To celebrate the Clinique Happy Packs Giveaway, our good friends at Clinique have compiled a list of happy facts and the science of what makes us happy – plus 14 steps to happiness!
WHAT MAKES US HAPPY?
OUR GENES
According to psychologists at the University of Illinios at Urbana-Champaign, our genes determine our happiness “setpoint” – the level of happiness we’re programmed to cruise through life with, all other things being equal.
OUR CHEMICALS
When we get positive feedback from the world, our bodies experience a rise in such ‘feel-good’ substances as dopamine and phenylethylamine.
FOUR BASICS
According to researches at the National Institute on Ageing, self-esteem, optimism, extroversion, and a sense of personal control are the four basic cornerstones of happiness.
OTHER HAPPY PEOPLE
Happiness is contagious. Studies at the Brain Behaviour Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania revealed that being around happy faces inspires left-brain activity-associated with enthusiasm and positive emotions.
A GOOD LAUGH
The average kindergartener laughs 300 times a day (the average adult averages 17)
BEING FROM ICELAND
According the World Values Survey, Iceland is the happiest country in the world.
HAPPY FACTS
Every year, there are more than 1,100 published scientific articles related to happiness
Gender does not provide a clear-cut advantage in the pursuit of happiness
There is evidence that happy people are significantly likelier to live longer.
Laughter activates T-cells lymphocytes and natural killer cells, both of which help destroy invading organisms. Laughter also speeds up the production of new immune cells and reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
97 Percent of women agree that it’s important to be happy than be beautiful. (According to an independent study conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International for Clinique).
Nearly two-thirds of women say they are happier now than they were 5 years ago. And almost 80 percent expect to be happier as the millennium approaches. (According to an independent study conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International for Clinique.
Fourteen Steps to Happiness.
(From happiness researcher Michael Fordyce, Professor of Psychology at Edison Community College in Fort Myers, Florida).
1. Be more active and keep busy
2. Spend more time socialising
3. Be productive at meaningful work or pursuits
4. Get better organised and plan things out
5. Stop worrying
6. Lower your expectations and aspirations
7. Develop positive optimistic thinking
8. Get present-oriented
9. Work on a healthy personality
10. Develop an outgoing social personality
11. Be yourself
12. Eliminate negative feelings and problems
13. View close relationships as the #1 source of happiness
14. Value happiness
