, you know:

What would explain something like happiness?

And there is a nature element
and there is a nurture element.

The nature element, as is true
for basically every human trait,

is there is a genetic predisposition.

So some people find it easier
to be happier than others.

This kind of fits with our study
of psychological disorders.

Some people are more naturally
depressed or sad.

Some people are more naturally
afraid or anxious.

Some people are naturally
more addicted.

Some people are naturally
more stress-sensitive, alright?

So that all fits with that,

and a good chunk of our happiness

can be explained by a
genetic predisposition.

That doesn't mean that genetics
somehow predestined some people

to be happier than others, though.

In fact, almost an equally --

Almost as much of a chunk of
happiness can be explained

by what's called intentional activity
(the activity that we control).

And oftentimes, if you kind of
want to understand psychology

kind of as a general discipline,
one point that psychologists make

is that we control a lot in our lives.

There's things we don't control,

but even then, we control our
attitudes, we control our thoughts,

we control our interpretations.

So there's a lot about happiness
we control in terms of our habits

and the activities that we regularly
implement in our daily lives.

And that's actually where this application
assignment that you're doing fits in.

The research shows that there are
certain practices that boost happiness,

boost positive emotion, lessen stress,
increase purpose;

and if we regularly engage
in those kinds of practices,

we will probably be significantly happier
than if we don't engage in those practices.

When we are studying stress in
this course, that also kind of fits in.

So an intentional activity that some
people engage in that makes stress worse

is when they actively avoid or
distract themselves from the stress.

That's where a lot of people
engage in unhealthy behaviors,

oftentimes in the long term,
that make stress worse.

That's where people,
you know, binge on Netflix,

or lose sleep, put off sleep,
make sleep less of a priority.

That's where people eat
unhealthfully or don't exercise

or use all sorts of substances
that are unhealthy for them

because they're trying to avoid
or distract themselves

from the negative parts of their lives,
the stressful parts of their lives.

Rather, the intentional activities
that help people deal with stress

are when people reflect on the
underlying sources of the stress

and take action on those to hopefully,
over time, decrease stress.

And then also, having some
intentional activities that help people

deal with the negative emotions
associated with stress.

And that's where, actually,
a lot of the things

that we're talking about related to
the science of happiness also comes in.

Sometimes, just accepting
that you are in a difficult time

sometimes just accepting
that you're feeling sad

or angry or afraid or stressed out

just accepting, kind of,
the physical experience of it

and knowing that it's uncomfortable
but knowing that you can get through it.

Sometimes, that's very helpful.

Exercise, talking with a friend,
journaling about your emotion,

praying, meditating...

These are all things that help people

work through the most difficult
experiences of their lives

that decrease stress.

One of the episodes of the podcast
series that I recommended this week

is about taking a walk and getting
lost in the beauty around you.

That decreases stress.

So these are intentional activities

that make a significant
difference in people's lives.

There are intentional activities that
help people connect with purpose,

and sometimes, it's as
simple as just reflecting on

what you most want to accomplish in your life,
what makes your life meaningful,

what makes your life purposeful,
what is most important to you

and how that might relate to some
of the values you try to carry out

in your everyday life today.

And then, in terms of positive emotion,

there are lots of Intentional activities
that can help you have positive emotion.

One of the questions I see
in the reflection assignment

is about how you balance work and fun,

particularly for a young person,

where it feels like there's a lot of
pressure to do everything at once:

to finish your degree, to not go into debt,

to get, you know -- How do you do that?

It feels like you just
work and work and work

and you never have any fun.

And I think, probably, there
is a way to balance this

so that you are working
throughout your life

and you're also having
fun throughout your life.

It makes me think, actually,
of how some people

don't really ever travel until they retire,

and then they're not in good enough health

to really benefit from the
opportunities to travel.

And so, I have always tried
to travel throughout life.

You know, every year, we try to
go on some kind of a travel trip,

even if it's just somewhere local.

We try to get around and see new things,

and that's the same thing with fun.

There's a classic quote that comes
from a psychologist, Dr. Wayne Dyer,

and the quote is this:

"There is no way to happiness.
Happiness is the way."

In other words,

happiness is not something you
achieve in the future after you get

external circumstances aligned with
what you think will make you happy.

Happiness is something
you experience now,

based upon your choices today,
your intentional activities today.

And so, I hope that this unit and this topic
really helps you reflect on your life

and what you can do to be at
your best, to manage stress well,

to experience the best
that life has to offer. END