It can be improved.
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Happiness is something that can be learned, but in order to maintain happiness - you need to adapt daily activities, which are very easy to perform.
This is what a new study published in Higher Education claims.
The research findings, centered on the "Science of Happiness" course at the University of Bristol, indicate that adopting evidence-based habits such as gratitude, regular exercise, meditation and journaling can significantly increase your level of happiness, but only if these practices are maintained over time.
The "Science of Happiness" course, based on Yale University's "Psychology and the Good Life" course, is designed to improve mental well-being through the lens of scientific research.
Launched in 2018, this course eschews traditional exams and papers, focusing instead on imparting knowledge of what contemporary peer-reviewed research in psychology and neuroscience is revealing about the nature of happiness.
Covering a variety of topics from the biological and environmental causes of happiness to practical advice on fostering mental well-being, the course encourages students to engage in evidence-based activities.
This approach aims not only to provide education but to equip students with the tools to actively improve their mental health.
Previous research has suggested that psychoeducational courses can increase psychological well-being in the short term, but it was not yet certain whether these improvements would last over time.
A course in happiness can offer a sustainable way to improve students' mental well-being.
Happiness enhancers: write a journal and meditate
By systematically examining the long-term effects of such psychoeducational courses, the team sought to discover whether the initial benefits observed in student well-being could be maintained over time.
For their research, the researchers collected data from students who took part in the "Science of Happiness" course and responded to follow-up surveys.
Initially, invitations were sent to a database of 905 students who had participated in previous years in well-being surveys before or after the course, of which 638 had complete data before and after the course.
Of these, 228 students responded to the long-term follow-up survey, which lasted between 12 and 29 months after the end of the course.
To gauge the degree of happiness, the study used several well-validated instruments.
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Index was used to measure general mental well-being.
This scale is widely recognized for its reliability and validity in measuring positive aspects of mental health.
For anxiety, the General Anxiety Disorders Questionnaire was used.
Initially, students who took the course reported a significant improvement in general well-being, with a 10-15 percent increase in the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Index.
This jump in the mental well-being index actually shows the effectiveness of the course in improving the mental health of the students in the short term.
The key to happiness: activities that make us less busy with ourselves
About half of the respondents (50.67%) reported that they continue at least one of the happiness-enhancing habits learned in the course, such as more frequent expression of gratitude, practicing mindfulness or meditation, engaging in regular physical activity, keeping a diary or performing voluntary activities.
Among these, gratitude was the practice that the students persisted with more than others.
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"Countless studies have shown that precisely activities that make us less busy with ourselves, keep us away from negative thoughts that can be the basis of so many mental problems"
When the researchers conducted follow-up assessments up to 29 months after the end of the course, a different picture emerged.
The increase in well-being experienced by the students was not permanent by nature.
Only those who actively continued to practice the practices they learned during the course were able to maintain improved levels of well-being over time.
"This study shows that simply participating in a certain course or class - whether it's at the gym, as part of a meditation retreat or a university course based on scientific evidence - is only the beginning. To preserve mental well-being, and increase the level of happiness - you must commit to using what you learn based on constant," explained Bruce Hood, who led the study and is a professor of developmental psychology in society at the University of Bristol.
"Much of what we teach revolves around positive psychology interventions that divert our attention from ourselves by helping others, spending time with friends, gratitude or meditation. This is the opposite of the current 'self-care' doctrine, but countless studies have shown that precisely activities that make us less busy In ourselves, we are distanced from negative thoughts that can be the basis of so many mental problems."
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