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I agree and disagree with the list of things that can force someone to be unhappy. In the list Money/ material things, Youth, and Children are found. In my opinion, I think that for some people Money is the way to go to attain happiness. They might find satisfaction on earning and spending money, maybe because they find a sense of power, belonging, or attraction that is associated with money. Money is also related in the book The Great Gatsby, because the character, Jay Gatsby, is driven by wealth and power since he throws the most expensive parties every week, owns numerous amounts of shirts, and cars. Wealth found in Gatsby is a factor towards his happiness, since he uses his wealth to grab the attention of the girl he loves.

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Want to feel better and improve your health? Start by focusing on the things that bring you happiness. Scientific evidence suggests that positive emotions can help make life longer and healthier.

But fleeting positive emotions aren't enough. Lowering your stress levels over a period of years with a positive outlook and relaxation techniques could reduce your risk of health problems.

Pathways to happiness

In an early phase of positive psychology research, University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan chose three pathways to examine:

Feeling good. Seeking pleasurable emotions and sensations, from the hedonistic model of happiness put forth by Epicurus, which focused on reaching happiness by maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.

Engaging fully. Pursuing activities that engage you fully, from the influential research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. For decades, Csikszentmihalyi explored people's satisfaction in their everyday activities, finding that people report the greatest satisfaction when they are totally immersed in and concentrating on what they are doing - he dubbed this state of intense absorption "flow."

Doing good. Searching for meaning outside yourself, tracing back to Aristotle's notion of eudemonia, which emphasized knowing your true self and acting in accordance with your virtues.

Through focus groups and testing hundreds of volunteers, they found that each of these pathways individually contributes to life satisfaction.

Things that won't make you happy

People tend to be poor judges of what will make them happy. Here are some widely held myths about what will bring happiness:

Money and material things. The question of whether money can buy happiness has, for more than 30 years, been addressed by the "Easterlin paradox," a concept developed by economist Richard Easterlin. His research showed that people in poor countries are happier when their basic necessities are covered. But any money beyond that doesn't make much difference in happiness level. This idea has been challenged periodically, as in 2008 when two University of Pennsylvania researchers analyzed Gallup poll data from around the world. They showed, in contrast to Easterlin's work, that people in wealthier countries are happier in general. The two studies were not directly comparable in method, however. And Easterlin points out that the new study may be flawed by cultural bias, as people from different countries may have different ways of answering questions about wealth and happiness.

Youth. Being young and physically attractive has little or no bearing on happiness. In a study published by Richard Easterlin in 2006 in the Journal of Economic Psychology, not only did being young fail to contribute to happiness, but adults grew steadily happier as they moved into and through middle age. After that, happiness levels began to decline slowly as health problems and other life problems emerged.

Children. Children can be a tremendous source of joy and fulfillment, but their day-to-day care is quite demanding and can increase stress, financial pressures, and marital strife. When ranking their happiness during daily activities, mothers report being more happy eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching TV than when spending time with their children. In several studies, marital satisfaction declines after the first child is born and only recovers after the last child leaves home. Personal relationships of all types are important, however. In studies, being married, having more friends, and having sexual intercourse more often are all moderately or strongly associated with happiness.

How do you know if you're in flow?

You lose awareness of time. You aren't watching the clock, and hours can pass like minutes. As filmmaker George Lucas puts it, talent is "a combination of something you love a great deal and something you can lose yourself in - something that you can start at 9 o'clock, look up from your work and it's 10 o'clock at night ... ."

You aren't thinking about yourself. You aren't focused on your comfort, and you aren't wondering how you look or how your actions will be perceived by others. Your awareness of yourself is only in relation to the activity itself, such as your fingers on a piano keyboard, or the way you position a knife to cut vegetables, or the balance of your body parts as you ski or surf.

You aren't interrupted by extraneous thoughts. You aren't thinking about such mundane matters as your shopping list or what to wear tomorrow.

You are active. Flow activities aren't passive, and you have some control over what you are doing.

You work effortlessly. Flow activities require effort (usually more effort than involved in typical daily experience). Although you may be working harder than usual, at flow moments everything is "clicking" and feels almost effortless.

Disclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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The happiness-health connection - Harvard Health

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Want to feel better and improve your health? Start by focusing on the things that bring you happiness. Scientific evidence suggests that positive emotions can help make life longer and healthier. But fleeting positive emotions aren't enough.

