The Science of Happiness

Abstract

The Science of Happiness THE MIND FALL THE MIND What Makes People Happy and How Can We Become Happier? by Daniel Mangels The idea of happiness is largely influenced by culture and is invariably shaped by individual experience. In order to sci- entifically study happiness, its definition must be reduced to fulfill a more basic and intrinsic set of properties. Until recently, most scientific literature has primarily investigated maladaptive psychology such as depression, anxiety, and stress. The recent emergence of positive psychology has helped to shift attention away from the study of mental ill- ness to the study of mental wellness. Despite the tremendous influx of happiness research that has ensued over the past thirty years, researchers still disagree on a universal and testable definition of happiness. The emergence of positive psychology, and its vast array of scientific research, has nonetheless led to an increasing tendency towards defining happiness as a state of subjective well-being (Easterlin, 2002). This definition encompasses both the biological mechanisms necessary to measure subjective happiness as well as the psychological, cultural, and social factors that may be involved in determining its presence. Ultimately, an understanding of the multifactorial causes and processes of happiness can be used to increase levels of happiness and to potentially unveil one of the more fundamental features of being human. What can Biology tell us? Though it may seem hapless to say that happiness is sim- ply a resultant emotion of our genes, studies have shown that identical twins share more consistent and similar levels of happiness than fraternal twins (Lykken & Tellegen 1996). This finding is crucial to understanding happiness because it indicates that there are certain genetic components to happi- ness. Such biological consequences may have to do with increased levels of the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation, dopamine, which has been tied to greater positive affect scores on self-reported surveys (Ashby, Isen, & Turken 1999). The multifactorial nature of happiness, however, makes it difficult to exclusively target physical predictors, since both physical and non-physical factors may be acting simultaneously. Additionally, since happiness is described as subjective well-being, personal assessments of happiness can be biased and variable depend- ing on an individual's judgment. Despite these obstacles that hinder researchers from identifying precise biological mech- anisms, several biological signals have been found that cor- relate with happiness. In one study on the relationship between happiness and the body, subjects' blood pressure and heart rates were meas- ured. Levels of blood sugar and salivary cortisol, a stress hormone associated with immunosuppressive behavior, were also measured. These measurements were then compared to monitored levels of plasma fibrinogen, a protein linked to increased chances for developing coronary heart disease (Steptoe, Wardle, & Marmot 2005). It was discovered that negative affective states, such as sadness and anxiety, were correlated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, type II diabetes, and disability. Positive affective states were associated with smaller plasma fibrinogen stress responses, less cortisol output, and lower heart rates. In another study, individuals with higher levels of per- sonal growth and purpose in life registered lower and more stable levels of salivary cortisol and urinary adrenaline (Ryff, Singer, & Love 2004). Adrenaline is a hormone and neurotransmitter that produces similar effects to cortisol, such as increased heart rate and immune system suppression. These results indicate that lower stress responses, such as less salivary cortisol, plasma fibrinogen, urinary adrenaline, lower blood pressure, and lower heart rates, are good predic-