Showing posts with label happiness index. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness index. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2015
The search for happiness: Using MRI to find where happiness happens
Kyoto University scientists have used MRI brain scans to find the location of happiness. Japanese researchers have mapped out using MRI where happiness emerges in the brain. The study, published in Scientific Reports, paves the way for measuring happiness objectively—and also provides insights on a neurologically based way of being happy.
23 nov 2015--Exercising, meditating, scouring self-help books... we go out of our way to be happy, but do we really know what happiness is?
Wataru Sato and his team at Kyoto University have found an answer from a neurological perspective. Overall happiness, according to their study, is a combination of happy emotions and satisfaction of life coming together in the precuneus, a region in the medial parietal lobe that becomes active when experiencing consciousness.
People feel emotions in different ways; for instance, some people feel happiness more intensely than others when they receive compliments. Psychologists have found that emotional factors like these and satisfaction of life together constitutes the subjective experience of being "happy". The neural mechanism behind how happiness emerges, however, remained unclear. Understanding that mechanism, according to Sato, will be a huge asset for quantifying levels of happiness objectively.
Sato and his team scanned the brains of research participants with MRI. The participants then took a survey that asked how happy they are generally, how intensely they feel emotions, and how satisfied they are with their lives.
Their analysis revealed that those who scored higher on the happiness surveys had more grey matter mass in the precuneus. In other words, people who feel happiness more intensely, feel sadness less intensely, and are more able to find meaning in life have a larger precuneus.
"Over history, many eminent scholars like Aristotle have contemplated what happiness is," lead author Wataru Sato said. "I'm very happy that we now know more about what it means to be happy."
So how does that help us? Sato is hopeful about the implications this has for happiness training.
"Several studies have shown that meditation increases grey matter mass in the precuneus. This new insight on where happiness happens in the brain will be useful for developing happiness programs based on scientific research," he said.
A smiley face balloon floats over Revere Beach in Revere, Mass. as beachgoers head for the water on Sunday, July 16, 2006. According to a report released in December 2013 from the National Academy of Sciences, which advises the U.S. government, by gauging happiness, there'd be more to consider than cold hard cash when deciding matters that affect daily lives. The panel of economists, psychologists and other experts assembled by the academy recommended that federal statistics and surveys, which normally deal with income, spending, health and housing, should include a few extra questions on happiness. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
A panel of experts thinks the U.S. government should be more in touch with Americans' feelings.
09 dec 2013--By gauging happiness, there'd be more to consider than cold hard cash when deciding matters that affect daily lives, according to a report this week from the National Academy of Sciences, which advises the government.
The panel of economists, psychologists and other experts assembled by the academy recommended that federal statistics and surveys, which normally deal with income, spending, health and housing, include a few extra questions on happiness.
"You want to know how people are doing?" said panel chairman Arthur Stone, a professor of psychology at New York's Stony Brook University. "One of things you may want to do is ask them."
Asking how people feel can be as important as how much they are spending, Stone said.
For example, economists have something they call the "misery index" which adds the unemployment and inflation rates, but doesn't include how people feel. If you want to know misery, the question to ask is "how much suffering is going on," he said.
The panel suggests a series of questions to measure daily happiness and general well-being, asking how often you smiled, were stressed, laughed or were in pain. Example questions ranged from a simple yes-no "Yesterday, did you spend time with friends or family?" to a more complex 1-10 rating for "Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?"
Over the past decade, these types of questions have shown to be valid scientifically, said Carol Graham, a Brookings Institution economist who was on the panel.
The report said the answers can help governments shape policy on basic benefits, such as retirement age and pensions, care for the chronic and terminally ill, unemployment and working conditions. It cited a study by one of the Nobel Prize-winning panelists that showed people's feelings about commuting problems helped officials decided whether or not to create commuter toll lanes on highways.
People laugh as they take part in performing a group exercise during a laughter yoga class in St. Albans, England on Sunday, June 9, 2013. Laughter Yoga was started in India in 1995 by medical doctor Madan Kataria, in response to a body of scientific research which shows that laughter is extremely good for physical, emotional and mental well being. According to a report released in December 2013 from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which advises the U.S. government, by gauging happiness, there'd be more to consider than cold hard cash when deciding matters that affect daily lives. The panel of economists, psychologists and other experts assembled by the academy recommended that federal statistics and surveys, which normally deal with income, spending, health and housing, should include a few extra questions on happiness. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
In terms of collecting happiness data, the United States government "is a bit of a laggard" behind other industrial nations, said John Helliwell, an economist who co-directs an institute that studies well-being at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
In one of the few surveys where the government does ask, the U.S. is a pretty happy nation. Last year, about 87 percent of Americans considered themselves very happy or pretty happy.
