Quite a bit of energy has been spent on studies to determine what makes people happy. The findings often seem self-evident (for example, the observation that simple pleasures can be the most satisfying), but studies may be needed when the culture grows detached from what is self-evident.
NY Times columnist Ron Lieber writes, here, about one such study: “Amit Bhattacharjee and Cassie Mogilner, met when Mr. Bhattacharjee was earning his doctorate at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where Ms. Mogilner is an assistant professor of marketing.
“When they decided to work together … they were trying to help answer one of the next big questions in the emerging field of happiness studies. Already, scholars in the field have established that experiences tend to make people happier than possessions. What we do, it seems, has more potential for lasting satisfaction and memory-making than what we have. But Mr. Bhattacharjee, who is now a visiting assistant professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and Ms. Mogilner wanted to know what sort of experiences made people the most happy and why.
“To find out, they conducted eight studies in which they asked participants about their recollections of, planning for or daydreaming about various happiness-making experiences. They also checked to see what sort of things their subjects were posting about on Facebook. The researchers’ definitions of ordinary and extraordinary experiences, when they prompted people to discuss one or the other, were simple and focused on frequency; ordinary experiences happen often and occur in the course of everyday life.”
Lieber notes ordinary experiences like reading the paper, walking around the block, talking to neighbors, spending time in the library. I would add playing with grandchildren, listening to music, and baking something when you have time.
Update 9/3/14 — John just sent word of another study tending to prove the same thing, here.
Free Shakespeare production on the library lawn in summer
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 