Happiness ain't all it's cracked up to be

[n2doc]

17:22 26 February 2010 by Jessica Hamzelou

The Founding Fathers liked happiness so much they considered pursuing it an inalienable right – but maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Happiness seems to make people more selfish, the latest in a series of revelations suggesting it changes how you think – and not in a good way.

Psychologist Joe Forgas at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, who has led many of these studies, suggests that happiness's negative effects all stem from a cheery mood's tendency to lull you into feeling secure. This makes you look inwards and behave both more selfishly and more carelessly.

"People in a positive mood generally rely more on their own thoughts and preferences, and pay less attention to the outside world and social norms," says Forgas.

To probe the effect of happiness on selfishness, Forgas and his colleague Hui Bing Tan put 45 students into good or bad moods by giving them positive or negative feedback on a "cognitive test" that they had taken. In fact the test was a fake and did not measure cognition, while the feedback bore no relation to their performance.

more

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18585-happiness-aint-all-its-cracked-up-to-be.html

[Fumesucker]

1. That makes me wonder which is cause and which effect though..

People who concentrate on the outside world and are not so selfish may see more things which make them unhappy..

[Duer 157099]

2. I agree with what you say about factors contributing to unhappiness

However, this study deliberately puts the subjects into either of the moods and then evaluates their immediate subsequent behavior, so it's sort of asking a different question.

And it makes sense to me and gives me just that much more justification for maintaining my crappy unhappiness! :D

[babydollhead]

3. 95 percent of your day happens in your own head

if the weather in your head is open, compassionate (to your self and others), then your happiness is there for the taking. It's head weather, it changes, but the choice to just be where you are with no agenda of how it should go, happiness is a viable option

[bemildred]

5. Don't forget Sturgeon's Law:

"Ninety percent of everything is crud."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_Law

[bemildred]

4. Yep, it is always when you are fat, dumb, and happy that the world clubs you upside the head.

If you are alert and paying attention, you stay out of trouble.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. I remember a saying/definition of happiness from an album 45 years ago

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Before I give you the quote/definition from the album, let me give you my own.

Happiness can't be found - it's a by-product of the way you live.

From an album called "How to Live with Yourself; or What to do until the psychiatrist comes" by Dr. Murray Banks

as close as I can remember it, his statement was

"Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude you.

But if you sit quietly and peaceful, It may fly quietly and rest gently on your shoulder."

I just googled:

I see it's now on a video; the album cover displayed is how I remembered it from the early 60's.

The album is informative, with lots of humor interjected.

might want to check it out



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyOl0-qbDSU