Todd B. Kashdan, Jessica Yarbro, Patrick E. McKnight, John B. Nezlek This study sought to test if laughing led to increases in social rewards. Results were gathered from 5510 face-to-face everyday social interactions with 162 people (68% women, 32% male) who completed a two-week daily diary study. Researchers found that: Following an interaction where they laughed,…
Catey Hill | MarketWatch, November 2014 Forty-four-year old Michelle Morton’s Christmas celebration probably doesn’t look like yours — but you might wish it did. That’s because, for the past few years, the Raleigh, N.C., resident and her sisters and husband have instituted a no-gift policy for the holidays. “It was stressful and expensive getting all…
Paige Fowler | Fitness Magazine, November 2014 The secret to productivity isn’t doing more. It’s simplifying—clearing away obstacles to make the most of every day. “Becoming more efficient frees you up to do what makes you happy,” says Michelle Gielan, the founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research in San Antonio. Amen to that!…
Orion Jones | Big Think, November 2014 We all want to be happy. Some have even said that achieving happiness is the goal of life. But we wouldn’t look to a technology company for such wisdom, would we? It seems unlikely, and yet Google has made a real contribution to happiness studies thanks to one of…
Elizabeth Garone, BBC Capital November 2014 Over the course of a year, people spend a lot of time on the job but, that doesn’t necessarily mean they like their work. The French spend an average of 1,480 hours at work annually, Americans, 1,700 hours, and Singaporeans a whopping 2,400 hours, according to the Federal Reserve…
Mark C. Crowley, Fast Company November 2014 By the late 1990s, the number of people diagnosed with depression in the U.S. had increased by nearly 1,000% in just a half-century according to the World Health Organization. Believing that psychological research had been too narrowly focused on finding new treatments for human despair—and not on a…
J. Tsang, T. Carpenter, J. Roberts, M. Frisch, R. Carlise This study examined the role of gratitude and need satisfaction as they relate to a person’s materialism and life satisfaction. Analysis was based on self-reporting through an online questionnaire from 246 undergraduate marketing students (117 males, 129 females). Results found that: The more materialistic a participant was,…
Zen Habits | Leo Babauta Have you said thank-you to someone to show how grateful you are for them today? It’s such a small thing, but it can have a huge impact on your life, and the life of that person. Find little ways to incorporate gratitude in your life, and you’ll be much happier ……
SUCCESS Magazine, Shawn Achor September 11, 2014 When I was 7, I ran away from home with my 5-year-old sister. Some 7 miles of arduous walking later, we arrived at my dad’s old fishing hole. Thankfully, 15 hours later, our parents and the local police finally found us. They hadn’t thought to look there sooner because…
Michelle McQuaid, Huffington Post September 8, 2014 Like most people, I grew up believing that if I worked hard, then I’d be successful and then I’d be happy. It was only after spending more than a decade of my career chasing the next goal, earning the next promotion, and convincing my boss I was worthy…
