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Dr. Parks-Sheiener answers: Why are happy people healthier?

Dr. Acacia Parks-Sheiner — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:29:49 +0000

Dr. Acacia Parks-Sheiner is an instructor in positive psychology, a researcher and a member of the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. Dr. Parks has taught a variety of classes on how to use positive psychology interventions, and she often gets questions from students and clients about what will work best for them.

The happiness-health relationship isn’t magic – although some parts of it may be biological, a big part of why happy people are healthier stems from behaviors that come more easily to happy people. A study by Bob Emmons and colleagues found that people who experience gratitude on a regular basis are more likely to spontaneously exercise, and they also get better sleep. These short-term health behaviors lead to long-term benefits like longer life span. So if getting happier doesn’t seem worth the effort by itself, think abut the health benefits!

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Happy Mind, Happy Body – Exercise is Therapy: Set Positive Goals

happier.com — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:14:05 +0000

By guest contributor Gloria Park Perin

Taking on an approach versus avoidance mindset can do wonders for motivation. Sure, dropping the saddlebags and squeezing into a bikini are great goals for exercise, but instead of focusing on some aspect of yourself that you want to change or lose, why not ask yourself what you might gain in terms of vitality and the physical capacity to pursue a good life?

Create a vision of the future. Start by thinking about what is most important to you and work from there. Are your children the most important to you? Or developing your entrepreneurial endeavors? Write down what you envision as your best possible future.

Think about the tangible rewards. Articulate what you could potentially gain in these areas of your life by becoming more active: More energy to run around and play with your children? Increased ability to handle daily stressors in managing and growing your business?

Finally, set positively worded goals. “I will” vs. “I won’t” or “I hope to gain” vs. “I hope to lose”. Write these down and revisit them frequently.

Get Real: Positive Psychology Is NOT Crippling America – Responding to "Bright-Sided"

Andrew Rosenthal — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:08:57 +0000

We’ve been reading lots about the book coming out by Barbara Ehrenreich: Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. We were invited to respond to an article about Ehrenreich following her talk at the University of Pennsylvania. The original guest column is online, and included below, with text linked out to original sources where appropriate.

Comments? Questions? Leave a note in the comments section and let us know.

Guest Column | A personal trainer for your happiness

Learning and practicing optimism can literally brighten your future

By Andrew Rosenthal and Doug Hensch

Last week, The Daily Pennsylvanian asked “Does Positivity Cripple the U.S.?” after hearing Barbara Ehrenreich speak in College Hall about her new book, Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion Of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. According to reports, her talk was an argument against positive thinking and smiles. Seriously.

Although we did not attend the talk or review a pre-released copy of the book, a few things about Ehrenreich are clear. According to the DP and The New York Times, she finds herself “infuriated” by teddy bears and frustrated by upbeat T-shirts. Positivity and optimism are “the strongest sources of negativity in our society” she claims — and optimism is “just too damn much work” to be a worthwhile pursuit. However, we resist the urge to dismiss Ehernreich outright as a grump.

Ehrenreich is critical of “bogus” and “false” and “unsullied” optimism. Fine. But such specific modifiers mean that there must be a “genuine,” “real” and “authentic” optimism out there — something imperfect but grounded in reality. In fact, realistic optimism is the bedrock of positive psychology — the scientific study of well-being. When carefully defined, optimism is about seeing opportunity in challenge, identifying the limitations of bad events and finding hope in the most dire of times. Optimism is what got Barack Obama elected.

In practice, what is the difference between optimism and pessimism? A pessimist examines a situation and can identify only the most dire possible outcomes. Case in point: Ask a good attorney to review a contract, and she will point out everything that might possibly harm you in its execution. Planning for the worst situation is a good thing when it comes to attorneys and airline pilots. But artists and authors and athletes flourish as optimists, when they take a chance and try to do better, and more, than their predecessors.

This isn’t just a matter of semantics — it’s science. Research started decades ago shows that Penn students who are optimists perform better in school and exhibit fewer signs of anxiety and depression than those who are pessimists. Today, every freshman in Wharton is required to complete the PennSTART program to learn how to enhance optimism skills through resilience training. In last week’s DP, columnist Maya Brandon called for PennSTART to become available to students in all schools.

In her talk, Ehrenreich reportedly railed against smiling. But research shows that people who exhibit genuine smiles in a high-school yearbook picture are less-likely to be divorced in their mid-50’s. And a happy physician reaches a faster, more accurate diagnosis of a difficult liver condition. Positivity levels were the difference between life and death for the Sisters of Notre Dame. Nuns who expressed the most positivity throughout life lived an average of 6.9 years longer than those who expressed the least.

But some of the most striking research shows that emotions of the heart, like hope and optimism are good … for the heart. Pessimistic men who suffered heart attacks were 86 percent more likely to die of another heart attack within 10 years. Only 33 percent of the most optimistic patients suffered the same fate. Put more bluntly, being a pessimist has the same effect on heart health as smoking about three packs of cigarettes a week. These findings are nothing to sneeze at — unless, of course, you’ve got a cold. If so, your roommate should hope he is an optimist — optimists have a significantly reduced chance of catching a cold, compared to pessimists.

