Five happiness tips from a psychology professor

Psychology professor Dr. Laurie Santos explores ideas such as social media's impact on children's mental health, burnout from work, and healthy practices in romantic relationships, while sitting down with other experts. Her research often highlights how many people's habitual routines actually work against their personal contentment.

Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger breaks down findings from research following the lives of 724 men for decades, beginning in 1938. The sample included both Harvard students and young boys in poor areas of Boston who continuously participated in interviews and medical studies. Waldinger shares that the strongest takeaway is that good relationships keep us happier and healthier.

Considered Yale University's most popular free online course, this 10-module series offers insights into the science of well-being and practical ways to increase happiness and satisfaction. More than 5 million people have enrolled since its 2018 launch.

Worrying about past events and upcoming challenges is not a pleasant experience, but a reasonable amount of stress can bring a lot of good into our lives. In this episode of "The Happiness Lab" with Dr. Laurie Santos, two psychology experts offer tips for resetting one's relationship with stress. Listen and learn how to make stress a positive tool rather than a debilitating emotion.

People differ in how they respond to setbacks. Famed psychologist Martin Seligman outlines three key pillars for resilience: developing mental toughness by interpreting failures as external and temporary, recognizing and using one’s signature strengths, and cultivating strong relationships that offer support and meaning.

Rafa Euba, a retired consultant psychiatrist, argues that happiness is a vague and abstract concept that is hard to quantify. He suggests accepting that suffering and pain are a normal part of life. An attainable goal for one's life is to attempt to minimize pain, and pursue balance and contentment rather than a false ideal of permanent bliss.

Can someone be happy at work? Harvard Business School professor and co-author (with Oprah Winfrey) of “Build the Life You Want” attempts to answer the enduring question in this video. Brooks strays from measuring one’s power, income, or title and instead emphasizes the importance of believing in one’s work and positively impacting others.

The perennial debate on how to be happy involves various aspects of life, and one of the most essential is our psychological attitudes toward experiences. This piece lists and explains four basic tools to strengthen your "psychological immune...

Researchers asked 10,000 participants to list 10 things that recently made them happy. One author broke down the responses into subject-verb-object categories, isolating the people and events that made responders satisfied. The result highlights how simple things like having dinner or watching a movie made someone happy. Dive in and look for some ideas or tips on feeling happy today with this fascinating visualization.

Stoics define being virtuous as living according to human nature, which involves being social and thinking well. One of the most important lessons is that we should focus on matters we can control and accept matters we can't control for our own mental health. We cannot always control how much money we have or what others think of us, but we can control how we treat ourselves and others.

Digging into your immediate senses is shown to benefit your overall psychological well-being, from the happy memories evoked by familiar scents or through the transformative power of birdsong. This episode from the Science of Happiness podcast highlights insights from Gretchen Rubin, an author who has written books on the importance of engaging your senses for a happy life.

The study form Pew Research Center found richer countries on average tend to be happier. However, after a certain point, wealth matters less for satisfaction. Other matters, such as strong health, education, and social and political stability play important roles in individuals' life satisfaction.

Novels are often characterized as a form of cultural escape, but psychologists argue there are health benefits to the many elements comprising fiction. The Greek philosopher Aristotle explored this in his "Poetics," asking if literature was something meant to make us happier. This article highlights eight different innovations common to literature that provide psychological benefits, including the plot twist and more.

It may not be rocket science, but a lifetime partnership could still use some study. This quick list of smart traits gets into key traits that typically help a marriage remain happy ever after. Using studies from trained therapists and researchers, the article explains how really knowing each other, accepting bids for attention, seeking resolution to conflict, and more are essential to durable marriages. Read it here.

Perhaps you've heard of a 2010 study that found more money actually does correlate with an increased level of happiness, but after $75K per year, the happiness level didn't significantly increase. As it turns out, new research has complicated those findings. Listen to this podcast episode for more information.

Despite this host's attempts, it seems unlikely to prove that money buys happiness. However, there are interesting studies that suggest increased wealth can, on average, improve one's satisfaction.

This video argues that Eastern philosophy tends to emphasize that contentment comes from maintaining control over our minds and reducing mental disturbances, while Westerners tend to believe happiness comes from conquering the world and building capital.

Individual solutions for burnout, often called “self-care,” can be helpful for managing stress. Harvard researcher Aditi Nerurkar’s 2024 book The Five Resets details a road map for burnout recovery. In this interview she suggests, among other tactics, gaining focus on what matters the most in one’s life, taking breaks from both work and the internet, and making time for practices that strengthen the mind-body connection.

Psychological research presents some unsurprising wisdom about how to make big decisions without regret: focus on people, don’t miss opportunities, and stay true to yourself.

The reaction plays a key role in establishing interpersonal connections and relieving stress by releasing endorphins—feel-good hormones. A 2021 study identified at least 65 animal species that produce playful sounds, such as laughter.

