Kansas University Does Easter Egg Hunt to Study Happiness

This place was all full of eggs yesterday. From KU.

The University Daily Kansan reports on a Kansas University Easter egg hunt that took place yesterday. But this was no regular hunt, as the eggs contained messages along with chocolates. The messages told students to give one of the chocolates to a friend, then take a five-question online survey to rate their feelings upon receiving the chocolate and upon giving it away. Survey respondents will be entered into a drawing to receive a prize, which will probably be a gift card.

This whole experiment was created by associate professor Sarah Pressman for a positive psychology class. Out of 500 hidden eggs, the class has received 40 survey responses so far. After Thursday, students will tabulate all the responses and use them in a research paper.

It's certainly an interesting idea, and it could lead to some interesting results, as well as (hopefully) showing people how great generosity can feel!

Happiness Course in Ireland Thrives

Dr. Deirdre MacIntyre. From Independent.ie.

Today Independent.ie reports on an Irish happiness class that is receiving offers for international expansion around the world. The class was originally offered only for teachers in Maynooth, but in February of this year, it opened its doors to everyone.

Dr. Deirdre MacIntyre, who runs the course, is the director of the Institute of Child Education & Psychology Europe, Maynooth. She started the course in May 2010 because of pervasive negative attitudes, saying, "We did an online survey of about 400 teachers and parents in May 2010 and discovered that more than 75% of respondents reported that children and young people were anxious about the recession. We decided to look for an antidote to this depression, helplessness, and pessimism."

The course lasts eight weeks, during which participants learn various techniques to improve their psychological wellbeing. Dr. MacIntyre focuses on the positive psychology theory that humans need a 3:1 ratio of positivity to negativity to thrive, and a 5:1 ratio to really flourish.

Dr. MacIntyre partnered with Action for Happiness to offer many scholarships to the €99 course.

Marketers Teach Happiness to Sell Products

One of the most well-known campaigns to sell "happiness."
From 2010 and High Heels.

Today I read this interesting Fast Company article about a consultant who specializes in teaching corporations how to market happiness. Her name is Jennifer Aaker, and she teaches a Stanford graduate marketing class entitled "Designing Happiness". She also consults with AOL, Facebook, Adobe, and other corporations.

According to Aaker, "The idea of brands enabling happiness and providing greater meaning in the world is powerful. People have an aversion to anything that feels overly manufactured." The article also mentions John Kenny of the ad agency DraftFCB saying that nostalgia and other "safe emotions" can create happiness in an ad campaign, making happiness into a commodity used to sell products.

Students in Aaker's class create a photo project by taking pictures of happy moments for a month, then rating those moments on a scale of one to ten, thereby allowing themselves to discover moments that they didn't realize could make them happy. They apply the happiness principals they learn to a fictional company.

How do YOU feel about this corporatized streak in happiness research? We've seen before that when corporations take employee happiness seriously, they increase productivity and stock price, so everyone benefits. Happiness classes can also be a great experience for students, and Jennifer Aaker sounds like a great teacher.

HOWEVER, I sort of feel like using those principles to sell products steps over the line into creepiness. Does Coca Cola actually make people happy? No, it doesn't--at least in the longterm, after the sugar and caffeine leave your system. Coke is flavored high fructose corn syrup that will harm your body and actually ruin your smile if you drink too much, so why pretend that it causes happiness? It's the same thing with these other companies. I'm sure marketers love creating emotional links in consumers, but in the real world their products invite no emotion whatsoever. Now they seem to be explicitly using happiness as just another cynical tool used to manipulate consumers instead of a worthy goal in itself.

Maybe people will know the difference between the short-term pleasure that comes from a newly-bought item and the longterm happiness that comes from meaningful social connection and personal action. Hopefully?

Utah Professor Researches Holiday Happiness

Happy holidays from the bottom of a stampede! From Dim Bulb.

Are holidays a happy time, or are you so stressed out that you just want them to be over? According to this story from The Daily Utah Chronicle, University of Utah professor Trish Henry is looking into this question--and hosting a seminar for those in the latter category. Seeing as a recent American Psychological Association (APA) survey found that 61% of Americans feel a lack of money will stress them out during the holidays, a seminar like this could be helpful. An additional 42% are apparently stressed out by gift-giving in general.

