As promised Sweet 17 - happiness

[baypond]

Don’t equate happiness with money. People adapt to income shifts

relatively quickly, the long lasting benefits are essentially zero.

Exercise regularly. Taking regular exercise generates further energy,

and stimulates the mind and the body.

Have sex (preferably with someone you love). Sex is consistently

rated as amongst the highest generators of happiness. So what are you

waiting for?

Devote time and effort to close relationships. Close relationships

require work and effort, but pay vast rewards in terms of happiness.

Pause for reflection, meditate on the good things in life. Simple

reflection on the good aspects of life helps prevent hedonic adaptation.

Seek work that engages your skills, look to enjoy your job. It

makes sense to do something you enjoy. This in turn is likely to allow

you to flourish at your job, creating a pleasant feedback loop.

Give your body the sleep it needs.

Don’t pursue happiness for its own sake, enjoy the moment. Faulty

perceptions of what makes you happy, may lead to the wrong pursuits.

Additionally, activities may become a means to an end, rather than

something to be enjoyed, defeating the purpose in the first place.

Take control of your life, set yourself achievable goals.

Remember to follow all the rules.

If it makes you happy

With apologies to Monty Python, this weekly is perhaps best summed up as “And now

for something completely different”. We have a reputation (admittedly deservedly) for

being bearish. Indeed, on occasions, we even manage to depress ourselves. However,

as professional pessimists it behoves us to be happy in other aspects of our lives.

Those of you who are amongst our regular readers may recall that Albert Edwards has

documented his own search for happiness with a weekly concerning his exploits at

speed dating (see Global Strategy Weekly, 15 January 2004).

Albert’s adventures have inspired me to, once again, drag the psychological literature.

The psychological study of well-being and happiness is still a relatively new field.

However, despite its relative youth, the field has already delivered some powerful

insights and advice.

But before we get to these, let’s start at the beginning. Why be happy? The

psychological literature shows that effectively the benefits of happiness can be broken

down into three areas. These may seem like a long list of the blindingly obvious, but all

are based on careful scientific studies (rather than cheap self help books!). 1

1. i)  Social rewards

   1. Higher odds of marriage

   2. Lower odds on divorce

   3. More friends

   4. Stronger social support

   5. Richer social interactions

2. ii)  Superior work outcomes

   1. Greater creativity

   2. Increased productivity

   3. Higher quality of work

   4. Higher income

   5. More activity, more energy

3. iii)  Personal benefits

a. Bolstered immune system

2. Greater longevity

3. Greater self control and coping abilities

So let’s assume that you share the desire to enjoy this list of happiness-induced

benefits (and I’d be surprised if anyone had issues with any of these benefits), how do

you go about becoming happy?

Percentage of Americans describing themselves as very happy

1955=35%,

1960

= 31%

1965 = 38%, 1970

= 34%, 1975 =30% ,  1980= 32 ,  1985 =28 , 1990 =31  1995 =32  2000 = 28

In order to understand how we can improve our level of happiness we need to

understand its components. The latest research suggests that happiness is composed

of three sections2.

The largest contributor to happiness is the genetically determined set point (or more

accurately set range). That is to say, people are pre-disposed to a certain level of

happiness, which is determined by characteristics inherited from their parents! As

Sheldon et al note “The set point likely reflects immutable interpersonal,

temperamental and affective personality traits, such as extraversion, arousability and

negative affectivity, that are rooted in neurobiology, ...are highly heritable... and

change little over the lifespan.”

Adam Smith, author of the Wealth of Nations, also wrote the Theory of Moral

Sentiments, a text far closer to understanding the nature of human beings than the

better known favourite of economists3. Smith noted “The mind of every man, in a

longer or shorter time, returns to its natural and usual state of tranquillity. In prosperity,

after a certain time, it falls back to that state; in adversity, after a certain time, it rises

up to it”.

Current estimates suggest that this genetically determined set range accounts for

around 50% of an individual’s happiness. However, the set point is only the base line

2 Sheldon, Lyubomirsky and Schkade (2003) Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable

Change

3 Indeed a new paper by Ashraf, Camerer, and Loewenstein (2004) argues that Adam Smith was

actually one of the first behavioural economists. They cite the Theory of Moral Sentiments as a good

example of how insightful Smith really was.

or default level of happiness that an individual enjoys. It is the level of happiness that

an individual would have in the absence of other factors. Because the set point is

generally fixed, it is not something we can alter in order to improve our happiness lot.

This, of course, means that in order to increase our happiness we need to look

elsewhere.

