A groundbreaking study highlights the potential downsides of obsessing over personal happiness. Researchers found that constantly judging one’s own happiness can negatively impact psychological well-being and life satisfaction.
In a revealing study published by the American Psychological Association, researchers have discovered that constantly judging one’s own happiness can have detrimental effects on psychological well-being and overall life satisfaction.
The study, published in the journal Emotion, conducted three experiments with more than 1,800 participants. It uncovered that individuals who frequently evaluated their own happiness experienced lower levels of well-being. This pattern was attributed, in part, to heightened negativity and disappointment surrounding positive events.
Felicia Zerwas, who led the research while she was a doctoral student at UC Berkeley, commented on the societal pressures that contribute to this phenomenon.
“There are plenty of societal pressures, at least within the United States, which encourage the fallacy that people must feel happy all of the time to achieve greater well-being,” Zerwas, who now works as a postdoctoral researcher at New York University, said in a news release. “Overall, allowing yourself to experience your emotions, whether they are positive or negative, with an accepting attitude could be a useful tool for pursuing happiness and increasing well-being.”
Contrary to some previous studies, the research found that simply striving for happiness as an important goal did not negatively impact well-being. Instead, it was the act of consistently judging one’s own happiness that proved problematic.
The diverse group of participants, including students from Yale University, community members from Denver and Berkeley, California, and online participants from across the United States and Canada, provided a broad perspective on this issue.
Participants answered questions regarding their beliefs about happiness alongside measures of their psychological well-being and symptoms of depression. Results showed that worrying about their happiness correlated with lower satisfaction with life, poorer psychological well-being and increased depressive symptoms.
The study also identified a link between concerns about personal happiness and more negative perceptions of positive events.
“Having high expectations for one’s happiness can be detrimental because it makes it more difficult to achieve the level of happiness that we are expecting from a positive event,” added Zerwas.
The implications of this research are significant, offering a fresh perspective on how people should approach their pursuit of happiness. Rather than constantly evaluating one’s level of happiness, the study suggests embracing a more accepting attitude towards emotions as a path to greater well-being.