Mental Health
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How to Cultivate Happiness That Lasts
For some, finding true happiness takes a little bit of work on a daily basis
By Meg Walker
Human beings want to be happy. It is for the sake of
happiness that we do everything else we do, Aristotle said. But happiness seems
to come easier to some than others.
The answer to that may be partly genetic. Fifty percent of
happiness is determined by genes, according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology
professor at the University of California, Riverside, who has spent decades
running controlled experiments in which participants practice strategies to
enhance well-being.
Her theory about how much genes influence happiness comes in
part from studies that show identical twins raised apart are closer in
happiness levels than fraternal twins who were raised together. Fraternal twins
share only half their genes, as opposed to identical twins who share 100
percent of their genetic material.
Does that mean that only those who are hard-wired for
happiness will achieve that "ultimate supreme good," as Aristotle called it?
Not necessarily. Lyubomirsky argues that while 50 percent of
happiness has a genetic component, 10 percent depends on your life
circumstances and, most significantly, 40 percent is under your control. In her
book, The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Penguin Press), Lyubomirsky stresses that
developing strategies to harness that 40 percent can make a significant
difference in both your day-to-day life and in your long-term feeling of
fulfillment and contentment.
Other experts agree.
"Only some of our fortune is in our hands, but a lot of our
happiness is in our hands,'' said Ronald Siegel, PsyD, assistant clinical
professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of The
Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems (Guilford Press), a book on how to find happiness
when faced with difficulties such as anxiety or depression. "Happiness is like
anything else in the sense that you have to make a deliberate effort to
cultivate it."
Over the last several years, research in the field of
positive psychology, or the scientific study of happiness, has identified ways
that help people reach a happier state. Siegel summarized various studies in
positive psychology and, based on those findings, outlined broad steps for
sustaining personal happiness in a report titled "Positive Psychology:
Harnessing the Power of Happiness, Personal Strength and Mindfulness" (Harvard
Health Publications).
In his report, Siegel argues that the key to increasing
sustainable happiness is not money, fame, youth or material gain. Numerous
studies have found that material objects don't lead to happiness over the long
term. For example, Siegel cites a 2006 study by Richard Easterlin in the Journal
of Economic Psychology, in which being
young failed to contribute to happiness, and adults grew steadily happier as
they moved into and through middle age.
The desire for material gain or change in wealth and status
based on circumstances is subject to what Siegel and positive psychologists
call the "hedonic treadmill."
"We become accustomed to one level of gratification and then
we look for more,'' he said.
As an example, Siegel writes in his report that studies have
documented how quickly people adapt to both negative and positive
circumstances. Lottery winners, Siegel wrote, are no happier once some time has
passed after winning than a control group of people who didn't win.
Rather, sustainable happiness is cultivated through small
choices over a lifetime, Siegel believes.
"For some, happiness is an accident of genetics and
upbringing, but if you haven't developed [strategies for fostering your own
happiness], a little bit of work on that dimension will have a significant
impact," he said.
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