But it's far behind No. 1 Denmark, a host of northern European countries, Canada, Israel and Mexico. The United States ranked 17th in a world happiness ranking report directed by Helliwell, which was based on international surveys and came out in September.
When governments and academics study happiness they find that money isn't everything. Many of the richest countries, including the United States, weren't in the Top 10 in self-reported happiness in the report.
"Having no money is terrible for everything," said Graham, author of several books on the economics and measuring of happiness. But after people make "a comfortable amount of money," it doesn't add too much to happiness, she said.
That's what a study last week in the journal PLoS One found. It used worldwide surveys and found that as people made more money worldwide they got happier—but only to a point. That point is just shy of $36,000 a year per person, or $144,000 for a family of four.
Once people reached that point, happiness measurements level off and even go down ever so slightly, said study lead author, Eugenio Proto, an economist at the University of Warwick. According to the study, in general, people in the U.S. passed that "bliss point" a few years ago, however federal income figures don't show nearly that high a household wealth level.
Happiness studies, Helliwell said, "keep reminding you that there is much more to life than income and housing."
By KEVIN FREKING 30 april 2008--Staying healthy and happy is a struggle for about half of Americans, according to a massive survey that attempts to measure the nation's general welfare, much like the Dow Jones Industrial Average portrays the health of the stock market. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on interviews of more than 100,000 people so far, shows that 47 percent of Americans are struggling and 4 percent are suffering. Forty-nine percent of respondents are reported to be thriving based on a personal assessment of how they feel about their lives at the time of the survey, and where they think they'll be in five years. Pollsters asked people to imagine where they would put themselves on a ladder with 10 steps. Those said they were on step seven or above are listed as thriving. Those at four or below are suffering. In between are the strugglers. Those who are thriving tend to have higher incomes, more education and less illness. Those who are suffering have trouble meeting their basic needs, including food, shelter and medical care, said James Harter, Gallup's chief scientist for workplace management and well-being. Just as the U.S is not No. 1 when it comes to health measures, it also is not No. 1 in well-being, he said. For example, 83 percent of the residents of Denmark are classified as thriving versus 1 percent who are suffering. Researchers hope the findings, which can be broken down by occupation, commute time and exercise habits, will help employers better understand what they can do to create happier and healthier workers. Eventually, they said, the data could even be used to compare health and happiness by ZIP code, creating quite a measuring stick for future generations of politicians. "There's never been anything quite like it," said Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner in economic sciences. "You're getting details about what it's like to live in this country," said Kahneman, a Princeton University professor brought in by Gallup to discuss the potential uses for the data. "What is the experience of the weekend? What is the experience of the weekday for someone who is sick and has to go to work in the morning? We are going to learn a great deal about what are the determinants of actual happiness." Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that the United States invests more on health care than any country, but that its health care system ranks 37th. "That doesn't sound like we're getting the best value from the investment we're making," Gerberding said. "That fundamentally is something we as a nation are waking up to." The research has implications for employers who want to stay on top of problems confronting a particular work force. The survey shows that manufacturing or transportation workers are most likely to report a negative work environment — 29 percent. Those who report a negative work environment tend to miss more days of work. A worker with up to three chronic conditions and a negative work environment will miss an average of 6.6 more days of work a year than a similar worker who likes his or her work environment, the survey found. The survey said a negative work environment includes job dissatisfaction, an authoritative boss, lack of trust and lack of focus on individual strengths. Among all workers, two-thirds reported one or more chronic diseases or recurring conditions. More than a quarter reported back or neck problems; 23 percent cited high cholesterol and 22 percent had high blood pressure. More than one in 10 said they suffered from depression. Nearly two-thirds of workers reported body mass indexes indicating they could be obese or overweight. Healthways, which works with companies to improve the health of workers, partnered with Gallup to pay for the survey. The cost of maintaining the index is projected at more than $20 million annually. More than 1,000 are being interviewed daily.
