The Benefits of Happiness
By Rich Bayer, Ph.D.
“A cheerful heart is a good medicine.” This
quote, from the Book of Proverbs (17:22), just might say it all. Happiness
is good for us. It brings us physical, mental, and emotional health.
Most of us would probably agree. We know there’s
something about being happy that’s worthwhile.
But what does it mean to be happy? That question
might not be so easy to answer. In fact, happiness is hard to define.
But one thing for sure, we know it when we “feel”
it.
Something inside us tells us when we’re feeling
happy. We can sense it. Think about this for a minute. How often do you
feel happy? What percentage of the time? Studies tell us that the average
American feels happy about 54% of the time, feels neutral about 25% of the
time, and unhappy about 21% of the time.
Is there a magical amount of happiness that will
bring us the benefits of good health? Well, that’s another question and
we’re just starting to get some answers. In the past few years,
psychologists have begun to study positive emotions such as happiness. By
comparison, for the past hundred years, they have studied the negative
stuff, the various problems we have with our minds and emotions.
Dr.
Martin Seligman, in his book Authentic Happiness, summarizes
research indicating that people who are happy:
·
Do better in social relationships
·
Use their intelligence more efficiently
·
Are more optimistic
·
Have better physical health
·
Are more creative
Let’s take a closer look at these.
Social Relationships
Happiness promotes social relations and inspires
people to have more social contact. This seems pretty obvious. Most
studies that have been done focus on sadness, which shows the opposite,
that people tend to “wall off” from others. But when you study
positive people, they rate high on having good relationships with
themselves and with others. They enjoy better romantic relationships as
well.
Also, happy people in general have more empathy. They
care more about others.
Intelligence
Happy people are not any smarter, on the average,
than those who are sad, but happy people have the ability to use their
intelligence more effectively. Some studies suggest that people who are
feeling happy can learn better in many situations, and are faster and more
accurate in coming up with appropriate answers to complex problems.
Optimism
First of all, it’s interesting that happy people
experience about the same amounts of negative and positive life events as
sad people. But studies show that happy people dwelled on the positive
more often.
People who are positive remember the good events in
their lives more readily, while they tend to remember fewer of the unhappy
times. As you might expect, people who are unhappy see life more
negatively. They see more problems in the world around them. Yet,
interestingly, they are usually more accurate in their memory. This is one
circumstance where being more accurate and realistic is not necessarily
better.
Similarly, when confronted with a problem, happy
people believe they will soon regain control of their lives while unhappy
people are more skeptical. This is another sign of the optimism associated
with happiness.
Physical Health
Studies show that happy people have better health
habits. They have lower blood pressure and their immune systems are more
resistant.
In a broad-based study of adults aged 65 and older,
it was shown that positive emotion was a strong predictor of how long
people lived. Happy people in the study were half as likely to die and
half as likely to become disabled as compared to people who were generally
sad.
There’s another fascinating and perhaps unusual
scientific finding. Those who live happy lives have a greater tolerance
for physical pain than those who are sad.
Creativity
Happiness correlates with a greater capacity for
creative thinking. If we’re generally happy, we tend to be more creative
and also have a better knack for strategic planning.
On the other hand, when critical thinking is
required, we do better when we remain bland emotionally, more serious and
less happy. Being sad or even uptight doesn’t interfere with doing
taxes, developing a budget, or making a decision about which car to buy.
So happiness has its benefits. It’s not everything
in life but if there were a way to boost our happiness, it would be worth
considering, right?
In my next column, I’ll discuss more of Dr.
Seligman's book, focusing on how we can boost the level of happiness in
our lives. If you want to get a head start on this topic, check out the
book. It's fascinating!
------------------------------------------------
Rich Bayer,
Ph.D., is the CEO of Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services, Inc. and a
practicing psychologist.
# # #
For More Information Contact:
Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services, Inc.
200 Booth Street, Elkton, MD 21921
Tel: 410-996-5104
Toll Free: 877-587-7750
FAX: 410-996-5197
Internet: info@upperbay.org
|
