14 DAY TRIAL // In some instances, the pursuit of happiness can make people feel miserable. Experts demonstrate in a new study that not all forms of happiness are good, enjoyable, or beneficial to people, and give a few examples to support their claims.
The work started from the fact that the pursuit of happiness is one of the tenets of America life. What scientists behind the new work wanted to see was whether this state of mind had any negative side-effects as well.
One of the most important conclusions the research group came to is that not all types and degrees of happiness are good, or equally good. Details of their study appear in the Association for Psychological Science (APS) journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Investigators explain that setting a goal of reaching happiness can sometimes backfire on people, in the end leaving them feeling worse than when they made their plans. In some cases, it's best to leave things be, says Yale University expert June Gruber.
The results of the new study shouldn't in any way be construed as an advice to stop trying to reach happiness, add University of Denver expert Iris Mauss and Hebrew University of Jerusalem researcher Maya Tamir.
Various self-help books propose several approaches to increasing happiness, including taking some time off every day for personal time, or thinking about instances in the past when you were happy.
“But when you’re doing it with the motivation or expectation that these things ought to make you happy, that can lead to disappointment and decreased happiness,” Gruber explains, saying that the expectations themselves are what render these methods ineffective at times.
Oftentimes, when people expect to get happier after seeing a film that's advertised as happy, they end up being disappointed. These feelings of failure can at times make them even less happy than they were before seeing the movie. The same extends for books and other behaviors.
“The strongest predictor of happiness is not money, or external recognition through success or fame, it’s having meaningful social relationships. If there’s one thing you’re going to focus on, focus on that. Let all the rest come as it will,” the team leader explains, quoted by Science Blog.