The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being

One investigator has found that couples that deliberately choose to be childless are just as happy as couples that make the opposite choice.36

In one recent experiment, for example, two groups of subjects were given a sum of money and instructed to spend it all in the next 24 hours.58 One randomly selected group was asked to spend the money on themselves; the second was told to spend it on others in need. When the subjects were tested a day or two later, those who gave to others were sign

Another interesting finding is that volunteering or performing acts of kindness contributes significantly to happiness.57

Rather, apart from such basic conditions as how well people feel, how much freedom they enjoy, and whether they possess the necessities and comforts of life, the most important sources of happiness seem to include having close relationships with family and friends, helping others, and being active in community, charitable, and political activities.

The second discovery of psychologists (including the Nobel Prize-winning Daniel Kahneman) is that people are often surprisingly bad judges of what will make them happy.14

Whatever marriage brings, longitudinal studies suggest that its termination—whether from divorce, separation, or the death of a spouse—leads to a sharp loss of happiness for many people.33

Yet psychologists report that those who attach great importance to achieving wealth tend to suffer above-average unhappiness and disappointment.21

Instead, they attach too much importance to the immediate effects of a happy or unhappy experience without realizing how quickly they will adapt and grow used to what has occurred.

Several familiar lifestyle choices also have surprisingly little effect on well-being. Moving to warmer climates does not help. Likewise, hours spent watching television or going to the movies do not make much positive difference and yield less satisfaction than exercising, gardening, or playing sports.28 Other experiences, such as a good meal at a