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In the book,The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay Gatsby wanted to attain his dream and true happiness. Gatsby bought a mansion and other riches, so that he will get noticed by the one he desires, named Daisy. Gatsby "revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well- loved eyes...He stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual presence none of it was any longer real" (Fitzgerald 91). The amount of different and unique possessions did not matter to Gatsby as time stopped still when he looked into Daisy's eyes. Gatsby watching Daisy and that smile forming into her eyes was automatically making him a happy man.

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In this survey that I generated with different questions, many people had a different definition of happiness or what makes them happy. For most of the people that answered the set of questions, many seemed to want non materialistic things in order to be happy. Many wanted to be proud of themselves, confident, at peace with them self, and in the future get married and be successful. From what I understood based on this experience, happiness  is not only composed of the materialistic things, many tend to have similar goals or dreams that they want to attain in hopes of attaining happiness.

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Animals, especially dogs tend to make me happy. If I'm not having a good day or if things aren't going the way I want them to, dogs typically help brighten up my mood. Just having them by your side, not judging you, and showing so much love makes me feel happy or at ease.

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Do you need an antidote to the seemingly never-ending cycle of bleak news?

People from around the world shared their cutest canine snaps, videos and GIFs on Twitter Friday via the #NationalPuppyDay hashtag ― in honor of the magical powers of their adorable young dogs.

Good Morning Folks!

Take a look at our puppies, it's going to be a good day! 😍🐾#NationalPuppyDay #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/YZMwelIxxJ
- Durham Constabulary (@DurhamPolice) March 23, 2018

Today is #NationalPuppyDay, also know as the BEST FRIDAY EVER!

Today's goal 👇 pic.twitter.com/dyDwQiJxx1
- Kristen Crowley TV (@Kristencrowley3) March 23, 2018

It's the best day of the year!!!

Happy #NationalPuppyDay

😓🐶😍 pic.twitter.com/aO9ulFVivj
- Historic England (@HistoricEngland) March 23, 2018

Apparently it is #NationalPuppyDay

Flashback to when my best friend Comet was a baby. pic.twitter.com/CYF7cSXiAC
- Dani Bostick (@danibostick) March 23, 2018

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Photos From 'National Puppy Day' Will Help You Escape The News Cycle Of Doom

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Do you need an antidote to the seemingly never-ending cycle of bleak news? People from around the world shared their cutest canine snaps, videos and GIFs on Twitter Friday via the #NationalPuppyDay hashtag ― in honor of the magical powers of their adorable young dogs. Good Morning Folks!

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Being outside and at the presence of nature makes me feel happy and relaxed. Just sitting outside for a while on a bright sunny day boosts up my happiness compared to sitting inside a building for hours. The sounds of birds chirping and the smell of flowers usually makes me feel relaxed,especially if I'm going through a stressful day.

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water, Reflection, Lake, Mountain, Forest, Blue, Peaceful, Nature, Landscape Wallpapers HD / Desktop and Mobile Backgrounds

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For many of those in the world they find happiness when being surrounded by nature, even though they are in a world with high usage of technology. Just the little things nature seem to do creates this good vibe for many. For example, having clear skies and the sun being out tends to make many feel energized and excited. Whereas a day when the sun is covered by the thick dark clouds, tends to make many feel tired, depressed, or lazy.

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In today's age of high technology, research shows that our hunger for the natural world still endures. In fact, our connections with nature could just be the best medicine for people of all ages-improving our health, happiness, and well-being. Those same connections could also heal the planet.

Few would disagree that our natural and cognitive worlds have grown disconnected. Most of us, particularly children, spend far less time in nature today than in recent decades. There are no required classes in nature connectedness in our schools, nor is nature a well-utilized tool for teaching kids to critically think about the world around them. New research, however, suggests our relationship with nature may be deeply linked to our happiness.

We don't have to look far into history to know that humans evolved in natural settings and were deeply connected to their ecological environments. In the 18 th century, poet and writer, Samuel Johnson, wisely stated, "Deviation from nature is deviation from happiness." Could those natural settings not only become an avenue by which we find happiness in the 21 st century, but also provide new psychological insights that help motivate generations toward environmental sustainability?

