People Who Change Jobs Are Happier

A completely undoctored photo of Sydney.
From Sydney-Australia.biz.

Today the Sydney Morning Herald reports on an Australian study that shows most people change jobs not to seek out more pay, but to seek out more satisfaction--and they usually find it. Around 17% of Australian workers (or 1.2 people) changed jobs in 2008, mostly for reasons of job security and job satisfaction. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research conducted the study.

Dr. Ian Watson, author of the study, says that most changes in jobs do not lead to an increase in pay or job security. "On the other hand," he says, "job changing does lead on average to greater levels of job satisfaction.'' This may occur because workers in new jobs get to learn and use new skills. The study also includes other interesting results, like how extroverts are more likely to change jobs than introverts.

Study Shows Correlation Between Diet and Mental Disorders in Women

Mmm, depression! From Science Daily.

Today the Sydney Morning Herald reports on a new Australian study that shows eating certain foods increase the likelihood of developing depression and anxiety disorders. Lead by Deakin University research fellow Dr. Felice Jacka, the study examined around 1,000 Australian women from all stratas of society. Participants who followed the national dietary guidelines were less likely to have depression.

This correlation happened regardless of the women's socioeconomic status, education, frequency of exercise, whether they smoked or not, and even physical problems like obesity. Dr. Jacka also says, "And conversely, women who mostly ate junk and processed foods were more likely to have depression and exhibit increased psychological symptoms." The study ultimately aims to help prevent depression before it starts.

So this pretty much confirms what a lot of you probably expected anyway. Unfortunately, the news story doesn't go into much detail about how this study was carried out (by listing control groups and the like), so not much else can be inferred from it. For more on how food affects mood, remember to click on my food tag, and especially this list of good foods to eat if you want to be happy.

Britain to Start Measuring People's Happiness

I wonder if surveyors will be happy with the task of
surveying all these Brits. From The Guardian.

Happy Monday everyone! I didn't do anything special for my birthday...except surf for the first time a few days before! Although maybe I shouldn't describe what I did as "surfing." It was more like "falling off." Also, not being a California native, it strikes me as utterly bizarre that the climate here allows me to surf in the ocean in the middle of November.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, Britain. According to this story from the Sydney Morning Herald, Britain will soon measure happiness, similar to what Bhutan does with their Gross National Happiness metric. Prime Minister David Cameron has wanted to measure the "general wellbeing" of his country for awhile, and now the Office of National Statistics will  actually carry out the policy.

On November 25, national statistician Jil Matheson will come up with new happiness questions to put on next year's national survey. In addition to happiness, the survey will also cover how close respondents are to achieving their life goals. This survey can lead to good things, because as I've reported in the past, Britain's happiness levels have dipped, and at other times the country has had strange opinions about the topic.

What do you think of this? Would you like to see happiness taken seriously in your country? Do you have any surfing tips? Any opinions would be appreciated!

Australians: Shorter Working Hours May Bring Happiness

Beneficiaries of a shorter work week. From molly in oz.

Hey, it's more news about jobs and stuff. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that four out of five Australians want different hours at work. The survey covered 1,786 people, with 80% of full-time employees wanting fewer hours, while 60% of part-time employees want more.

The results are so striking that many are considering a government-mandated 30- to 35-hour cap on the work week. Adam Bandt of the Greens party says, "People who want to work less should have a right to do so...It's time for government to start ensuring a fairer spread of working hours, so those who want to work more can, and that those who don't, don't have to."

Some businesses disagree with this, saying that a government mandate would act as a "straight jacket." On the other hand, as I've said time and time again, happy employees are more productive and ultimately lead to more profitable companies, so if shorter hours lead to happiness, that would in fact be good for business. As Richard Denniss, executive director of The Australia Institute, says, "Having happy, productive, retained workers is far more important for the productivity of the country…than short-term attempts to keep wages bills down by relying on lots of unpaid overtime, burning out your employees."

So what do you Internet people think? What are the working hours in your country and are you happy with them? I personally think Americans put too much focus on work, so a shorter work week might be good for this country, but maybe that's just me.

Australian School Teaching Positive Psychology to Alleviate Test Anxiety

From The Sydney Morning Herald.

More Australian news for you today:  The Sydney Morning Herald reports that schools are teaching students life coaching and positive psychology skills because of greatly increased stress levels. Over the past five years, students appealing their test scores for psychological reasons have increased 30 percent--greater than the increase in the student population. So either students are getting craftier in how they improve their grades or they really are more stressed out.

Dr. Anthony Grant of the University of Sydney's psychology department says, "The children of today, particularly those in selective schools, are under more pressure than they have ever been before." Dr. Grant studied 56 high school students and found that life coaching decreases levels of depression while increasing hope and resilience. He became interested in the subject because two or three principals called him per week asking for positive psychology classes. Another study from the University of Sydney found that high-stakes testing harms motivation.

I don't have much more to say about this story, but I do have a SPECIAL MESSAGE for those who read this blog every day (hopefully you exist):  I might not be able to update this blog until next Tuesday because I'm attending the Global Happiness Summit near San Francisco! I'll try to take pictures and tell you how it goes, but I don't know if I'll have the time or the Internet connection to update while I'm there. It'll be a change of pace for this blog, but that's okay because variety is actually a big component of happiness!