Stress can also come from the prospect of family gatherings. Even when family members have been away from each other a long time, we all know that old conflicts can suddenly bubble up again, making people dread family reunions in general.

All is not lost, though. Professor of educational psychology J.G. Farr says, "If you can find meaning, and it doesn't have to be all about money, then it tends to make you have a happier holiday season." This may bode well for Americans because, as I've written previously, happiness tops the list of holiday wishes, not commercial products.

What about all of you? Are you feeling the stress of the holiday season coming on or are you looking forward to it?

Teachers in Ireland Starting to Teach Kids About Happiness

Sixth graders in Castletownbere. From The Creaky Traveler.

School Days reports that Irish teachers are jumping on the positive psychology train by teaching their students about happiness. According to Cian Traynor of the Irish Times, around 400 Irish primary and secondary school teachers have enrolled in the Teaching Happiness program, which is based on Martin Seligman's principles of learned optimism.

This means that Ireland has joined England, Australia, and others in teaching happiness to kids. The programs often improve kids' attention spans, memories, and problem solving abilities.

Some teachers in Ireland think these classes should be mandatory. What about you? Would mandatory happiness classes in your country improve your children's education?

I don't know the answer, but I do wonder if making these classes mandatory would turn them into "just another class," making them lose their effectiveness. Not that they would ever become mandatory, because I'm sure there are plenty of budget hurdles to overcome before they're even offered in most countries!

Happiness Class Now Offered at Duke Law School

From Duke Law Map.

Ashby Jones of the Wall Street Journal reports that Duke Law is now offering a class entitled "Well-Being and the Practice of Law." This makes a lot of sense, given that lawyering is an incredibly stressful occupation--so much so that around 1/3 of lawyers say they would choose another profession if they could.

As for what's in the class itself, American Lawyer magazine's Dimitra Kessenides explains:

"Four weeks in, they’ve already tackled Aristotle (as part of a consideration of the philosophical roots of happiness) and renowned psychologist Albert Maslow, the founder of 'humanistic' psychology (in a review of pre-World War II scientific research on happiness)."

The class goes on to cover Martin Seligman and the like. So it sounds like an extremely comprehensive review of happiness through the ages, from ancient times to the present day. This is an interesting approach (different from other happiness classes I've heard of) that may or may not relieve stress. For students who are truly stressed out, a class like this may only act as a Band-Aid. The world needs lawyers, but law is not a profession for everyone, so I hope those who are troubled will put happiness ahead of status and money to find a career that suits them. In any case I wish Duke Law and its students all the best!

Hey, do you like this blog? If so, follow me on Digg and vote up the stories I post! Also, don't forget to click the social networking links on this site to re-tweet, re-share, and re-whatever. I'd like to get more people involved in the comments section, so this blog can be as interesting as possible!

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!

Weekend Viewing: Tal Ben-Shahar's Happiness Class

Hey, let's watch Tal Ben-Shahar teach a class! You may remember me writing about Tal in my very first Casual Friday. As a quick refresher, he is the author of the excellent book Happier, as well as being the professor of the famously popular happiness class at Harvard. This video shows him on the first day of a new semester, but after he had already become famous.

For some reason, I was only able to find this video on a Chinese version of YouTube, but don't worry--it's all in English. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but he starts by talking about one of my favorite topics:  the difference between the popular notion of outgoing cheeriness and real happiness. After a few notes on the class itself, he goes on to talk about the importance of silence in our lives. He is an engaging and informative speaker, so give it a try! (Embedding seems to stop working periodically. If that happens, use this link:  http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTE5MTAzODgw.html)

Boarding School with Classes in Positive Psychology Now Teaching Parents

From The Telegraph

Alastair Jamieson of The Telegraph reports that Wellington College, a boarding school with happiness classes for its students, is now offering those classes to parents. Wellington began teaching happiness and wellbeing classes in 2006. Anthony Sheldon, the teacher who introduced the classes, says that that they have been enormously successful, as evidenced by the creation of similar programs at other schools.

I've never heard of this school before, so I don't have much to add, other than these classes would probably be a good idea in American public schools as well, but with so many educational budget problems, they may not make the cut. It's an easier argument to make in college, where positive psychology classes overflow with students. Taxpayers may be harder to convince!