Several particularly interesting studies were published recently in Environment and Behavior by John Zelenski and Elizabeth Nisbet. Not surprisingly, the studies found that our emotional connections with nature are predictive of our attitudes and the choices we make about living sustainable lifestyles. But in addition, the study also found a unique connection between nature and happiness itself.

The Link between Nature and Happiness

Zelenski and Nisbet conducted two studies with one question in mind: Is the link between nature and happiness independent from the other things that make us feel emotionally connected to life, like family, country, culture, music, and friends?

In the first study, they measured people's feelings of connectedness across many spheres, including nature. They called the concept of how we emotionally connect to our natural world nature relatedness. Using a Likert-type scale, participants rated their nature relatedness by their level of agreement or disagreement with statements like "My relationship to nature is an important part of who I am," and "I take notice of wildlife wherever I am."

Other scales and inventories were used to rate people's subjective happiness across these same areas. The result? Among the various happiness scales, the relationship between nature and happiness was highly significant.

One of the primary goals of the study "was to determine whether the association between nature relatedness and happiness is due to a general sense of connectedness or a more specific link with nature." In other words, the researchers wanted to know if nature stood out from other things that made us feel connected to life and gave us a sense of happiness.

The results of their research suggest that "nature relatedness has a distinct happiness benefit" beyond the more generalized benefit of feeling connected to family, friends, and home. Our connection to nature also correlated with most measures of human well-being, indicating it may play an extremely important role in maintaining positive mental health.

To further understand and expand the findings of the first study, Zelenski and Nisbet conducted a 2 nd study. In this study they used well-validated assessments to more deeply explore various connections to happiness, particularly those of an interpersonal quality, including attachment, interdependence, and belongingness. Not only did they hope to replicate the findings from Study 1, but they also wanted to see if nature relatedness could actually predict happiness.

Important Findings on Nature Relatedness

While not every correlation between nature and happiness could be duplicated in the second study, the general pattern of findings and ensuing comparison to past studies led researchers to important conclusions, including:

Our emotional connectedness to the natural world is distinct from other psychological connections in our lives.

Nature relatedness often predicts happiness regardless of other psychological factors.

Psychological connections with nature have the capacity to facilitate sustainable attitudes, and may be an important tool in preserving our environment.

Ecopsychology and the Future of Planet Earth

While these studies provide insightful data on the relationship of nature and happiness, they build on many previous studies that link our health and well-being to the natural world. In fact, a whole new field of ecopsychology has emerged, combining the efforts of ecologists, psychologists, spiritualists, philosophers, and others. The International Community for Ecopsychology says, "Ecopsychology explores the synergistic relation between personal health and well-being and the health and well-being of our home, the Earth."

Many experts have sounded the alarm about our disconnection from the natural world, from the Industrial Revolution onward. But the Digital Age evokes additional concerns.

Richard Louv, in his award winning book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, linked the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation to troubling childhood trends, including the rise of obesity and depression.

A 2005 study by the American Institutes for Research found that kids who learn in outdoor classrooms improve their science scores by 27 percent.

Not only have experts found that outdoor education is critical for child development, it is also important for the future of the planet. Why? Because when we feel connected to nature, we are more likely to live sustainable lifestyles. We are also more likely to support environmental causes that educate and engage others with the natural world.

How should studies like these affect our actions in the world? While I consider myself deeply connected to nature already, these studies motivated me to take a walk in my neighborhood with new eyes. Not only did I engage differently with the many blossoming trees, but I discovered 15 Great Blue Heron nests in a tree within a block of my home. I had been walking by them for days, but had never looked up! The thrill of seeing each nest topped with a large heron definitely increased my happiness! It showed me that there is much more to learn and many more ways to engage with the many living organisms around us.

Let's get our children and teenagers out in the natural world and engage them with its beauty and vibrant spirit. In the end, it is their and our relationships with nature that will determine our futures.

How would you describe your own connection with nature? Your children's? Do those relationships with the natural world bring happiness to your lives?

References

American Institutes for Research (AIR) (2005). Effects of Outdoor Education Programs for Children in California. Palo Alto, CA.

Louv, R. (2008). Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Algonquin Books.

Zelenski, J. M., & Nisbet, E. K. (2014). Happiness and Feeling Connected The Distinct Role of Nature Relatedness. Environment and Behavior, 46(1), 3-23.