Neuroscientist Kelly Lambert and her colleagues taught rats to drive in a mini car. She writes her findings from this unconventional experiment, sharing that positive and fun experiences can sculpt the brain just as powerfully as stressful ones. Click to learn more about how the apparent joy of these rodents seemed to enhance their neuroplasticity.

Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit."

The US CDC offers recommendations for alleviating stress in daily life. Short 10-minute breaks can significantly improve mental health, especially when used for activities like deep breathing, dancing, or writing down things you are grateful for. Building meaningful relationships, termed "social connectedness," can also alleviate stress and promote resilience.

Setting a baseline, removing distractions, establishing focus rituals, taking breaks, and finding purpose in your task are five science-backed practices that can help address a short attention span. Bestselling author Daniel Pink breaks down how to approach each part of the plan and introduce these habits to your life today.

In today's society, SpongeBob's life as a single man, line cook, and town fool may not seem appealing. But SpongeBob is perhaps the happiest creature in Bikini Bottom, because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Those who lead a very meaningful life may not always be guaranteed a happy life, and vice versa. While the two can overlap, a meaningful life tends to be more difficult but also more rewarding. Meaningful lives tend to focus on helping others and large achievements, rather than feeling good and having little stress.

- George Washington (1732-1799)

The internet is chock full of hacks and apps that supposedly help you optimize yourself into a more productive person. But Aparna Chivukula argues that spending so much mental energy on "wellness" misses a larger philosophical issue, one that can only be explored through art.

Psychedelics produce powerful emotions in its users, including a profound sense of meaningfulness. The philosopher William James called this sense "noetic" in the late 19th century, but for decades researchers avoided studying the effects of such drugs on the brain. However, the recent resurgence in psychedelic research has heightened interest in the relationship between this noetic sense resulting from the therapeutic use of drugs. Learn what researchers have found out here.

Differences in the type of fame, such as movie stardom, sports, and internet virality, can produce varying degrees of dependence on individuals based on their age and background. Some individuals—particularly children—can develop drug-seeking behavior as they pursue continuous dopamine spikes if they lack an existing sense of fulfillment from elsewhere.

- Hollywood legend Bette Davis (1908 - 1989)

"The secret to happiness, of course, is not getting what you want; it's wanting what you get."

They provide distraction, foster self-determination, and promote personal transformation. Purposeful engagement with games builds the capacity to face real-life problems.

Based on data collected from over 38,000 participants across 75 countries, spending time appreciating Earth's beauty appears to increase one's satisfaction with life. Whether it's a hike in the woods, a dip in the ocean, or time spent watching the sunset, the findings held true across a wide range of economic, cultural, and environmental contexts. The findings also indicate that connection to nature fosters experiences of being present and attentive, which are strongly linked to mental health.

Treatment for depression has historically hinged on the theory that the condition was caused by underactive or abnormal neurotransmitters, specifically serotonin and norepinephrine. This four-minute video by Yale Medicine details how these neurotransmitters didn't explain the symptoms of depression but, two other neurotransmitters involved in regulating mood and emotion did. GABA and glutamate, some of the brain's most plentiful neurotransmitters, may possibly be the source of depressive symptoms.

Physicians, especially in the UK, are asking patients what they enjoy and then prescribing a consistent regimen of doing that type of activity to improve fitness and overall health, including community exercise classes, volunteering, and spending time in nature. This approach may provide better incentives to stick with an activity.

A study presented at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting revealed that adopting eight healthy lifestyle habits in middle age can significantly increase life expectancy. The habits include being physically active, avoiding opioid...

Change and uncertainty induce stress, but reframing the unknown into an opportunity for discovery has tangible benefits. Approaching change with curiosity enhances activity in the hippocampus and promotes neuroplasticity, promoting learning and serving as a barrier against anxiety. A neuroscientist explains how embracing the unknown, trying small experiments, and other techniques build curiosity.

Specifically, Arthur C. Brooks has argued that self-doubt is usually evidence of healthy humility—not incompetence—and a clear contrast to the overconfidence of people who actually are impostors in their careers.

Author, editor, and thinker Kevin Kelly makes an argument for optimism. Not only as a personal philosophy, but as a moral obligation, focusing on the need for optimism in overcoming challenges. Drawing examples ranging back to the Wright brothers,...

Can animals experience happiness? And even if they do, do their bodies manifest happiness in similar ways to humans? Regardless, you surely will derive some happiness after viewing these thirty photos of a variety of animals appearing to smile big, beautiful smiles.

Baylor University professor of psychology and neuroscience, Sarah Schnitker, PhD, discusses why patience is not uniform and can vary across contexts and circumstances for the same individual. She also discusses where in human development patience first arises, the health impacts of impatience, and how strategies for regulating emotions can mitigate impatience.

Researchers have confirmed what people have sensed for ages: Our emotions during the springtime can go a little wild. This piece breaks down the impact of the seasonal transition on our bodies and prescribes a few ways to mitigate the effects.