Authentic happiness and realistic optimism have been rigorously studied around the world. Some of the best work comes from Penn’s own Martin Seligman, Ph.D., the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology. Seligman and his colleagues have developed tests to let you measure your own optimism and happiness. The tests are available for free, at happier.com. Is your glass half empty, or half full?

Tuesday’s Tip – Be present

Doug Hensch — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:52:29 +0000

A typical exchange between my dad and I when I was growing up.

Me: “Dad, wanna play catch?”

Dad: “Sure.”

Then, my dad would get up out of “his” chair and roll me ground balls, pretend to be a catcher receiving my pitches from a make believe mound, or he would be a wide receiver on a made up football field moving his hands to different positions so that I could practice throwing the football to different targets. I don’t really remember if we talked much but I learned how to be present for my own kids.

I’m singling out my dad but both of my parents were ALWAYS there for us. Almost every night, we sat down for a family dinner. My mom would drop what she was doing to help with homework. My dad would watch the Yankees with me every night during the summer but he didn’t push back when I swore my allegiance to the Red Sox. I never felt unloved or that I couldn’t go to them with some big problem. When questionable circumstances presented themselves and I had a choice to go with the crowd or do the right thing, I almost always thought about how my parents would react if they found out. In the end, I chose wisely for most of my formative years.

Keep in mind that my parents were busy coaching sports, carting me and my sisters to various activities, and working long hours. But, they stopped what they were doing to talk to us, help us, or just be with us.

Flash forward 30 years and now we have wireless networks in our houses, Twitter, Facebook, Blackberries, iPhones, and way too many activities for our kids. We’re busier than ever but are we spending enough quality time with those we love? Is it quality time when we’re rushing from place to place with our kids and spouses? Are you truly present with someone else when you answer a question but your face is buried in your Blackberry?

The following are a couple of tips to improve and deepen the relationships you already have with those you care about the most:

Drop what you’re doing and give your full attention to those around you.
Avoid the temptation to answer your phone or read an email when talking with someone else.
When someone brings you good news, learn how to respond actively and constructively. Give them your full attention. Ask follow up questions and show genuine interest.

Shelly Gable’s research shows that how we discuss good events is is more predictive of strong relations than how you fight. It is also the basis for our Active & Constructive Responding exercise that teaches you how to respond to the good events of others and track your progress.

So, the next time your child says, “Wanna play catch?” or your significant other brings some good news to you, put down the iPod and be present.

What is Your Favorite Happiness Fact, Quote or Finding? Share With Us and You Could Win A Zappos.com Certificate!

happier.com — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:14:32 +0000

What is your favorite happiness fact? It could be a surprising research finding, or a great quote. Be sure to fill out the questions below. Each valid submission before Thursday 10/1 enters you into a raffle for a $10 gift certificate to zappos.com. Selected happiness facts will be published on happier.com, on twitter (from @happier) and in other sources.

The details: Whenever you give us permission, we’ll make sure to credit you. You can enter as many unique facts as you want, prior to 10/1. Each entry counts toward the gift certificate raffle. And if multiple people enter the same fact, we won’t count it against you. You still have a chance to win.

Just use the form below or click here.

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Are Happy People Really Healthier? Yes!

Dr. Acacia Parks-Sheiner — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:05:01 +0000

Dr. Acacia Parks is an instructor in positive psychology, a researcher and a member of the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. Dr. Parks has taught a variety of classes on how to use positive psychology interventions, and she often gets questions from students and clients about what will work best for them.

Tuesday’s Tip – Stop using your strengths

Doug Hensch — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:59:40 +0000

Several years ago I had a Vice President who was full of energy and optimism. He was also very kind and had an “open door” policy where he was more than willing to chat with any one of the several hundred employees in his group about anything. In fact, you could talk to him about anything and he always seemed to have time for you.

I don’t know if he ever took the VIA Survey, but I would guess that some of his top strengths were:

Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
Forgiveness and mercy
Curiosity and interest in the world

In fact, he knew his strengths and he used them often – unfortunately, too often. And, while he was a very likeable person, he was a pretty ineffective leader. He consistently did not acknowledge risks or issues. He loved creative ideas but was easily bored with operational issues. He rarely fired anyone for poor performance. In addition, he really didn’t know how to adapt to situations. He continued to use his top strengths even when he wasn’t getting results. His organization eventually fell into disarray.

In recent years, we have heard the experts tell us to use our strengths. And, Robert Biswas-Diener wrote a great post about using our strengths in the ‘right’ situations. But, how do we know when we’re over-using a strength?

Unfortunately, I think over-used strengths usually represent a blind spot. That is, they’re difficult to recognize. Remember, using a strength usually feels good. We are engaged when we are doing something that we’re good at and we frequently go into a state of flow where time stands still. This can lead to situations where we lose our self-awareness.

Try these two strategies to examine the use of your own strengths:

Look at situations where your initial thoughts were that you performed at a high level but the results did not follow. Did you misjudge the reactions of others? Did you miss some cues? List your top strengths and see if any of them actually contributed to the poor outcome.
Ask for some feedback from people who know you well AND are not afraid to tell you the truth (that second part is VERY important). Take the VIA Survey to identify your top strengths. Share this list with your friend(s) and ask if you rely on these too much.