Author

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, is a developmental psychologist working at the intersection of youth development, leadership, education, and civic engagement.Subscribe to Updates at Roots of Action to receive email notices of Marilyn's articles.

©2014 Marilyn Price-Mitchell. All rights reserved. Please contact for permission to reprint.

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In today's age of high technology, research shows that our hunger for the natural world still endures. In fact, our connections with nature could just be the best medicine for people of all ages-improving our health, happiness, and well-being. Those same connections could also heal the planet.

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This article does a great job trying to portray why one might find or feel happiness when in the presence of a spiritual event or gathering. For many, attaining happiness through spiritual gatherings can be finding those that have the same day to day problems or just finding someone that shares a common belief. The article emphasizes on how meditation is a key to happiness since it promotes positive thinking and relaxes the human body. Spirituality and meditation are thought to be linked together since it helps a person find a deeper sense of meaning, hope, or a better perspective towards life. For most, it helps them be motivated when trying to find a purpose, meaning, or contribution in life. A study conducted demonstrated the connection between happiness and spirituality. The study revealed that the majority of those in the experiment found themselves more happier and at a better mental state when partaking in a spiritual event.

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People follow spiritual paths and join religious organizations for a variety of reasons, including faith, prayer, social support, community service, cultural tradition, friendship, commitment to the community and more. How often do you hear someone say that they committed to a religion or spiritual practice primarily to become happier? Perhaps not often. However, interestingly enough, studies demonstrate a close link between religious and spiritual engagement (practice) and happiness.
Scientists who study this phenomenon hypothesize several possible reasons for a link between religiosity, spirituality, and happiness. Religious organizations provide strong social support from like-minded people, providing various opportunities for socializing, community service and making friends with individuals from a common network.

Spirituality and prayer also provide people with an opportunity to engage in a meditative act. Meditation has been shown to have a strong link with well-being because it calms the body, reduces stress and anxiety, and also supports positive thinking. The cultivation of "sacred moments" in daily life, whether through journal-writing or daily spiritual exercises, has been associated with reduced levels of stress and an increase in psychological well-being. Finally, both spirituality and organized religion can help provide people with perspective, hope, and a deeper sense of meaning. By believing in something greater than themselves, it may help them stay positive in times of sadness, and foster resilience in its role as a coping strategy.

Generally, religiosity can be defined as one's relationship with an established faith tradition or doctrine about a sacred other or supernatural power, while spirituality can often be defined as "the intrinsic human capacity for self-transcendence, in which the self is embedded in something greater than the self, including the sacred" and which motivates "the search for connectedness, meaning, purpose, and contribution."1 However, these abstract ideas are measured in many different ways, from frequency of church attendance to asking people "how religious are you?" As for mental well-being and happiness, studies look at indicators of mental well-being, both negative (i.e. depression) and positive (i.e. self-reported happiness, self esteem, positive relationships with others). A recent survey of the studies (meta-analysis) examines the different definitions and measurements of religiosity/spirituality as well as mental effects.

A 2012 review of more than 326 peer-reviewed studies of mainly adult populations found that out of those 326 studies, 256 (79%) found only significant positive associations between religiosity/spirituality and well-being. The author postulated that the positive influence of religion or spirituality on well-being can be explained through a few key mechanisms, such as religion's role as a coping strategy and as a support system for prosocial behaviors. In addition, religious beliefs can potentially alter the way individuals cognitively react to stressors, and often, the regulations of most faiths decrease the likelihood of individuals experiencing particularly stressful life events (such as divorce or incarceration) (2).

A 2010 study of adults found that independent of religious service attendance and congregation-based friendship, other subjective components of religion do not influence life satisfaction significantly. The authors thus note that the social networks that individuals build in their religious congregations are responsible for mediating most of the effects of service attendance on life satisfaction (3).

One important point about the studies is that, even though most researchers say they are looking at the "effect" of religion on mental well-being, the vast majority only show that religious and spiritual people report higher levels of happiness and mental well-being. This means that good mental well-being might predispose people to religious involvement or vice versa. To look at whether religiosity/spirituality causes better mental well-being, scientists must study people over a long period of time.

1. Benson, P. L., Roehlkepartain, E. C. & Rude, S. P. (2003). Spiritual development in childhood and adolescence: Toward a field of enquiry. Applied Developmental Science 7(205-6).

