Latest Happiness Stories
The world's first organization dedicated to spreading happiness officially launched in London on Tuesday, with the goal of promoting healthy relationships and meaningful activities as ways of happier living.Action for Happiness, whose members include the Dalai Lama, was co-founded by Richard Layard, an economics professor at the London School of Economics. The group rejects individualism and the pursuit of material wealth, and provides alternative advice for a happier life based on...
UC Riverside study of longevity unearths surprising answers.Cheer up. Stop worrying. Don't work so hard.Good advice for a long life? As it turns out, no. In a groundbreaking study of personality as a predictor of longevity, University of California, Riverside researchers found just the opposite."It's surprising just how often common assumptions "“ by both scientists and the media "“ are wrong," said Howard S. Friedman, distinguished professor of psychology who led the 20-year...
In a new study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, University at Buffalo researcher Michael A. Stefanone, PhD, and colleagues found that females who base their self worth on their appearance tend to share more photos online and maintain larger networks on online social networking sites.He says the results suggest that females identify more strongly with their image and appearance, and use Facebook as a platform to compete for attention. "The results...
The satisfaction of young parents decreases with their number of children, while older parents are happier than their childless peers are"Children may be a long-term investment in happiness," says MPIDR demographer Mikko Myrskylä. Together with Rachel Margolis from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA, he published the new study in the latest issue of the journal "Population and Development Review". It shows a global trend: while for parents under 30 the...
Young people in the UK are very satisfied with their lives with 70 per cent rating themselves as happy or very happy. These are the first findings from Understanding Society, the world's largest household panel study managed by the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex.As part of the study, which will follow 40,000 UK households over a number of years more than 2,000 young people aged between 10 to 15 years have been asked how satisfied they are with...
In a review of more than 160 studies of human and animal subjects, researchers have found "clear and compelling evidence" that happy people tend to live longer and experience better health than their unhappy counterparts. According to the review, published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, evidence linking an upbeat outlook on life to better health and longer life was stronger even than that linking obesity to reduced longevity. "I was almost shocked, and certainly...
Low self-esteem is associated with a greater risk of mental health problems such as eating disorders and depression. From a public health perspective, it is important for staff in various health-related professions to know about self-esteem. However, there is a vast difference between the research-based knowledge on self-esteem and the simplified popular psychology theories that are disseminated through books and motivational talks, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg.Current...
The first findings from the world's largest study of households are now published. The Understanding Society publication reveals a comprehensive snap shot of UK households. Starting in 2009, the year when Britain officially entered recession for the first time since 1991 and the Copenhagen climate summit ended in more questions than answers, the study offers an unprecedented insight into 40,000 UK households as they respond to regional, national and international change.The publication offers...
New research links well-being in adolescence with life satisfaction in adulthoodBeing a 'happy' teenager is linked to increased well-being in adulthood, new research finds.Much is known about the associations between a troubled childhood and mental health problems, but little research has examined the affect of a positive childhood. For the first time, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing have analyzed the link between a positive...
Whether you are married or cohabiting with your partner, the vast majority of couples in the UK are happy in their relationship. Initial findings, from Understanding Society, show that around 90 percent of individuals who are living with a partner are happy with their relationship.Researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research asked both individuals in the couple to rate their happiness on a seven point scale; from the lowest score of 'extremely unhappy' to the middle point of...
