10 Facts On Happiness: From Positive Psychology

✅ Today's Thursday • 📖 11 mins read

I have been studying the science of happiness for more than a decade. People often ask me, “What is happiness?”

“Happiness is both how good you feel at this moment and how content you are in your life.”

Hedonic well-being + Eudaimonic well-being = Subjective well-being (SWB).

• Hedonic well-being refers to material or bodily pleasures in the present moment, such as eating well or having fun.
• Eudaimonic well-being means deeper satisfaction from activities with a greater meaning or purpose, such as intellectual pursuits, social relationships, or charity work.

Find out the 10 happiness-boosting strategies from positive psychology.

First, check yourself on how you answer these 10 questions:

Now, let’s find out the correct answers.

1. Does happiness boost your immune system?

Yes, happiness can support your immune system. Studies link positive emotions with stronger immune responses or a lower chance of catching a cold. Cohen et al. (2003) linked positive emotional style with lower susceptibility to the common cold.

That said, happiness doesn’t guarantee protection from illness or replace vaccination, sleep, or medical care. Happiness is best seen as one part of overall well-being, not an immune-system treatment.

It’s like a free supplement pill that you can have almost whenever you want to.

I say so because experts found happiness depends more on our actions than on our circumstances. And we can act in definite ways to raise our happiness levels.

So, if you’re looking to ward off the flu (and there’s a study on that), don’t forget to add a daily dose of joy. It’s way more fun!

• Check out the Happiness Tips For A Strong Immunity: From Science.

2. Does money make us happy, on and on?

Money boosts happiness up to a point. After that, happiness stagnates. Research found that income improves life evaluation, but emotional well-being appears to plateau at roughly $75,000 in U.S. household income (Kahneman & Deaton, 2010).

• At lower income levels (left side of the graph), increases in household income are associated with notable gains in happiness. This suggests that money improves well-being when basic needs are unmet or financial stress is high.
• As income rises (middle to right side), the curve flattens, forming a “happiness plateau.” Beyond a certain point (~$100,000–$200,000, though the exact threshold varies by study), additional income yields diminishing returns for happiness.
• The non-financial factors (e.g., relationships, purpose, health) become relatively more important for happiness once financial security is achieved.

So, money can buy a life out of poverty and need, but it can’t keep buying happiness forever.

Once your income reaches a certain point, it’s as if your emotional bank account says, “Enough already! This ATM has an upper limit, and you can’t withdraw more.”

Another truth: Money makes us happy for only a little while. More on it: How Can Money Buy Happiness (Psychology of Happy Money).

3. Should you do “the pursuit of happiness” thing?

This is the Happiness Paradox: trying too hard to be happy can make us less happy. Research shows that valuing happiness can backfire and increase feelings of sadness when people believe they fall short (Mauss et al., 2011).

Making happiness your constant goal can make it harder to enjoy life. When we keep asking ourselves whether we’re happy enough, we may become less present and more focused on what’s missing.

Happiness isn’t always something we can achieve by pursuing it directly. It often grows from meaningful relationships, worthwhile activities, and small moments we let ourselves enjoy.

Like a dog chasing its tail, we can wear ourselves out if we treat happiness as something we must catch. Instead, focus on what matters to you. And let happiness come along for the ride.

• Why you can’t​ pursue happiness and be happy?

4. Can you catch happiness from a happy friend?

Happiness is contagious. Surprisingly, catching happiness may be easier than catching a cold from a friend.

A meta-study by James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis at Harvard found that you are 15.3% more likely to be happy if a person directly connected to you is happy. 

More surprises from their study:

• A happy friend who lives within a mile increases your chance of being happy by 25%.
• Siblings who live within a mile increase your chance of being happy by 14%.
• Spouses living in the same house increase your happiness by 8%.
• Next-door neighbors can boost your happiness by 34%.

This PhD thesis by George Mackerron found that our friends make us happier than our family.

So, if you’re looking to catch some joy, hang around happy people. It’s a contagion you’d want to catch.

5. Do you have a “happiness set point” that you keep returning to?

Our happiness shifts over a lifetime, but each has what some researchers call a “happiness set point.” It is a heritable individual well-being baseline that people tend to return to, first proposed by Lykken and Tellegen (1996).

So, there’s a good chance that after a major positive event, like winning the lottery, or a negative event, like losing a job, the emotional impact will fade over time, and people will move closer to their baseline happiness.