2. Koenig, H. G. (2012). Religion, spirituality, and health: the research and clinical implications. International Scholarly Research Network - Psychiatry 278730: 1-33..

3.Lim, C., and Putnam, R. D. (2010). Religion, social networks, and life satisfaction. American Sociological Review 75 (6): 914 - 933.

Learn More about Religiosity/Spirituality and Meaning in Life:

How were key studies on spiritual engagement, meaning, and psychological well-being selected?

Key studies concerning religious/spiritual engagement and meaning in life were selected according to methodological rigor, type of investigation, and approach taken in understanding the relationship between R/S engagement, meaning in life, and psychological well-being. The work of Bonelli, et al (2012), was identified as a key study due to its methodological rigor in reviewing quantitative research that focuses on the association between religion and depression, as well as the therapeutic utilization of R/S resources for depressed patients. Ellison's 1991 study was identified as a key study because it was one of the first studies to report on the relationship between religious/spiritual beliefs, life satisfaction, and personal happiness. In his seminal investigation, Ellison also uniquely examined four different aspects of religious involvement in assessing religiosity/spirituality. Galen and Klout's 2011 study was identified as a key study due to its focus on the curvilinear (rather than linear) relationship between religiosity and well-being (with non-religious participants showing significantly greater levels of well-being than weakly-religious participants). Goldstein's study (2007) was identified as a key study due to its empirical clinical evidence (as well as qualitative interviews) that revealed the psychological importance of cultivating sacred moments in daily life.

Additionally, Halama and Dedova's 2007 study was identified as a key study due to its unique emphasis on examining whether meaning in life and hope are associated with positive mental health among adolescents. The work of Ivtzan, et al (2013), was selected as a key study because it uniquely distinguishes between the roles of religious involvement and spirituality in investigating how each influences psychological well-being, in terms of self-actualization and life meaningfulness. Lim and Putnam's 2010 study was identified as a key study due to its focus on social networks as the key mediator of the oft-reported positive relationship between religious service attendance and life satisfaction. Koenig's 2012 review article was also identified as a key study because of the breadth of research findings that are evaluated (from 1872 to 2012), as well as the focus that Koenig places on integrating his findings with actions by health professionals. Krause's 2006 study was identified as a key study due to its longitudinal nature, as well as its focus on investigating the role of religious doubt (rather than religious belief) in contributing to decreased psychological well-being. Finally, the work of Ryan and Francis (2012) was selected as a key study due to its unique investigation of the association between locus of control, religious functioning, and psychological health. The work of Ryan and Francis (2012) was seminal in postulating that an internal locus of control mediates the relationship between awareness of God and psychological health.

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People follow spiritual paths and join religious organizations for a variety of reasons, including faith, prayer, social support, community service, cultural tradition, friendship, commitment to the community and more. How often do you hear someone say that they committed to a religion or spiritual practice primarily to become happier?

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This article reveals that spirituality tends to make one more happier and less anxious than those who don't participate in spiritual activities. In my own opinion I sometimes agree with this, because being at church brings a more peaceful and comfortable environment for me. It's the type of environment that I don't have to care or worry about others judgement. Being there tends to make me calm, happy, and not alone. Although spirituality tends to make a lot happy, this is not the case for many people. They might find interest in other things. For me personally, there are different things that make me happy, but going to church just happens to be one.

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The following story is excerpted from TIME's special edition, The Science of Happiness, which is available at Amazon.

It's right there, the first of the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha: "Existence is suffering." If that's not your bag, you can turn to the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, the preacher who said, "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the rich man who built a prosperous life, only to hear from God, " 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'" Across the spectrum of organized religions, the message is clear: the observant should be prepared for their allotment of unhappiness in this mortal vale of tears and put their faith in a happier life to come.

Which should perhaps make it surprising that scientists have found, again and again, that those with a spiritual practice or who follow religious beliefs tend to be happier than those who don't. Study after study has found that religious people tend to be less depressed and less anxious than nonbelievers, better able to handle the vicissitudes of life than nonbelievers. A 2015 survey by researchers at the London School of Economics and the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness-even more than volunteering for a charity, taking educational courses or participating in a political or community organization. It's as if a sense of spirituality and an active, social religious practice were an effective vaccine against the virus of unhappiness.

