Research Assessment #10

Date: February 2, 2018

Subject: Mental Positivity

MLA Citation:

Publishing, Harvard Health. “The Happiness-Health Connection.” ​Harvard Health​, 2010-2018,

www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/the-happiness-health-connection.

Fletcher, Ben C. “Happiness Is Not a Feeling – It Is Doing.” ​Psychology Today​, Sussex

Publishers, 15 Feb. 2014,

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/do-something-different/201402/happiness-is-not-feelin

g-it-is-doing​.

Happiness derives from the choice to do positive acts that will contribute to a life of

fulfilling satisfaction. Everyone’s definition of happiness consists of a variety of factors that

apply specifically to them; however, when those aspects are emphasized this can lead to an

improvement of one’s life. In addition, Harvard Health Publishing and Psychology Today

composed articles explaining how finding enjoyment in your day can help you in the long run.

Relating to psychiatry, the effect of positivity in one’s life leaves an impact on the well being of

one’s mental health.

This year I am focusing on the effects of mental states, so studying what a positive

mental state does to people is very helpful considering I am always looking at the negative aspect

of disorders. Providing a contrast of mindset is useful to those struggling with illnesses, such as

depression, and also benefits others who need to find motivation in their lives. The information I
am researching can be used throughout my life, as this applies to more than just mentally

unstable patients.

The information is mainly about how putting positivity in one’s life can alter one’s

mental state. The way you think and behave is a direct reflection of the influences surrounding

your life. For instance, if a child befriends a bully, then they themselves are at greater risk to

duplicate the behavior of a bully. However, if a child hangs around people who speak with value

and respect, then the child is more likely to become influenced by what is presented- kind

behavior. Likewise, the presence of positive words and motivation leaves a psychological impact

on those who are actively listening. Confidences are boosted, morale is lifted, and overtime

happier mindsets are stabilized. I recognize that for those who are in a dark mentality it is more

difficult to accept the light, hopeful side of thinking. In order to reach this level of happiness,

Psychology Today states that if you want to be happier you have to do something different – you

have to do new things. Further, “PERMA” is an acronym taught to break down how to achieve

mental peace; “to flourish you need to change how you behave to improve your positive emotion

(P), your engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M), and sense of accomplishment (A).

You cannot flourish just by trying to think differently, because ​positive thinking​ has to be

accompanied by coherent behaviours.” This adds on to show how surrounding oneself with

positivity while also performing acts of goodwill is capable of aiding one in their journey toward

a better life. To be sure, this was put to the test. Researchers measured the happiness and

depression levels in participants after 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of following

PERMA. The results were vivid regarding how this specific approach benefitted the participants
lives. Their happiness scores were significantly higher and the uplift was still present after 6

months.

In closing, the two articles were essential toward my assessment. The data found has

assured me with validation in my study. Simply put, mental satisfaction is achieved when what is

not working is changed- allowing one to manipulate their mind in the right direction using

personal actions and surroundings.

 
 

Happiness Is Not a Feeling – It Is

Doing
In order to feel happy you have to do happy...

Posted Feb 15, 2014

Happy people view things differently to unhappy people. They are more positive, more
solution focussed. They look at things in terms of gain rather than loss. More
importantly, though, they have a distinctly different set of habits. The small things that
happy people do, day to day, are subtly different to what unhappy people do.

How are your own happy habits? (If you want to do a quick test of your own happy
habits go to: ​http://dsd.me/happy-habits-quiz/​ )

​Happiness​ is the consequence of what we do and how we behave. So when a person

who is unhappy shifted their focus and does something different they help themselves
to become happier. Trying to ​think​ yourself happier is difficult, happiness comes when
you change what you ​do​.

We tend to think of happiness as subjective well-being, with a set of emotions and

feelings. Wikipedia says:
“Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or
pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.”
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness)

And of course, if you ask someone if they are happy they will probably reflect on how
they feel. An unhappy person will bring to mind their feelings of sadness, perhaps some
negative emotions or absence of joy. And most would say they want to feel better.

It’s not easy, as any unhappy person will tell you, to think yourself happy. But you can
boost your happiness by your actions. And you can sustain and nurture your happiness
by what you do. Simply put, if you want to be happier you have to do something
different – you have to do new things.

Recent attempts to synthesise the happiness research are beginning to recognise the
centrality of what people do. In his 2011 book ‘​Flourish: A Visionary New ​Understanding
of Happiness and Well-being​’ Professor Martin Seligman abandons the simplistic
notions of happiness and suggests how people can flourish. For Seligman, the key
elements to flourish he labels PERMA - to flourish you need to change how you behave
to improve your positive emotion (P), your engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning
(M), and sense of accomplishment (A). You cannot flourish just by trying to think
differently, because ​positive thinking​ has to be accompanied by coherent behaviours.
To flourish, you have to Do Something Different.

Happiness is action but happy habits are not hedonic habits, as ​Action for Happiness
Recognise​ in their ​‘Ten Keys to Happier Living”​’– synthesised from all the happiness
research. Their GREAT DREAM advocates:

● G​iving – do things for others

 ● R​elating – connect with people

● E​xercising – taking care of your body

● A​ppreciating – awareness of what you do and the world around you

● T​rying Out – doing new things

● D​irection – doing things towards a goal

● R​esilience – bouncing back after something negative

● E​motion – being positive about what you do

● A​cceptance - that we all have faults and that things go wrong

● M​eaning – being part of something bigger

Happiness scores go up when people break habits and behave differently. For example,
in 2005 Seligman* and his ​team​ compared over 400 people who either:

1. Used one of their strengths in new or different ways every day for a week

(‘do something different’) OR:

2. Noted and identified their strengths but were not instructed to use them in a

new way (‘old ways’).

