Americans have seen their retirement savings shrivel, home equity evaporate and job security vanish. The only numbers zooming upward seem to be gas and food prices.
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It may look like there’s nothing to smile about, but that shouldn’t stop us, said Ed Diener, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has been studying happiness for more than a quarter-century. Here’s what he wants you to know: That disappearing 401(k) balance? It’s no more a barometer of sadness than winning the lottery guarantees life satisfaction. It’s all a matter of perspective.
“There are people who have little money and are quite happy … and then there are people who feel poor making $150,000 a year,” Diener said. “If we ratchet down some of our aspirations and expectations, we can find contentment — even in a slowing economy.”
He is no blithe guru spray-painting smiley faces along Wall Street. Researchers like Diener are trying to convey what philosophers have long written: True happiness lies in the pursuit of deeply held goals, not in fleeting pleasures and possessions.
We intuitively understand the common-sense distinction between short-term pleasure and long-term happiness. Research suggests the brain also processes those feelings differently — though exactly how the mind creates abiding happiness is unclear.
Diener is co-author, with his son, Robert Biswas-Diener, of the new book “Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth.” He is part of the positive psychology movement that started about two decades ago and bypasses the Freud model of disease and dysfunction, focusing instead on emotional hardiness.
In their view, psychological wealth includes relationships, spirituality (“not necessarily religion … but the feeling you are connected to something larger than yourself”), physical health and a sense of engagement.
What separates those with psychological wealth from miserable peers is their ability to adjust. “That means controlling what is controllable, … diversifying your stocks, then returning to the areas of your life that are going well, such as friends and family,” he said. “It means making a conscious decision to be resilient.”
It takes strong character to find happiness in the face of adversity, but scientists often have found that aspect too vague a topic to study. Understanding how the brain processes raw feelings of desire and pleasure is far easier. Most creatures seek pleasure in some way. Pleasure motivates us to seek food, sex and a multitude of things that ensure the survival of an individual or species.
“There’s an enormous evolutionary advantage to getting pleasure from these things,” said Martin Cassell, a professor at the University of Iowa. “The more long-term aspects of what causes happiness are much less well understood.”
Cassell said he believes a key brain area for both pleasure and long-term happiness is the insular cortex, a region buried under the flaps and folds toward the front of the brain. Also called the insula, the region has been linked to sensations of joy, disgust and pain and even to out-of-body experiences. But beyond joy, a hallmark of human beings is the ability to forgo immediate gratification for the sake of some deeper contentment. That aspect of happiness takes willpower — another big subject neuroscientists have found difficult to study.
“We have no precise sense of what willpower means in the brain, or why some people are better at it than others,” said Todd Braver, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis.
Braver’s team is studying how the brain area called the prefrontal cortex is involved in long-term decision-making. They want to understand how the anticipation of a reward far off in the future — such as the increased satisfaction of a fulfilling but low-paying job — can sometimes overrule the enticement of short-term pleasure.
The mysteries of human behavior and happiness have long dominated Diener family dinner conversations. Diener, 62, also known as “Dr. Happy,” had ample opportunity to reflect on the nature of happiness during his early-marriage years in Champaign, when dining out meant a $1 entree with his wife, Carol, also a psychologist.
Three of their five children went into the family business, including Robert, a psychologist and lecturer at Portland State University. The father and son have traveled all over the world, collecting data on well-being from tens of thousands of subjects in more than 100 countries.
Whether in the gold markets of Dubai or the Australian outback, the scientists have learned happiness goes beyond genes and circumstances. We require enough material wealth to be self-sufficient, the psychologists believe, but the levels of contentment do not dramatically increase after our needs are met. While there is a spike after a major acquisition — like a new car — the euphoria over leather seats doesn’t last.
The same is true with setbacks: Watching one’s nest egg dwindle is enough to pull anyone into a deep hole, but a year later, people typically rebound.Some people find happiness in escaping the seesaw of fleeting gains and losses. Steven Biedermann, 45, an investment banker, was living the good life in a Gold Coast condo with all the requisite perks — but he longed for meaning, not bigger bonuses.
Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “That was the match that lit up a bundle of kindling that had been piling up for years,” he said. The next fall, Biedermann sold everything and joined the Peace Corps. He headed to Kiribati in the Central Pacific, swapping the condo for a small stick hut and swanky restaurants for fish and rice. He grew closer to his Christian faith.