I've experienced that phenomenon for myself. A few years ago, suffering a mix of anxiety and depression-or maybe just the toll of living too long in New York City-I made an appointment with a psychiatrist. I thought I might end up taking antidepressants, as more than 13% of Americans do. But before going down the drug route, my doctor prescribed something different-a morning meditation routine, to calm the kind of racing thoughts that can lead to a downward spiral.

I'm not sure if it was the calming effects of steady, deep breathing. Or the mental training that comes with meditation-focusing on the present moment rather than getting caught up in regrets about the past or fears about the future. Or the fact that even though I was doing it alone, the app I used to time myself told me how many other people were meditating at the same time I was, making me feel a part of a community of people who also struggled to find that inner calm. Whatever it was, it worked.

It turns out my story is not unusual; a review published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that even small amounts of meditation training can help with anxiety, depression and pain. But that doesn't mean scientists know exactly why it works.

The same goes for the protective qualities of religious belief and spirituality. Some experts think that believing in a religion gives you a greater sense of purpose and meaning in life than a secular viewpoint alone does, and that can help carry you through the low periods and elevate the higher ones. It could be that belief in an afterlife-something nearly all mainstream religions have in common-can make you happier in this one, knowing that you're headed for something better. (This would be the opiate that Karl Marx believed religion offers to the oppressed masses.) Jesus told his faithful their "reward is great in heaven," but that promise seems to pay off in the here and now as well.

Indeed, there appears to be something to the idea that faith makes us happier. And it appears that one of the main reasons is that there's strength in numbers.

The power of the group

Many religions proscribe vices that over time can damage health and, with it, happiness. For instance, Mormons-who aren't allowed to smoke or to drink alcohol or caffeine-tend to have much lower mortality rates than nonobservers, and much the same is true for abstaining Seventh-day Adventists, who follow vegetarian diets and don't drink. "Thou shalt not" may seem like a bummer, but scientists have come to understand that the abundance of possible decisions in a free, consumer-driven society can actually weigh us down. (It even has a term, popularized by Swarthmore College psychology professor Barry Schwartz: "the paradox of choice.") It's possible that the strictures of religion can help relieve that burden-especially if those strictures, and the religious community that enforces them, discourage unhealthy behaviors.

When it comes to religion and spirituality, it may not be what you believe or how you believe it that protects you from unhappiness so much as the fact that you believe at all-and that you practice those beliefs with other people. Scientists have long known that having strong social ties is one of the greatest guarantors of happiness. Religion isn't the only social tie that binds-you can join a volunteer group or a bowling league or the parent-teacher association, and you'll likely be better off than you would be alone.

As anyone who grew up religious knows, though, there's something about ties of faith that make them particularly sticky. We can grow out of school ties or a hobby or an allegiance to a sports team-less so our faith. Religion derives from the Latin term religio, which means "to bind together." Atomistic individuals are linked to family-family now and their ancestors-along with friends and community and congregation. It's not for nothing that Jesus told some of the earliest Christians that "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them."

Without that sense of community, religion may not be as strong a protector against unhappiness. In a survey of U.S. adults conducted in 2006 and 2007, researchers led by sociologist Chaeyoon Lim of the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that 33% of those who attended religious services every week and reported having close friends at church said they were extremely satisfied with their lives, while only 19% of those who went to church but had no close connections to the congregation reported the same satisfaction.

"To me, the evidence substantiates that it is not really going to church and listening to sermons that makes people happier," Lim told TIME, "but making church-based friends and building intimate social networks there."

In fact, it's those who are suffering the most in this life who seem to benefit the most from the protective quality of religious community. In a 2011 paper that analyzed self-reports from hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, researchers found that the connection between religious faith and happiness was strongest among people living in difficult conditions-fear, poverty, hunger.

Think of it as scientific proof of the old saying that there are no atheists in the foxhole. When life is hard, the communal support of a religious community-and, presumably, the hope for something better to come in an entirely different world-is especially valuable, maybe even impossible to give up. That may be one reason religious community was so important to slave populations throughout history, from the ancient Israelites under the pharaoh's boot in Egypt to African Americans trapped in the antebellum South. It may also be why even now in the U.S., states with lower life expectancies and higher poverty rates have the largest proportion of religious people. A rich man may find it harder to get into heaven than a camel does passing through the eye of a needle, but he may not think he needs to count on heaven in the first place.