In the end, don’t abandon your strengths. The research shows that use of your strengths can lead to lasting happiness. Just try to exercise a little more self-awareness and consider the situation.

So You’re Already Pretty Happy – Three Exercises That Will Work for You

Dr. Acacia Parks-Sheiner — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:45:58 +0000

Question: I’m already pretty happy. I score low on measures of depression and high on the Authentic Happiness Index. What should I be working on? Do you know what happier.com tools will work best for me?

Answer: The data tell us that people like you (low on depression symptoms and high on happiness) benefit the most from “big picture” exercises that can help you find meaning. Chances are you already experience a good deal of positive emotion, and as a result, you are uniquely poised to benefit from these kinds of exercises – they can be difficult at times, maybe even disheartening to people who are already feeling bad, but the positive emotion that you already experience will help you get the most out of your experience.

Your high scores on the Authentic Happiness Index demonstrate that you’re feeling pretty satisfied with your present. The What Door Opened? exercise can help you gain perspective on difficult events from your past. “Letting Go of Grudges” also helps you gain perspective on the past. The exercise guides you through the process of releasing negative emotions about past problems with other people.

Finally, The “Mindfulness Journal” can help you fine-tune your everyday routine by making you more aware of what activities help you feel happier and what activities don’t (tons of research says that we are not great at figuring these things out on our own).

Keep in mind that you are already pretty happy, so you can’t expect huge gains – but you can still become happier. These exercises will help you get on the right track.

Three Things You Can Do Today To Increase Your Happiness

Andrew Rosenthal — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:04:39 +0000

Friday, I shared Five Surprising Facts About Happiness. Well, most people tell us all this is great, but who has the time to work on being happier? These days we can barely make it to the gym, let alone add on a set of “happiness exercises.” But there are easy, quick things we can do each day to become happier that take maybe five minutes, even less.

• Do at least one thing per day completely. By that, I mean, experience it fully, without going off into your head and thinking about what you need to do later, what you’re worried might happen, or whether whatever you are doing is a good use of your time. Just do it, and savor it. It can be anything – a meal, your shower, even a conversation – and you don’t have to plan it in advance. What’s more important is that you pick something you usually rush through or do distractedly and instead be completely present while you are doing it.

• Every night, reflect on the things that went well that day. We have all sorts of cognitive biases that make it easy to forget good things, or let bad things overshadow them. We have to work hard to keep them from disappearing from our memory altogether, and one of the quickest, easiest ways to do that is to set a specific time to remember (and maybe even record) them. Happier.com has created an iPhone application called the “gratitude journal” that records your bright spots during the day and tracks your happiness “quotient”. You can do it in just a few minutes a day.

• Experiment with your daily routine. Develop some ideas about what makes you happy and what makes you unhappy and see if you’re right. Keep a log of what you do each day and what your mood is throughout the day, and see what factors make a difference. You’d be surprised how often the things we do because we think they are helping us actually make things worse, and how often things we think are unimportant have a huge impact.

For additional tools and strategies to increase your happiness, try the happiness plans on happier.com.

Decrease Your Symptoms of Stress, Anxiety and Depression

Increase Your Happiness and Positive Emotions

Build Positive Emotions

Increase Your Resilience

Discover Your Strengths

Have you tried these strategies? What worked for you? What would you recommend to others? Feel free to leave comments at the end of this post.

This is adapted from a post originally published on Not Just the Kitchen.

Five Surprising Facts About Happiness

Andrew Rosenthal — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:14:55 +0000

A wealth of research has been done over the past few years on happiness – why it’s so important to be happy, how to measure your own happiness and of course, how to improve your own happiness. Yet we’re all so busy on a day-to-day basis, that trying to focus on happiness can seem like a luxury.

It’s important to know why happiness is such a big deal. Here are a few proven by- products of happiness that just might surprise you!

• It feels good. Perhaps this is the most obvious benefit: it feels better day-to-day if you’re happy than it does if you’re unhappy. This benefit isn’t just psychological — happier people live better, and live longer.

• Happier people do better in their jobs. A recent study found that happy people make more money and obtain better job performance reviews than do unhappy people.

• Happier people are more creative. People who experience positive emotions on a regular basis are better at a wide variety of mental tasks that tap things like self-discipline, creativity, and decision-making.

• Happier people are more resilient. People who are optimistic about the future, and about their ability to make an impact on their future, are better suited to persevere in the face of adversity and find opportunities for growth. It turns out that positive emotions are a key ingredient of resilience in the face of adversity.

• Happier people have better relationships. Being happy makes people more interested in befriending you. When we are happy, we behave in certain ways that make people enjoy being around us more. The friends we already have will be more likely to stick with us when the chips are down if the chips aren’t always down.

For more information on the science of happiness, view the 60+ exclusive videos from the happier.com experts. The videos are free but they require a 3-question registration.

What do you think? Have you come across any research findings about happiness that surprise you?

Feel free to leave comments at the end of this post.

This is adapted from a post originally published on Not Just the Kitchen.