Upon his return, he was hired to manage the Chicago Public Schools investment portfolio — a way to make use of his skills, but with a loftier purpose. Though he earns less than he did his first year after graduating from DePaul University in 1986, Biedermann said he’s fulfilled. “It’s about serving others, not being served. That’s where my happiness comes from.”
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Can’t get no satisfaction?
Looking for ways to find happiness amid all the hand-wringing and belt-tightening? Some tips from authors Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener on creating psychological wealth:
Invest in relationships: That $4 latte might seem like an indulgence, but it’s a bargain when it buys you an hour of quality time catching up with a friend.
Take care of your physical and mental health: Happier people have stronger immune systems and are less likely to be ill than their disgruntled peers. Find healthy outlets for stress — but those don’t have to include an expensive health club membership.
Embrace spirituality: For some that means being an active participant in a faith community; for others it’s volunteering at the neighborhood food pantry or after-school program. These acts of kindness connect you to something bigger than yourself — especially important in tough times.
Be engaged: Diener interviewed a hospital janitor who perceived her job as a fighter of bacteria and infections. “She didn’t see herself at the bottom of the totem pole, but as someone who, if she does her job well, was also saving lives.” Outside of work, find those activities in which you can lose yourself, like gardening, cycling or carpentry.
Adjust your attitude: The research affirms that happy people don’t worry about keeping up with the Joneses. “If you make it all about money, then [your children] will grow up thinking they need to be millionaires to be happy.”
— Bonnie Miller Rubin
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Flourishing goes beyond an individual’s pursuit of his or her own happiness to include contributions to society and the happiness of others. Below are 12 statements. Using the Psychological Flourishing Scale, indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that item.
7 Strongly agree
6 Agree
5 Slightly agree
4 Mixed, or neither agree nor disagree
3 Sightly disagree
2 Disagree
1 Strongly disagree
I lead a purposeful and meaningful life.
My social relationships are supportive and rewarding.
I am engaged and interested in my daily activities.
I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others.
I am competent and capable in the activities that are important to me.
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I am a good person and live a good life.
My material life (income, housing, etc.) is sufficient for my needs.
I generally trust others and feel part of my community.
I am satisfied with my religious or spiritual life.
I am optimistic about the future.
I have no addictions, such as to alcohol, illicit drugs, or gambling.
People respect me.
Total
80-84 Extremely high flourishing
74-79 Very high flourishing
68-73 High flourishing
60-67 Flourishing
48-59 Slight lack of flourishing
32-48 Lack of flourishing
12-31 Extremely low flourishing
SOURCE: “Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth”
Joel Africk, Wilmette.
Age: 52
Marital status: Married, three children (ages 10-16)
Occupation: President of Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago since 2002. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Africk was a partner at Jenner & Block before leaving in 2002. He took a pay cut to work at the nonprofit, he said.
Turning point: The birth of his third child in 1998 and the funeral of a former Respiratory Health Association employee sparked a quest to make a greater contribution. Four years later, Africk applied for the top job. “I was looking for greater life balance and a greater sense of mission. I was at a moment when my head and heart told me to do something else.”
Quote: “I am very much at peace with the work that we’re doing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Flourishing score: 76 (out of 84).
Tracy Moenkhaus, Homewood
Age: 38
Marital status: Married, no kids
Occupation: Advertising sales assistant for Bon Appetit; owner of Fatty’s, a small baked goods business named for her grandmother
Turning point: Baking has been a lifelong passion for Moenkhaus, but she still needed her day job to pay the bills. She figured out how to do both by bringing goodies to the office — and on sales calls. Last year, she started taking catering orders and set up a table at the Homewood farmers market.
Quote: “I’m trying to bring that same feeling of love, warmth and comfort that I’d get at my grandma’s house … even if it’s just for a moment.”
Flourishing score: 68 (There’s that little matter of her day spent in a cubicle rather than a kitchen.)
Andre Guichard, Chicago
Age: 42
Marital status: Married, 1 son (6), two stepchildren (18 and 20)
Occupation: Gallery owner/director and artist
Turning point: In August 2005, he left his job as curator for the South Shore Cultural Center to open Gallery Guichard, 3521 S. King Drive. “I told myself that when my studio generated the same income as my day job, I’d quit. I was afraid. … Why should I leave when I was doubling my income? But I realized that spending those same eight hours in the art business would yield so much more.”
Quote: “I’m linking collectors with little pieces of joy.”
Flourishing score: 80
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