Being in the majority matters

In well-off but secular countries such as France and the Netherlands, both the religious and the nonreligious report about the same level of happiness and social support. In fact, Gallup data shows that some of the happiest nations in the world-Nordic countries such as Denmark and Sweden, which perennially score high on well-being-are comparatively abundant in atheists. Being completely unreligious-and presumably not worrying much about any kind of afterlife-didn't seem to stop them from enjoying this life.

You don't need to be a Marxist to believe that materialism matters to happiness and that people who live in a safe and wealthy country are on the whole going to be happier than those who do not. (If religion provides a kind of existential security in poor countries, the welfare state may do the same in rich ones.) The comparatively low levels of inequality in those unreligious Nordic nations likely play a role too.

Studies also point to the fact that the protective social qualities of religion work best in societies where religion is widely practiced. In other words, it's important to get right not just with God but with your fellow man. In a fairly religious country like the U.S., it makes sense that being religious would make you happier-you're with the majority, and studies have repeatedly shown that being in the minority is potentially stressful.

The opposite is true in a country such as the Netherlands, where atheism is widespread. There, a practicing religious person would be in the minority, and instead of that warm communality with your fellow believer, you'd find yourself out of step. Those religious social ties are weaker-and with them, the protective qualities of spirituality.

Another report, from the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that people living in an area with a higher density of co-religionists are more likely to participate in religious activities. There's also a strong correlation between that religion density and positive economic outcomes, including higher incomes, lower rates of divorce and a higher likelihood of having a college degree. The value of religion depends in part on the cultural values behind it.

Of course, aren't these concerns all a bit worldly for something that should be a matter of the spirit, not economic statistics?

Where spirit comes in

The idea that happiness should be the goal of religion is a fairly recent one, and it would have been unrecognizable to the stern Protestants who landed on Plymouth Rock, who believed that the point of existence was the glorification of God-not human happiness. That's the past, though; today, many of the descendants of those flinty Protestants now preach the prosperity gospel, which explicitly links material success in this life to God's grace. In this telling, religion doesn't just deliver community-it can deliver cold, hard cash.

And while the prosperity gospel may be an extreme version, other spiritual practices today explicitly teach happiness as a goal. One of the best-selling books written by the Dalai Lama is called The Art of Happiness. In it, the Buddhist leader describes why happiness is so important. "Isn't a life based on seeking personal happiness by nature self-centered, even self-indulgent?" he writes. "Not necessarily. In fact, survey after survey has shown that it is unhappy people who tend to be most self-focused and are often socially withdrawn, brooding and even antagonistic."

Happiness in this worldview isn't just a possible by-product of religion-it's practically a duty. But maybe this isn't about religion so much as it is about those underlying cultural values. Howard Cutler, a psychiatrist who co-authored the book with the Dalai Lama, has said he suggested that it not open with the rather unhappy first Noble Truth that "existence is suffering."

"I began with the more positive states and made my way into how we all want to be happy but have to deal with suffering," Cutler told TIME. "It was very American."

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The following story is excerpted from TIME's special edition, The Science of Happiness, which is available at Amazon. It's right there, the first of the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha: "Existence is suffering."

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What does it mean to be happy? How does one attain happiness?

Happiness is defined differently for many around the world. In my opinion, being happy means to be placed in a moment of time where there is laughter, joy, and peacefulness. It means to be surrounded by my family, nature, animals, and many others.

Relationships with others or relationship towards nature can be a major factor towards happiness for some.

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What makes me happy...
1. Family
2. Animals
3. Going to Church
4. Friends
5. Nature
6. Traveling
7. Volunteering
8. Trying something new
9. Good Food
10. Music

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In the quest to study human happiness, including its causes and effects, even agreeing on a definition is a formidable undertaking. Joy, euphoria, contentment, satisfaction-each of these, at times, has been used as a proxy or emphasized in research studies.

Studies that probe the link between happiness and health outcomes are still relatively rare in scientific work, but the new Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health aims to change that as it pursues a new approach to health maintenance: focusing on specific factors that promote the attainment and maintenance of high levels of well-being. In this, the center represents a sharp departure from traditional medicine that focuses on risk factors and treatments for disease. Among the center's first goals: to catalog and standardize the measures used to describe and evaluate happiness and related factors. "There are more than 100 different measures already in use for the various forms of well-being," says Laura Kubzansky, the Lee Kum Kee professor of social and behavioral health. "And it may be that the instrument we need for our research does not yet exist." Happiness, after all, is a term that encompasses physical, emotional, and social factors. Although the different facets of well-being frequently occur together, measuring one does not always shed light on whether the others are present; thus, different measures may be needed to capure these distinctive facets.

