Fresh Ideas: Finding our happiness

About five years ago I wrote a Fresh Ideas column about happiness. At that time happiness was just emerging as the latest interest of psychological study. Since then, the field of happiness research has exploded: Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by governments, health organizations and universities worldwide. Researchers in about 20 countries are sharing and comparing the results.

Why all the fuss about happiness? Happiness is the life goal of most people. Yet, until recently, psychologists didn't really know how many people are happy, what makes them happy, or how to become happy if you aren't.

One of the most interesting findings in the current research is that most people are somewhat happy. Drs. Ed and Carol Diener, University of Illinois psychologists, surveyed people in 43 nations and found, on average, 86 percent of people are "above neutral" on the happiness scales. If you compare very poor and very rich nations, there is little variance. In other words, even in Third World countries, about 80 percent of citizens are at least mildly happy.

Ten percent of people worldwide are "very happy." You might be surprised with these results; it seems to conflict with information we receive daily through the press about skyrocketing antidepressant use, school violence, war, and other atrocities.

Why are we generally happy? Research is beginning to show that we have a highly evolved emotional system that guides us toward well-being. Our brain reorganizes information so that we interpret things neutrally or positively whenever possible. We tend to forget bad things that happen to us and we tend to remember positive events more often.

Our emotional system helps regulate our brain and body's reactions so that we adjust to most situations over time. However, this same system that protects us from emotional turbulence also holds us back from feeling high levels of happiness for very long. So, the same system that helps us adapt to life events also causes us to adapt to whatever is making us "really happy," thus eventually taking the euphoria away.

University of California, Riverside, psychology Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D. believes we are all born with a "set point for happiness." So, negative, neutral, happy or really happy dispositions are just that, a disposition. If we want to change our set-point, Dr. Lyubomirsky believes we have to change our thoughts and actions for the long-haul.

The good news is that Dr. Lyubomirsky and researchers like her believe we are in control of about 40 percent of our happiness. Stay tuned for the upcoming columns describing what to do to improve your happiness.

• Lisa Keating, Ph.D., is a Carson City clinical psychologist.