This process is called hedonic adaptation: we may grow accustomed to changes in our circumstances, so their effect on happiness can lessen, though we don’t always fully return to that baseline.

Of course, people respond differently to life events. Some may adapt remarkably well to major events, while others may remain affected for a long time.

6. Does happiness change as you age?

What is the relationship between happiness and age? Do you get happier or sadder with age?

• Do we become more miserable as we age?
• Or, do we actually get happier as we age?
• Or, is our happiness relatively constant, with a few boosts or dips (marriage, birth, promotion, illness, etc.)?

It seems happiness and age have a U-shaped relationship (Frijters & Beatton, 2012).

• You have your happiness highs in childhood and youth.
• There is almost no change in happiness between the ages of 20 and 50.
• Happiness starts to increase around 55, after which there is a peak around 67.
• That is followed by a major decline after the age of 75.

So, happiness over a lifetime is like a roller coaster ride. Your minimum level of satisfaction is at your middle age (30 to 50 years). If you’re any age over 20, take heart that the ride goes up again!

To be clear, not all people peak at 67 or have a flat period from 20–50. Researchers found that different countries have happiness peaks at different ages:

• Germany (GSOEP): Life satisfaction falls through early and middle adulthood, recovers in the 60s to a local peak around 67–70, then declines sharply after about 75.
• Australia (HILDA): Life satisfaction dips gently around the late 30s–40s, then generally rises into older age. The original data show fluctuations at the oldest ages rather than a sustained steep decline.
• Britain (BHPS): Life satisfaction reaches a low around the 40s, rises toward the late 60s–early 70s, then declines moderately.

7. What gives more happiness, a happy experience or buying a thing you wanted?

Experiential purchases often bring more lasting happiness than buying things because they create memories and give us something to share with others (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).

But it also depends on the person and the purchase: a useful item you have wanted can bring real joy, too. If you’re choosing between a trip and a gadget, think about which one you’ll value more over time.

8. Does expressing gratitude make you happier?

Often, yes: sincerely expressing gratitude can lift mood and strengthen connection, though simply saying the words doesn’t guarantee happiness. Research links gratitude practices with greater well-being.

Saying “thank you” can also help the person receiving your thanks feel valued, especially when your gratitude is sincere and specific. So make it a point to explain, “Thank you for…”

9. Can giving to others make you happier?

Yes, giving to others and helping them can make you feel good while also benefiting them. Studies show that spending on others or doing kind things can boost the giver’s happiness (Dunn et al., 2008). Especially giving that feels meaningful and connects you with others is a rewarding joy booster.

There are many ways to give:

• Charity: Donating money, goods, or time to support needy people.
• Philanthropy: Long-term, strategic giving, often involving large-scale donations to address systemic issues.
• Volunteerism: Offering time and skills without monetary compensation to help others or support causes.
• Act of Kindness: Small, everyday acts that improve others’ well-being, like helping a neighbor or offering a kind word.
• Service: Giving professional or personal assistance to individuals or communities, often through organized efforts.
• Reciprocal Giving: Helping others with the expectation that they might help you in the future, fostering mutual support.
• Altruism: Selflessly helping others with no expectation of personal gain or recognition.
• Generosity: Willingly giving more than is necessary or expected, often involving sharing resources, time, or support with others.

10. Is there a best time to be happy?

Your best happiness often lies in the present moment, not in the past, not in the future. So, enjoy this moment fully.

• Mindfulness, the practice of being fully present and engaged in the current moment, has been found by many studies to be associated with greater happiness and lower anxiety/depression.
• Constantly seeking achievements, dwelling on past regrets, or worrying about the future can lower our happiness in daily life.
• Optimal happiness and life satisfaction can occur when we are in “flow,” a state of complete immersion and engagement in an activity.

4 Facts: Time And Happiness:

1. Having too little time is linked to less happiness.
2. Having too much time is linked to less happiness.
3. Focusing on time (vs. money or worries) increases happiness.
4. Intentionally spending the time available increases happiness.

Final Words

And finally, chasing happiness too hard can actually reduce your chance of finding it. So, stop chasing happiness, and instead, AIM for lifetime happiness.

• • •

√ Also Read: 2 Weeks Self-Love Challenge: Love Yourself More In 14 Days

√ Please share it with someone.

» You deserve happiness! Choosing therapy could be your best decision.

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