The researchers also hope to solidify evidence that emotional health influences physical health, and not just the other way around. This notion was challenged last year, when The Lancet published a study finding no connection. But critics (including Kubzansky, who coauthored a letter of response in the same journal) took issue with the study's methodology, noting that in adjusting for self-rated health (which is partly defined by emotional well-being), the study's authors essentially adjusted for the very factor they were trying to investigate as a predictor.

The debate exemplifies the tension underlying research in this area: the public seems to find the subject enormously compelling, but some segments of the scientific community remain skeptical. Kubzansky and her colleagues aim to amass enough evidence of biological connections between emotional and physical health that eventually the link will be taken for granted, much as exercise is generally regarded as beneficial.

Yet even if that link is established, how can it be applied? If some people are innately happier than others, are the latter doomed to ill health? To answer such questions, the researchers seek to identify social policies that may be relevant as well as to test interventions with the potential to increase happiness: exercise, mindfulness, and cultivation of a positive mindset, for example. Other studies will aim to establish best practices for corporate wellness programs by testing their efficacy.

Another prong of research will be led by Kasisomayajula "Vish" Viswanath, Lee Kum Kee professor of health communication, who studies the impact of movies, television, advertising, and social media on health and happiness. For example, watching or reading news with a focus on negative events such as war, terrorism, and crime may influence people's sense of well-being: "If you feel that the entire world is coming apart, that affects your emotions," says Viswanath. Researchers will also investigate how media can be used to positively influence happiness and health.

Research about happiness gets headlines more readily than grant funding. Kubzansky notes that to date, her projects-including studies of veterans that link post-traumatic stress disorder with poor heart health and a positive outlook with improved heart health, and studies of older men that link hostility with diminished lung function-have capitalized on existing data. That allowed her to conduct work on this topic without the level of grant support that an original study design and data collection would require. That is why the $21 million underwriting the new center-a gift of the Lee Kum Kee family, whose Hong Kong-based companies make products such as sauces, condiments, and herbal supplements-is critical to investigating the relationship between happiness and health. Such research represents a paradigm shift, Viswanath explains, and that has been one reason for funding challenges. Until very recently, he says, "We have always treated health as the absence of disease"-and the existing funding framework for both government investment and private philanthropy focuses principally on understanding and preventing specific diseases.

The new center will focus instead on factors that can lead to positive outcomes. "Unhealthy lipid profiles, high blood pressure: these are biological processes that have been shown to lead to poor health," says Kubzansky. "The question is, are there biological processes that we have not yet identified, or that we don't characterize well, that lead to better health?" She and Viswanath envision the center as a place that brings together researchers from Harvard and beyond, complete with funds for pilot-testing ideas that may generate the initial data necessary to obtain support for full-scale studies.

"People focus on problems because that's what catches our attention, and people want to solve them," says Kubzansky. But she is optimistic that the culture will begin to shift, thanks to the new center: "My hope is that with a convening platform to pull people together, we'll be able to change how people think about health," and how to maintain it throughout their lives.

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In the quest to study human happiness, including its causes and effects, even agreeing on a definition is a formidable undertaking. Joy, euphoria, contentment, satisfaction-each of these, at times, has been used as a proxy or emphasized in research studies.

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This Ted video reveals the science of happiness and how it can be synthesized. According to the video, synthetic happiness acts as our psychological immune system. Its thought of as our psychological immune system, because it works to keep us happy or maintain that happiness. It starts to work the most when we are stuck in the world around us or when struggle occurs. This sort of happiness helps differentiate between 2 things: what we want in order to be happy vs. how to manage with what we have to maintain happiness. Synthetic happiness is what we want to make out of a situation when it doesn't go according to plan. The author of this video, Dan Gilbert, clearly stated that synthetic happiness is just as real as our real happiness. To add on, he stated that we have the capacity to create happiness within ourselves rather than to depend on others or experiences. If synthetic happiness is the way to go, how long will it take for a person to be truly happy by relying on synthetic happiness?

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Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness

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Dan Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness," challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.