The second component of happiness is circumstances. Life circumstances include

demographic factors, age, gender, ethnicity and geographic factors. It also includes

personal history and life status. Frequently people focus upon the last element of this

feature.

Indeed, amongst the most commonly reported correlates of happiness are marital

status, occupation, job security, income, health and religious affiliations. In general,

married, well paid, secure, healthy and religious believers are more likely to report

themselves as being happy than the rest of us.

That said, a vast array of individuals seriously over-rate the importance of money in

making themselves, and others, happy. Indeed, it seems to me that an awful lot of

individuals within our industry tend to equate money with happiness.

However, study after study from psychology shows that money doesn’t equal

happiness. For instance, Loewenstein (1996) asked visitors to Pittsburgh International

Airport to rank from 1 (most important) to 5 (least important) a list of “things that might

be important when it comes to making people happy”. They were then asked to assign

percentages as to the importance of each factor in determining overall happiness. The

table below shows the mean ranking and percentage weights that respondents

assigned to each variable. High income received the lowest ranking and rating.

Rankings and ratings of happiness factors

Item Mean rank

Family Life 1.7

Friends 2.4

Satisfying job 2.5

High income 3.6

Source: Loewenstein

A similar finding is contained by Diener and Oishi (2000)4 who surveyed some 7167

students across 41 countries. Those who valued love more than money reported far

higher life satisfaction scores than those who seemed to be money focused. (See chart

p5).

However, for all the emphasis that gets put upon life circumstances as a generator of

happiness, the correlations between such variables as money, job security, marriage

etc and happiness are relatively small. In fact, Sheldon et al argue that in total all

circumstances account for only around 10% of the variations in people’s happiness.

There is an additional problem with changing life circumstances as a path to increasing

happiness. It goes by the frightening name of hedonic adaptation5. Simply put, hedonic

adaptation means we are very good at quickly assimilating our current position, and

then judging it as normal, hence only changes from our “normal” level get noticed.

Gains in happiness quickly become the norm. So changing life circumstances seems

to lead to only temporary improvement in people’s happiness. This helps explain the

chart on p3, which shows that since the 1950s people’s happiness levels have been

remarkably constant, despite a massive growth in income per head over the same time

horizon.

Schkade and Kahneman (1998)6 show that whilst “living in California” was an

appealing idea for many Americans, it didn’t actually boost long run happiness. That is

to say, people living in California were about as happy as other Americans on average.

So whilst moving may provide a temporary increase in happiness, it is soon adapted

into the perception of the “norm”.

Hence hedonic adaptation severely limits the ability of changing life circumstances to

improve long run happiness. So neither life circumstances nor the set point seem to

hold the key to creating sustainable increases in happiness.

All of which means that any hope for increasing happiness on a long term basis must

lie with the third and final component of happiness – intentional activity. Sheldon et al

define intentional activity as “discrete actions or practices that people can choose to

do”. By process of elimination, intentional activity must account for 40% of people’s

happiness.

ntentional activity can be (somewhat artificially) broken down into three areas:

Behavioural activities – such as exercising regularly, having sex7, being kind to others,

and spending time socialising.

Cognitive activities – such as trying to see the best, pausing to count how lucky one

actually is.

Volitional activities – striving for personal goals, devoting effort to meaningful causes.

Unlike changing life circumstances, intentional activity is likely to be more resistant to

hedonic adaptation. The very nature of activities means they are episodic, and hence

are unlikely to become part of the “norm” in the way alterations to circumstances do.

Because activities are not permanent they can be varied which again helps prevent

hedonic adaptation. For instance, in taking exercise the particular activity can easily be

altered from cycling to swimming.

Cognitive activities such as pausing to think about the good things in one’s life can also

help counteract the hedonic adaptation process directly. After all, counting one’s

blessing helps to prevent them from becoming part of the “norm”.

Of course, just like New Year’s resolutions, happiness increasing strategies are

relatively easy to devise, but far harder to implement on a consistent basis. A

deliberate effort is required to pursue activities. However, an individual has much more

chance of being able to start an activity than say change the set point or alter life

circumstances. So just how can we seek to improve our intentional activities to

enhance happiness? Well the list below is drawn from my reading of the literature, all

of these have withstood laboratory testing in a scientific environment.

The top ten list for improving happiness (in no particular order)

1. 1)  Don’t equate happiness with money. People adapt to income shifts

   relatively quickly, the long lasting benefits are essentially zero.