The researchers measured happiness and ​depression​ levels in all participants after,
1-week later, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months. For a relatively small Do Something
Different-style intervention the results were astounding. The group that did something
different had significantly higher happiness scores. And the uplift was still present after
6 months. Their depression scores were also much better and remained so. There were
no effects at all at any measurement stage for the control or ‘old ways’ conditions.
So the ‘feeling’ of happiness comes from ‘doing’. That means doing more of the things
known to make people feel happy. It means training yourself to be happy with new
behaviours, with changes in what you do (​http://huff.to/1eEpbiz​).

By aligning our habits and behaviours with the GREAT DREAM or PERMA factors we
can all boost our happiness levels. Do Something Different has translated the key
Action for Happiness variables into actions (Do’s) and created a Do Happiness
programme. Do Happiness measures individuals on each of the GREAT DREAM
factors, and builds a bespoke programme of simple ‘Do’s’ for them
(​http://dsd.me/dohappiness/​), so they Do happy to feel happy.
The happiness-health connection
Want to feel better and improve your health? Start by focusing on the things that 
bring you happiness. Scientific evidence suggests that positive emotions can help 
make life longer and healthier. 

But fleeting positive emotions aren't enough. Lowering your stress levels over a period
of years with a positive outlook and relaxation techniques could reduce your risk of
health problems.

Pathways to happiness
In an early phase of positive psychology research, University of Pennsylvania
psychologist Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan
chose three pathways to examine:

● Feeling good.​ Seeking pleasurable emotions and sensations, from the

hedonistic model of happiness put forth by Epicurus, which focused on reaching
happiness by maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.
● Engaging fully.​ Pursuing activities that engage you fully, from the influential
research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. For decades, Csikszentmihalyi explored
people's satisfaction in their everyday activities, finding that people report the
greatest satisfaction when they are totally immersed in and concentrating on
what they are doing — he dubbed this state of intense absorption "flow."
● Doing good.​ Searching for meaning outside yourself, tracing back to Aristotle's
notion of eudaimonia, which emphasized knowing your true self and acting in
accordance with your virtues.

Through focus groups and testing hundreds of volunteers, they found that each of these
pathways individually contributes to life satisfaction.

Things that won't make you happy

People tend to be poor judges of what will make them happy. Here are some widely
held myths about what will bring happiness:

● Money and material things.​ The question of whether money can buy happiness
has, for more than 30 years, been addressed by the "Easterlin paradox," a
concept developed by economist Richard Easterlin. His research showed that
people in poor countries are happier when their basic necessities are covered.
But any money beyond that doesn't make much difference in happiness level.
This idea has been challenged periodically, as in 2008 when two University of
Pennsylvania researchers analyzed Gallup poll data from around the world. They
showed, in contrast to Easterlin's work, that people in wealthier countries are
happier in general. The two studies were not directly comparable in method,
however. And Easterlin points out that the new study may be flawed by cultural
bias, as people from different countries may have different ways of answering
questions about wealth and happiness.
● Youth.​ Being young and physically attractive has little or no bearing on
happiness. In a study published by Richard Easterlin in 2006 in the ​Journal of
Economic Psychology​, not only did being young fail to contribute to happiness,
but adults grew steadily happier as they moved into and through middle age.
After that, happiness levels began to decline slowly as health problems and other
life problems emerged.
● Children.​ Children can be a tremendous source of joy and fulfillment, but their
day-to-day care is quite demanding and can increase stress, financial pressures,
and marital strife. When ranking their happiness during daily activities, mothers
report being more happy eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching TV
than when spending time with their children. In several studies, marital
satisfaction declines after the first child is born and only recovers after the last
child leaves home. Personal relationships of all types are important, however. In
 studies, being married, having more friends, and having sexual intercourse more
often are all moderately or strongly associated with happiness.

How do you know if you're in flow?

● You lose awareness of time.​ You aren't watching

the clock, and hours can pass like minutes. As
filmmaker George Lucas puts it, talent is "a
combination of something you love a great deal and
something you can lose yourself in — something that
you can start at 9 o'clock, look up from your work and
it's 10 o'clock at night ... ."
● You aren't thinking about yourself.​ You aren't
focused on your comfort, and you aren't wondering
how you look or how your actions will be perceived by
others. Your awareness of yourself is only in relation
to the activity itself, such as your fingers on a piano
keyboard, or the way you position a knife to cut
vegetables, or the balance of your body parts as you
ski or surf.
● You aren't interrupted by extraneous thoughts.
You aren't thinking about such mundane matters as
your shopping list or what to wear tomorrow.
● You are active.​ Flow activities aren't passive, and
you have some control over what you are doing.
● You work effortlessly.​ Flow activities require effort
(usually more effort than involved in typical daily
experience). Although you may be working harder
 than usual, at flow moments everything is "clicking"
and feels almost effortless.