happiness research

How to be happier is a topic covered in countless books, blogs, and podcasts. Consume enough of this content and you repeatedly come across the same recommendations that have purportedly been proven to increase happiness: exercise, spend time in nature, meditate, socialize, and practice gratitude. 

But is there actual scientific evidence that these strategies work?

Today on the show, we'll find out what professor of social psychology Elizabeth Dunn discovered when she did a study of happiness studies, and what the surprising findings have to do with the "replication crisis" that's occurred in science. In the second half of our conversation, Elizabeth shares the takeaways of a few well-vetted happiness studies she's done herself, including how to spend your money and use technology to increase happiness. And we discuss how to apply these findings, and the findings of all happiness studies, in a wise way that takes into account your unique personality and peculiarities. 

After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/happinessstudies

Resources Related

• Study by Elizabeth Dunn and Dunigan Folk: "A systematic review of the strength of evidence for the most commonly recommended happiness strategies in mainstream media"
• Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton
• AoM Article: How to Choose What Advice to Take

Connect With Elizabeth Dunn

• Elizabeth's website
• Elizabeth on X

“Globally we are richer than ever before, but we fail to convert that wealth into wellbeing”

Meik Wiking, author of best-selling book Hygge, understands happiness better than anyone. In his role as Founder and CEO of the world's only Happiness Research Institute, he has travelled the globe interviewing the world's happiest people to discover the key components of happiness. In this episode, we explore the fascinating findings of his research and uncover what we can learn from the world’s happiest countries.  We talk about the impact of stress on our happiness and how although we are richer than ever before, we have failed to convert that wealth into wellbeing. It seems that despite all our cultural differences, we as a human race have a very similar view of happiness across the world. Meik and I discuss how one of the most important components of a happy life is meaning and purpose and how this has been gradually eroded from our lives.  This is an eye-opening and fascinating conversation – I hope you enjoy it.

My upcoming book, ‘The Stress Solution’ covers meaning and purpose in great detail.  You can pre-order it on Amazon.

Show notes available at drchatterjee.com/happy

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Since Sartre classified things that make us happy into the categories of having and doing, science took up the investigation into materialism and experientialism. The results have been in for a while: experiences win by a wide margin, but why exactly?

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