The Science of Happiness - An Experiment in Gratitude

Participant 1: Shut up [laughs]
Participant 2: What? Wait, wait.

Participant 3: Oh he's gonna be so embarrassed.

[title music]

Julian Huguet: What makes you happy?
Having fun?

Hanging out with friends?
Delicious food?

Making money?
Well consider this. Psychologists have scientifically

proven that one of the greatest contributing
factors to overall happiness in your life

is how much gratitude you show.
Yup. Think about that.

Go ahead and marinate on that for a second.
You can thank me later if you want.

It will make you feel better according to
this study.

You go ahead and click on it and read it if
you want.

Or, you can keep watching because we read
it, we thought it might be fun to test out

for ourselves.
We gathered a selection of volunteers to act

as our subjects.
First we gave them a test.

They didn't know what we were looking for.
But they gave us a pretty good idea of their

current level of happiness.
We asked them to close their eyes and think

of somebody who was really influential in
their life.

Somebody who did something really amazing
or important for them.

We had them write down as much as they could
about why this person was so important.

Now a lot of them thought at this point the
experiment was over until we really put them

on the spot and tried to get them to call
that person and read what they wrote about

them.
Thank you Jessica. We are going to have to

have you call your mother.
So who was that right person for you?

Participant 1: The person is my sister Erica.
JH: We're gonna give Erica a call.

Participant 1: [laughs] Okay.
JH: Who'd you end up picking?

Participant 3: Friend of mine, Greg Haines.
Participant 4: Her name is Dora.

Participant 5: My college accounting instructor.
JH: Really! Is this someone you're still in

touch with today?
P 5: No I'm assuming that he is passed on.

JH: That's a shame.
P5: To the great beyond.

JH: You up for it?
P3: Um, uh yes.

JH: What would you say if we called up Dora?
P4: We can try but she lives in Britain.

JH: In Britain?
P2: I don't know her number by heart, this

is awful.
JH: That's fine, I don't know my mom's phone

number by heart.
P5: If it's true that those who are gone

on are looking down on us, maybe he'll recognize
he is great.

[on phone]: Hi sweetheart!
P2: Hey how you doing. Um you gotta second?

Where you at, the hotel?
[phone]: I am, I'm in the hotel. You scared

me when you asked if I had a second, I thought
something was wrong

P2: No I'm on this little TV show and they
told me to talk about the person that influenced

me the most, and I picked you and they're
making me call, they're making me call you.

[phone]: Oh wonderful!
[phone dialing]

[voicemail]

[phone dialing]

P1: Oh come on.
[phone]: Hello?

P1: Hi! Erica, it's me.
P2: Alright so I gotta read you this paragraph,

can you hear me?
[phone]: Yes I can. Go ahead sweetheart.

P2: Alright. The person that influenced me
the most would be my mother, Marlow Dawson.

She is a single mother of two, she is a very
hard-worker and dedicated to her family.

P3: Hey Craig, this is Lowy. Um, this is gonna
be a funny little voicemail so I hope you

enjoy it.
P4: I'm so sorry for calling you at 4 o'clock

in the morning!
P1: I have to read this to you okay? You can't

say anything or I don't know. You can respond
but, I probably will just keep going [laughs]

okay?
[phone]: Is everything okay?

P1: Yes! But I have to read this out loud
to you.

P5: The person who has had the biggest impact
on my life, outside of Jesus Christ who is

responsible for my existence, was my college
accounting instructor. He had a joy and enthusiasm

for his job like no other teacher I have ever
known.

P2: I love her to death, and she keeps me
going with positive talk, she is a woman that

knows what she wants and won't give up until
it is achieved.

[phone]: Oh pumpkin, I don't know what to,
I'm about to cry because that's so beautiful.

I have to say that's just wonderful.
P3: I first met Craig on an independent feature

film set in Whitefish, Montana. I recently
have been sending Craig a lot of positive

thoughts as he suffered a series of health
problems. Despite his medical problems, he's

continued to work and take pleasure in the
small things in life like sitting quietly

with his wife Jeanine on the porch.
P1: Erica is my older sister and my best friend.

Sometimes it even feels like we are twins!
She is my number one fan and my number one

supporter. She makes me happy because despite
all my mistakes and my decisions, she still

loves me no matter what.
P4: Your friendship is everything. And you

are one of the most important person in my
life.

P1: Even when she has a kid and many children
I will love her more than her kids! Okay,

maybe not. I will never forget when she flew
3000 miles at the drop of a phone call to

save me from a break-up.
[phone]: I'm being blessed by having a son

like you. I love you.
P3: Bye!

[phone]: Why did you do this to me?
P1: [laughs] I don't know because they made

me do it!
P4: Thank you for picking up, bye sweetie!

P1: And then they're like here you're gonna
write this letter and then I wrote like this

whole long-ass letter which you know I don't
write. And then all of a sudden they're like

"hey guess what you're gonna call her and
you're gonna read her this letter and it was

like what the [expletive] [laughs].

JH: Before we let them go we gave our subjects

one more happiness test. Now we mixed up and
rephrased the questions so they didn't know

they were taking the same test twice. For
those who took the time to actually write

something down but couldn't make the phone
call for whatever reason we saw happiness

increase between 2 and 4 percent. Good, but
not exactly mind-blowing. Now for those who

actually picked up the phone and personally
expressed their gratitude, we saw increases

between 4 and 19 percent. So either way! Expressing
your gratitude will making you a happier person.

But you want to know something really interesting?
The person who experienced the biggest jump

in happiness was the least happy person who
walked in the door. What does that mean? That

means if you're having a particularly tough
time, trying this out will more likely have

a greater impact on you. Trust me! I'm in
a lab coat. In fact, while you're at it, film

it and upload it to us and we'll do something
awesome with it. I'm Julian and this has been

The Science of Happiness.

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