Can our happiness set-point be raised?

Psychology studies tell us that we each have a baseline level of happiness. Certain events take us above this baseline, others take us below, but no matter how glorious or traumatic the event, we return to our baseline within months. Thus, each person is said to have a happiness set-point, which is thought to remain constant throughout life.

What causes this set-point? Twins that were reared apart tend to have similar levels of happiness, suggesting that a component is genetic. All of this could lead to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do: If we are happy, we always will be; if we are unhappy, we always will be. Indeed, in the paper Happiness is a Stochastic Phenomenon, the authors speculate that “trying to be happier is as futile as trying to be taller and therefore is counterproductive”. Sadly, many of us can identify with this sentiment from personal experience.

The good news is that our happiness set-point is probably not set in stone. The reason that most people’s happiness remains constant is simply that they have no idea how to increase it. However, the evidence suggests that increasing it is in fact possible. Indeed, an author of the above quote subsequently wrote a book on overcoming our genes and becoming happier (Happiness: The Nature and Nurture of Joy and Contentment). More compelling evidence comes from the recent findings on neuroplasticity. This is a field of research showing that the brain can grow new neurons and change its structure throughout life. For example, in London cab drivers, the regions of the brain responsible for navigation were found to be expanded as a result of their years of driving. Neuroplasticity offers hope: Perhaps our brain is currently “wired” for unhappiness, but can it be “rewired”?

In the excellent book Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, Sharon Begley addresses exactly this question. The happiness set-point only exists because people do not understand how mental training that can rewire their brains. A quote from her book reads:

Consider an analogy. You are studying whether measures of cardiovascular health – resting heart rate and blood pressure, for instance – can be improved. You are conducting the experiment in a society that has yet to get the news that there is such a thing as aerobic exercise. You dutifully measure the resting heart rate and blood pressure of your couch potatoes every year for several decades. Except for some change due to aging, their heart rate and blood pressure are, you find, remarkably stable. You win fame and fortune and Time cover stories for discovering the “cardiovascular set point.”

With this, we conclude that there is potential for raising the happiness set-point, but that it requires a regimen of mental training to do so. We must stop looking for happiness in material possessions, which study after study confirm do not contribute to happiness, and instead go about cultivating the mind. In his book Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill, scientist-turned-Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard describes specific mental exercises that we can use to increase our happiness. He supports his claims with studies (which he helped design) of the effects of meditation on brain activity in the left cortex, a region associated with happiness and compassion. His message is that happiness is accessible to all. It is not some fixed quantity pre-determined by our genes. However, to experience happiness fully, we must be determined to look for it in the right places. We must cultivate its true cause.

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3 Comments »

  1. Life Happiness said,

    February 6, 2008 @ 2:40 pm

    I agree with the concept of “Train Your Mind and Change Your Brain”, In an article titled “The Psychology of Happiness and Uunhappiness” the author explores the logic, mindset and thinking pattern of happy and unhappy personalities. Med Yones, the author, confirms that it is all in our mind and our thinking habits. According to him “What’s important is that with the knowledge of how your thinking is impacting your life, you now have a new alternative. By simply choosing to lead a happier lifestyle and continuously training your mind to think in positive patterns, you can improve your emotional well-being as well as the quality of your life immensely.”

    The articles suggests that only through mind programming can we become happier. Programming according to the article is simply practice and repetition to develop positive thinking and emotional habits. The study differentiates between positive thinking and programming as follows “Positive thinking is the effect not the cause. Positive thinking or affirmations may or may not lead to change and if they do, they are limited to temporary mood improvement. The full text of the study can be found at:
    http://www.lifehappiness.org/psychologyofhappiness/

  2. Brain Blogging, Twenty-Sixth Edition | Brain Blogger said,

    April 29, 2012 @ 10:04 pm

    [...] it. I have been there, done that, and know what it is like to cope with fear.”CJ presents Can our happiness set-point be raised? posted at SpiritualInquiry.com, saying, “Talks about research into neuroplasticity that [...]

  3. Practicing Gratitude: Changing Our Happiness Set Point | | Happy Homo SapienHappy Homo Sapien said,

    May 23, 2012 @ 2:27 pm

    [...] had taught us that we were all born with a happiness set point. This is a biologically pre-set level of happiness that determines how low, or how high (on the [...]

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