Good morning. We’re digging into the study of joy – more on that below, along with Canada’s Olympic medal haul and the growing threat of wildfire-fuelled super storms. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Global stocks plummet as worries mount that the U.S. could be headed for a recession
- After Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, protesters want Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead Bangladesh
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith asks Ottawa for support to aid Jasper’s recovery as evacuees return home
Illustration by Pete Ryan
Psychology
Cracking the happiness code
People are willing to fork over a lot of cash in the pursuit of happiness. There are self-help books, wellness retreats, workplace summits, mindfulness apps, a deep bench of life coaches, an entire catalogue of Goop products – it all adds up to a multibillion-dollar industry in North America alone. But Canadian developmental psychologist Bruce Hood thinks we should just get back to basics. He argues that happiness can – and should – be taught in school, right alongside science and math.
In her new report, Globe and Mail feature writer Erin Anderssen explores the latest boom in the science of joy. She profiles Hood and his Science of Happiness course at the University of Bristol in Britain, and uncovers the types of happiness interventions that actually boost our mood. This feature kicks off a year-long dive into happiness for Erin, who’s reported extensively for The Globe on health policy, social issues and mental health. We spoke about her findings so far – and how I can keep my own crankiness in check.
What’s nature and what’s nurture when it comes to happiness? How much room do we really have to play with here?
That’s a subject of debate among positive psychology researchers, who study positive emotions rather than negative ones. Studies of twins clearly suggest there is a genetic component to our personalities and dispositions: Some babies just seem naturally happy. But, of course, our environments, experiences and life choices get mixed in there as well. Happiness levels also go up and down and back up again, and researchers see this as evidence that we have control over at least some of our happiness. As Bruce Hood points out, a certain amount of intelligence is genetic, but we know education can influence it. It’s the same, he says, with happiness.
I tend to fall on the crabbier side of the spectrum. How would Hood teach me to be a little more joyful?
I would say I also fall on the pessimistic side, prompting some jokes from my partner when he heard I was going to report on happiness for the next year. But Hood would remind us that happiness takes practice; we can’t just read a book and be done. He’d recommend all the usual interventions – practising gratitude, walks in nature, mindfulness – but his main advice is to get out of our own heads and invest in the people and relationships that give us purpose and joy.
Bruce Hood at home in Bristol.Gareth Iwan Jones Photographer/The Globe and Mail
What does science say about the success of these interventions?
There’s limited research to show that these interventions create long-term happiness. Most research doesn’t follow people long-term. And the boost you get even in the short term isn’t massive. But as Dunigan Folk, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia who studies the effectiveness of interventions, says – a boost is still positive. If we get better at practising the things that give us that boost, don’t we feel more moments of happiness? The good thing is that the practices that really seem to boost people’s happiness are also pretty healthy for our communities.
How do we actually measure happiness? Are we sticking people in MRI machines? Asking them to pick a number on a scale? Something else altogether?
Scientists are using brain scans to study happiness, as well as psychological measures that use scales, which have good evidence behind them. Most happiness findings are self-reported, but then happiness is relative and subjective. Since happiness goes up and down, these tests also capture people’s mood at the particular time they’re done. But since our brains naturally have a negativity bias, measuring happiness long-term – even if we just do it ourselves – might show that we are actually happier than we thought. That might help us see more potential for happiness in the future.
Why did you want to tackle the happiness beat?
To be honest, I did worry about the name for the beat, because happiness maybe seems like a fluffy term. But the pursuit of those positive emotions – joy, contentment, well-being, purpose and connection – is what drives so many of our individual and collective decisions, with mixed results. I’m especially interested in how we can look at many different areas of science – ecology, urban planning, economics, anthropology, history – from that perspective of improving the quality of our lives, and especially our communities. It seems especially timely when the world feels pretty angry. Also, even though I’m just getting started, it’s pretty hard to be grumpy talking every day to researchers, policy makers and others about what makes them happy.
What else do you want to look into?
The list is already so long. Can we be happy without backyards? How can we be inspired by orphaned otters? Also: smiling, parking lots, politics, climate change, Taylor Swift. I hope I look back on all these stories and see they’ve explored a way for the pursuit of our individual happiness to improve the world around us.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Also: Who’s the happiest person you know? To nominate a family member, friend or colleague, please go here or send an email with a brief description of them to Erin Anderssen at eanderssen@globeandmail.com.
Paris 2024
‘It will definitely take a while for me to realize what exactly we’ve done.’
Canadian swimmers Josh Liendo and Summer McIntosh.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Here’s a pretty remarkable stat: Canada has won 12 gold medals in Olympic swimming since 1908, and Summer McIntosh is responsible for 25 per cent of them. Josh Liendo grabbed silver in the 100-metre butterfly this long weekend, while Ilya Kharun took bronze. Ethan Katzberg has an impressive mustache and an even more impressive hammer throw – he chucked it a whopping 84.12 metres to win gold. (Camryn Rogers hopes to do the same in the women’s final today.) It’s nice of the men to add to Canada’s hardware haul – 11 of the 17 medals so far have been won by women. Finally, the Canadian Olympic Committee has withdrawn the accreditation of Rana Reider, Andre De Grasse’s coach, after receiving information about its “appropriateness.” For all our Olympics coverage, go to tgam.ca/olympics-daily.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: After Jasper’s destruction, Parks Canada is trying to understand a growing threat in our warming climate – pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or pryoCbs, which are kind of like thunderstorms but made of wildfire and erratic winds.
Abroad: Venezuela’s opposition leaders are calling on the country’s armed forces to abandon their support of President Nicolas Maduro in light of credible evidence that he lost the election.
Outlaw ocean: China is buying its way into the restricted fishing grounds of other countries, threatening livelihoods and further depleting fish stocks.
Outlaw engine: In a landmark case – and the first antitrust decision of the modern internet era – a U.S. federal judge ruled that Google acted illegally to maintain its monopoly in online search.