Scientific Causes of Happiness

Happiness is a very difficult emotion to study and there are many different theories behind it. Here are some real things linked to happiness and myths that people thought caused happiness but did not.
Things that Don't Cause Happiness

Money- Of course there is a correlation between having money and being happy, but it is usually overestimated by people that don't have money. Once above poverty, there is really a small, if any, relationship between money and happiness. Even families making over $100,000 a year frequently complain about not having enough money. Many people are actually more depressed when their main goals are about money and material objects.

Parenthood- Joy and fulfillment can come from children, but they can also be a tremendous source of stress. Parents have been shown to worry more and having more problems with their marriage. Amazing amounts of money are spent on children, and tiredness and stress are common long-term "side effects" of having kids. Of course I'm not saying having kids will cause you to be depressed. Just don’t counts on it attain your life-long search for happiness.

Age- Though kids seem to be happier because they have little to worry about; when a person hits his or her teenage years the real personality seems to take hold. Although over time your values will change ( Health may become more important and money less important), most people's level of happiness seems to be consistent and not dependant on age.

Intelligence- Though intelligence is a coveted thing in today's society, research has shown no real connection between IQ scores and happiness. Satisfaction seems to be less about intelligence, and more about what you do with your intelligence.

Physical Attractiveness- There are some obvious advantages that good-looking people how over the, eh, not-so-good-looking, but interestingly there has not been a correlation found between looks and happiness. There are plenty of depressed beautiful people, and on the other end of the spectrum, there are tons of happy ugly people!

Thing's that Moderately Cause Happiness

Health- Good health would have to be a predictor of happiness right? Well, it is more of a grey answer than that. Research has shown about a .3 correlation (which is about average) between happiness and good health. A good point is that most people seem to take health for granted, not realizing how much they should enjoy it. Also, very disabled people aren't usually as unhappy as would think, which shows there is a weak correlation.

Religion- A wide variety of surveys seems to show that religious people tend to be happier than those who aren't. No one is really sure how religion increases happiness, but then again no one full understands happiness. It seems that religion gives people a sense of purpose and meaning, giving people a positive outlook on life. It will help them accept their faults and become part of a good, caring section of the community. Also, instead of being preoccupied with death religious people tend to feel somewhat assured they will be ok and less worried about death.

Social Activity- Humans are very social animals which is shown in our unique speech compared to other animals, our sense of humor, and of course our instinctive sense of love. Many people tend to be happy if they are satisfied with their friends and social networks. Also, people who are extremely happy usually have more satisfaction with their friends and relationships.

Thing's that Strongly Cause Happiness

Love- Relationships can be very stressful, but consistently psychologists find that people who are in love are happier than people who aren’t, and much happier than people who have been divorced. Also, it seems that marriage is one of the keys to happiness. This is interestingly true throughout all other countries, not only in the United States. Though it is not clear whether good marriages are created by happy people or good marriages make people happy, there is definitely a very strong connection between love and happiness.

Jobs- Job satisfaction has shown to be a very important factor in happiness. On the other side of this coin, unemployment has a very negative effect on a person’s happiness. Like love, it is difficult to sort out which causes which, but it can be confidently said that they are connected.

The Past- As I said before, a person’s happiness seems to be consistent throughout their whole life. Therefore, by looking at how happy you were in the past you can predict how happy you might be in the future. According to recent studies, lottery winners’ and accident victims’ happiness changed only slightly. Because of this stunning evident, more psychologists are beginning to study personality and subjective well-being in order to assess the causes of happiness.