2. 2)  Exercise regularly. Regular exercise is an effective cure for mild depression

   and anxiety. It also stimulates more energy, and is good for the mind and
   body.

3. 3)  Have sex (preferably with someone you love). Need I say more?

4. 4)  Devote time and effort to close relationships. Confiding and discussing

   problems and issues is good for happiness, so work on these relationships.

5. 5)  Pause for reflection, meditate on the good things in life. Focusing on the

   good aspects of life helps to prevent hedonic adaptation.

6. 6)  Seek work that engages your skills, look to enjoy your job. Doing well at

   work creates happiness, and the easiest way of doing well at work, is doing a
   job you enjoy.

7. 7)  Give your body the sleep it needs. Too many people have a sleep deficit,

   resulting in fatigue, gloomy moods and lack of concentration.

8. 8)  Don’t pursue happiness for its own sake, enjoy the moment. Because

   people don’t understand what makes them happy, pursuing happiness can be
   self-defeating. Additionally, if people start to aim for happiness they are doing
   activities for happiness’s sake rather than actually enjoying the activity itself.

9. 9)  Take control of your life, set yourself achievable goals. People are

   happiest when they achieve their aims, so set yourself goals which stretch
   you, but are achievable.

10) Remember to follow rules 1-9. Following these guidelines sounds easy, but

actually requires willpower and effort.

Let’s leave the last words to Adam Smith (quoted in Adam Smith, Behavioural

Economist by Ashraf et al (2004) from the Theory of Moral Sentiments):

Through the whole of his life he pursues the idea of a certain artificial and

elegant repose which he may never arrive at, for which he sacrifices a

real tranquillity that is at all times in his power, and which, if in the

extremity of old age he should at last attain to it, he will find to be in no

respect preferable to that humble security and contentment which he had

abandoned for it. It is then, in the last dregs of life, his body wasted with

toil and disease, his mind galled and ruffled by the memory of a thousand

injuries and disappointments which he imagines he has met with from the

injustice of his enemies, or from the perfidy and ingratitude of his friends,

that he begins at last to find that wealth and greatness are mere trinkets

of frivolous utility, no more adapted for procuring ease of body or

tranquillity of mind, than the tweezer-cases of the lover of toys.

[mint]

Thank you for going to the trouble of finding that article and reproducing it here.

I guess some of it will work for some people.  But I do go along with how at least half of your "happiness quotient", so to speak, is inborn.  There are some people who will ALWAYS be unhappy and some who are cheery souls.

I think I am somewhere in the HAPPY medium![:D]

[baypond]

I think in a world that is in pursuit of material things, and I speak as an investment banker, it is a good reminder that material hapiness is transitory. Friends, family, hobbies etc are more important.

My motivation to do well in my career started from a craving for financial security resulting from a childhood where my parents never had money and never owned a house. It always scared me to know that our home could be taken away from us.

[Rabbie]

I think that happiness is not something you can actively pursue. In my experience it comes along when you are doing something else.

SW17, I am sure you are right about the inborn quotient. There do seem to be some people who seem to do their best to be unhappy at all costs

[Cendrillon]

"A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress

management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone

expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question.

Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how

long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold

it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my

arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass

doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." She

continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of

water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about

them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them

all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything."

Remember to put the glass down"

[mint]

[quote user="baypond"]I think in a world that is in pursuit of material things, and I speak as an investment banker, it is a good reminder that material hapiness is transitory. Friends, family, hobbies etc are more important. My motivation to do well in my career started from a craving for financial security resulting from a childhood where my parents never had money and never owned a house. It always scared me to know that our home could be taken away from us.[/quote]

I have been there too, baypond; worrying about paying my way; though nothing like so much in latter years.

But, I tell you what, some event could just turn that worry totally on its head and you suddenly "get it"!

When OH was taken ill last year and I thought he was going to die, I knew damn well that I'd give every penny (every centime too!) I possessed to have him live.  Well, he did survive and I haven't had to give away all my money![:D]  But that's not to say I wouldn't!

[baypond]

The biggest mistake people make is thinking that money makes you popular. It doesnt.

[baypond]

Great to hear the OH pulled through by the way. Im sure he is worth every centime you would have given away. Sometimes!

[Chancer]

any chance of editting the first posting which did look very interesting, to remove the blue background so that I can read it please?

I had no problem with the one with blue text but for me the white text on a solid blue background is unreadable after a few seconds.

[richard51]

Chancer, copy the text and paste it into word or something similar.

Centrillon, what an excellent piece of advice.

[baypond]

If you pm me i will send you the PDF with charts.