Research Note｜How to Increase Happiness?
Five Happiness Hacks From Psychologists
This article is inspired by Dr. Paul Marsden’s lecture on positive psychology. I was incredibly thrilled and motivated by his happiness practices! After his speech, a lot of thoughts and ideas came to my mind that I need to write down before I forget about them. So please bear with me.
Before we get started, I should mention that since the focus of this research note is on happiness practices, it will be less formal, less academic, and easier to understand than previous articles.
According to Dr. Paul Marsden, positive psychology refers to the science of feeling good and functioning well. Do you wonder how to intentionally improve your happiness? What can science teach us about happiness?
Five evidence-based interventions will be introduced in this research note: three good things, random acts of kindness, a gratitude visit, identifying signature strengths, and using your strengths in a new way. Without further ado, let’s get started.
▍Three Good Things
The ‘three good things exercise’ is quite straightforward: Before you go to bed, write down three good things that happened that day and why they happened (Pawelski, 2020). In this activity, there are three essential components: writing, reflecting, and timing (Boniwell, 2012).
- Writing: Writing them down allows you to concentrate on the events.
- Reflecting: Reflecting on your role in this event helps you notice good things happening around you and perceive a sense of control, which in turn has an impact on your well-being.
- Timing: Try to stick with this practice for a week or once a week for six weeks. In other words, consistency is the key factor that impacts your happiness in this exercise. Personally, I noticed another ‘timing’ factor in this practice: the author suggests doing it ‘before going to bed,’ implying that journaling before bedtime may have a positive impact on well-being!
According to Boniwell (2012), those who ‘count their blessings’ after practice perform the best. Therefore, some scholars also call this practice a ‘blessings exercise.’
To sum up, the entire practice is to shift your focus to the good things that happen to you, pay attention to positive thoughts, and notice simple pleasures around you.
▍Random Acts of Kindness
According to Binfet (2015), many studies have indicated ‘random acts of kindness’ as deeds done impulsively and frequently to strangers. Simply put, ‘random acts of kindness’ refers to doing something good for another person (Boniwell, 2012).
The study by Otake et al. (2006) indicates that people who participated in acts of kindness were happier and more grateful than those who did not. This study is consistent with Boniwell’s (2012) finding that not only do receivers feel happier, but so do givers.
▍A Gratitude Visit
A gratitude visit involves writing a gratitude letter to the person for whom you are grateful and then meeting with that person to read the gratitude letter out loud (Boniwell, 2012). In previous studies, the gratitude visit exercise resulted in the greatest improvement in happiness and depressive symptoms (Schueller, 2010).
Personally, I found this practice to be a bit awkward. As an introvert, I usually express my gratitude right away because I know I won’t have the courage to speak to that person the next time. Additionally, I noticed that giving the letter to the person rather than reading it in front of him/her works better for me.
▍Identifying Signature Strengths
The first step of this practice is to complete the Values in Action Survey of Strengths. Then, make a list of your top five strengths and use them more frequently (Schueller, 2010; Boniwell, 2012).
In the book, Boniwell (2012) encourages people to ask themselves these questions: ‘Is this the real me? Do I enjoy using it? Do I find it energizing and exciting?’ Once you’ve identified and agreed on your signature strengths, consider how you can apply them to every aspect of your life. Studies have shown that identifying signature strengths has resulted in increased well-being and decreased depressive symptoms (Schueller, 2010).
▍Using Your Strengths in A New Way
This practice goes a step further than the previous one, which involves using one of the five strengths in a new way every single day (Schueller, 2010; Boniwell, 2012). A new way could be a new person, a new setting, or a new environment. This practice is said to have longer-lasting happiness effects due to the constant renewal process.
▍Conclusion
In this article, I only mentioned five evidence-based practices that I personally like, but there are still many worth trying, such as immersing in nature, checking expectations, exercising, savouring, and active-constructive responding. Pick an intervention you like and practise it, you may find yourself becoming happier day by day!
▍References
Boniwell, l. (2012). Positive Psychology in A Nutshell: The Science of Happiness (3rd ed.). Open University Press.
Binfet, J. T. (2015). Not-so random acts of kindness: a guide to intentional kindness in the classroom. International Journal of Emotional Education, 7(2), 49–62.
Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Otsui, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Happy people become happier through kindness: A counting kindnesses intervention. Journal of happiness studies, 7(3), 361.
Pawelski, J. O. (2020). The elements model: toward a new generation of positive psychology interventions. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(5), 675–679.
Schueller, S. M. (2010). Preferences for positive psychology exercises. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(3), 192–203.
