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OF LIFE'S SHARPEST PARADOXES IS THAT THE KEY TO SATISFACTION IS DOING THINGS THAT FEEL RISKY, UNCOMFORTABLE, AND OCCASIONALLY BAD.
FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS WHO FREQUENTLY FLY CROSS-COUNTRY, how we describe our career to seatmates-mentioning for example, that we are psychologists-determines whether we get five hours of airborne intrigue or inside access to a decaying marriage or more detail than you can imagine about an inability to resist maple-glazed Krispy Kremes. Even wearing oversized headphones often fails to dissuade the passenger hell-bent on telling her story of childhood abandonment (which is why it is handy for research psychologists to simply say we study "judgments"). For those of us who risk the truth and admit that we study happiness, there's one practically guaranteed response: What can I do to be happy?
The secret ofhappiness is aconcern of growing importance in die modern era, as increased financial security has given many the time to focus on self-growth. No longer hunter-gatherers concerned with where to find the next kill, we worry instead about how to live our best lives. Happiness books have become a cottage industry; personal-development trainings are a bigger business than ever.
The pursuit of happiness is not uniquely American either- in a study of more than 10,000 participants from 48 countries, psychologists Ed Diener of the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia discovered that people from every corner of the globe rated happiness as being more important than other highly desirable personal outcomes, such as having meaning in life, becoming rich, and getting into heaven.
The fever for happiness is spurred on, in part, by a growing body of research suggesting that happiness does not just feel good but is good for you- it's been linked to all sorts ofbenefits, from higher earnings and better immune-system functioning to boosts in creativity.
Most people accept that true happiness is more than a jumble of intensely positive feelings- it's probably better described as a sense of "peace" or "contentedness." Regardless ofhow it's defined, happiness is partly emotional- and therefore tethered to the truth that each individual's feelings have a natural set point, like a thermostat, which genetic baggage and personality play a role in establishing. Yes, positive events give you a...