better health
We all want to be content. But can we ever come up with a scientific formula for happiness? One long-running study provides some fascinating answers…
There’s no shortage of advice around when it comes to the question of what makes us happy, but not all of it is based on research and scientific observation.
However, the 80-year-long Harvard Study of Adult Development is as close as we are going to get to discovering the secrets of what bring us closer to joy. Researchers Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz have captured the factors that make us feel fulfilled and at one in The Good Life: Lessons From The World’s Longest Study On Happiness (Rider, £9.19).
The study began with 724 male participants, and then, as they married, included their wives and more than 1,300 descendants of the initial group, with the researchers attempting to drill down to discover the magical elements. “A huge range of factors contribute to a person’s happiness,” says Robert. “Rarely can a single factor be said with absolute confidence to cause any single result. That said, if we had to take all 84 years of the Harvard Study and boil to down to single principle for living, it would be this: good relationships keep us healthier and happier,” says Robert. By relationships, Robert and Marc aren’t just referring to intimate partners, but the meaningful connections in our life. “To say that human beings require warm relationships is no touchy-feely idea, he explains. “It’s a hard fact. Scientific studies have told us again and again: human beings need nutrition. We need exercise, we need purpose, we need each other.”
Robert says that it’s not only the significant ties that bring us a feeling of contentment. “Most of us think the only friendships that count are what social scientists would call a ‘strong ties’, the people we know will be there for us when things go wrong, who lift us up when we’re down, and who we’re prepared to support in their times of trouble,” he admits. “But a relationship doesn’t need to be one of our most frequent or intimate to be valuable. Some of our most beneficial friendships can be with people we don’t spend a lot of time with, or don’t know very well.” Robert explains that even interactions with complete strangers can carry hidden benefits. “These small moments can provide an uplift for our mood and they can help balance out some of the stress we feel,” he says. “An annoying commute can be softened by a short conversation with a security guard at work.
A sense of disconnection can be alleviated by saying hello to our postman. Consider opportunities to cultivate some of these more casual ties.”
Work and the relationships we create within that sphere can also inf luence how contented we are. “We rarely get to choose our co-workers,” observes Rober
