Happiness 101

One Tuesday last fall I sat in on a positive-psychology class called the Science of Well-Being — essentially a class in how to make yourself happier — at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. George Mason is a challenge for positive psychologists because it is one of the 15 unhappiest campuses in America, at least per The Princeton Review. Many students are married and already working and commute to school. It’s a place where you go to move your career forward, not to find yourself.
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The class was taught by Todd Kashdan, a 32-year-old psychology professor whose area of research is “curiosity and well-being.” Kashdan bobbed around the room or sat, legs dangling, on his desk beneath a big PowerPoint slide that said “The Scientific Pursuit of Happiness” as he took the students, a few older than he, through the various building blocks of positive psychology: optimism, gratitude, mindfulness, hope, spirituality. Though the syllabus promised to “approach every topic in this class as scientists” and the assigned readings were academic, the classroom discussion was Oprah-ish. The students seemed intrigued by the research Kashdan presented mostly in relation to their own lives.

The focus of Kashdan’s class that day was the distinction between feeling good, which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure — they call this syndrome the hedonic treadmill — and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness. The students had been asked first to do something that gave them pleasure and then to perform an act of selfless kindness. They approached the first part of the assignment eagerly. One student recounted having sex with her boyfriend 30 feet underwater while scuba diving. Another said he “went to Coastal Flats and got hammered.” A third attended a Nascar race in North Carolina, smoked, drank and had sex. Some also watched favorite TV shows; others chatted with friends.

When it came time to talk about the second part of the assignment, the students were excited, too. The Nascar attendee, who was afraid of needles, gave blood. Another collected clothes from family members and donated them to a shelter for battered women. The boy who had gotten hammered bought a homeless person a 12-pack of “Natty Ice” at a 7-Eleven, wondering if it was the right thing to do. A fourth gave her waiter at Denny’s a $50 tip. At times, Kashdan, who ran the class in the nonjudgmental manner of a ’70s rap-session leader — he used the word “cool” a lot — would compliment them on their behavior and pull out a moral. In this case, as one student wrote in a summary she submitted to Kashdan, comparing “a day at the spa covered in really expensive French” stuff and “a day of community improvement covered in horse” manure, the smile on the community organizer’s face “beat out the smile on the masseur’s face any day.” That is, she had learned that doing good is good for you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/magazine/07happiness.t.html

And while you're at it, see also this piece that ran a few years ago in the NYT Magazine, too. (It's not quite what you'd think from the title.)

The Futile Pursuit of Happiness
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/magazine/07HAPPINESS.html?ei=5007&en=64f3a1ab7506be39&ex=1378180800&pagewanted=all&position=

Thanks for the post, madmusic.

Peace.


On edit: I've long had a gnawing feeling that many posters on DU aren't happy unless they're unhappy. I do not understand why more progressives don't or won't understand that tempered optimism is a foundation of the well-lived life. Maybe this article is a good place to start. :-)

Both very thought-provoking pieces... forwarded them on to a couple of people. Thanks to you and the OP!

"The focus of Kashdan’s class that day was the distinction between feeling good, which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure — they call this syndrome the hedonic treadmill — and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness."
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A lot of politicians must enjoy being on the hedonic treadmill because they sure aren't interested in the "do good" road.

Could this kind of training lead to more responsible and altruistic leadership? Or does it dull creativity and produce pollyannas who lose the ability to see anything wrong? And what about 'do-gooders' who OVERdo it?

Interesting article--thanks for posting.

http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/01/20070108_a_main.asp

Teaching Happiness
Aired: Monday, January 08, 2007 10-11AM ET

GUESTS:
-- D.T. Max, National Science writer for NY Times Magazine. His article "Happiness 101" was the cover story in this weekend's magazine. He is also author of "The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery."
-- Frank Newport, Editor-in-chief, Gallup Poll
-- Todd Kashdan, professor of psychology at George Mason University. He teaches the Science of Happiness
-- Caroline Keating, professor of psychology at Colgate University and a consultant to ABC News.


By Tom Ashbrook:

If doing for others is the road to happiness, New York's Wesley Autry, who jumped on to subway tracks to save a man's life last week, ought to be the happiest guy on the planet these days. But what about the rest of us?

A new science of happiness is attempting to pin down what really lifts the spirit -- to measure it, and to teach it. Happier people live longer. They get fewer colds. They have better relationships and do more for others.

Since the time of the ancients, we've had advice on the good life. Now, after a century of measuring well-being by the march of economic indicators, psychologists are saying let's measure and teach well-being itself.



QUOTES:

"Despite of what is going on in the world, most Americans say they are ok. ...The number of people who report they are happy almost doubles when their income goes up." Frank Newport

"When you break the data further, you find that as income has grown, there's been no change in the people's meaning and purpose in life." Todd Kashdan

"Positive psychologists want to make people happier ...What we are now finding is that social relationships not only make us happy but also affect our physical health." Todd Kashdan

"Actually optimistic people are the ones who are most likely to seek out information and preventive care." Todd Kashdan

"I found that there is more science on personal happiness than for other areas of happiness." D.T. Max

Thanks for posting. K&R!