[ BEHAVIOR & BELIEF STUART VYSE Stuart Vyse is a and author of Believing in Magic: The of , which won the Book Award of the American Psychological Association. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Good News for Grouches: Happiness May Be Overrated

aying Americans are obsessed with are flocks of happiness authorities pre- pected outcome: women who reported happiness is like saying there is air. pared to lecture you on the subject. Just they were happy most or all of the time SThe pursuit of happiness is one of type “happy” into the search field of the were more likely to be living ten years the unalienable rights established in TED talk website (www.ted.com), and later. But after controlling for a num- the Declaration of Independence, and you will be rewarded with hours of up- ber of other variables, such as age and in recent decades an enormous happi- beat presentations. the participants’ self-reported health at ness industry has risen up to help you the beginning of the study, the effect succeed in your personal pursuit. The Grouches Live Just as Long of happiness disappeared. Women who demand for books on happiness seems were unhappy at the beginning of the Many of the purveyors of happiness1 to be insatiable. Recent titles include study were no more likely to die than point to research showing that happy Happier, Even Happier, Stumbling on those who were happy. people live longer, with the clear implica- Happiness, The Happiness Hypothesis, The most important variable turned tion that if you want to extend your life, Authentic Happiness, and Flourish—and out to be self-reported health, and Liu you should go out and find more bliss. those are just the books written by and her coauthors analyzed its effect a But a new large-scale study throws serious famous academic . number of different ways with consis- shade on that claim—at least for healthy Economists, too, have suggested tent results. For example, when they middle-aged women. In December 2015, that happiness is more important than separated out just the women who said Bette Liu of the University of New previously believed, because money they had fair or poor health at the be- South Wales, along with collaborators doesn’t always buy it. Back in the 1970s, ginning of the study, they found that there and at Oxford University, pub- economist Richard Easterlin (1974) re- happiness had no effect on their mor- lished an article in The Lancet (Liu et ported data showing that many coun- tality. Similarly, looking only at the al. 2015) based on data from the “The tries experiencing substantial increases women who reported generally good Million Woman Study,” a prospective in gross national product showed no ac- health, there was no effect of happiness investigation of women in the United companying change in overall levels of on survival. So Liu and her colleagues Kingdom. The authors eliminated par- happiness. The “Easterlin paradox” has concluded that a woman’s health at the been challenged a number of times, but ticipants who at the beginning of the beginning of the study (as measured there is a growing consensus that when study already had life-threatening ill- by her own assessment) was correlated measuring national development and nesses, such as heart disease, stroke, both with her level of happiness and her progress, economic indicators—such cancer, or chronic obstructive airways survival ten years later. But happiness as gross domestic product—should be disease, which left them with a starting itself was not a causal variable. supplemented by surveys of happiness group of 719,671 women who averaged Looking back at the previous stud- and well-being. fifty-nine years old at the beginning of ies, Liu and colleagues found further Finally, —a the study. support for their findings: movement described as the “science of When follow-up measures were happiness and flourishing” (Compton taken—an average of 9.6 years later—4 Some, but not all, other prospective studies have reported that happiness and Hoffman 2012)—has grown rap- percent of the women (31,531) had or related subjective measures of idly in recent years, contributing to a died. Looking simply at the raw num- wellbeing are associated with lower burgeoning self-help movement. There bers, the results seemed to show the ex- all-cause mortality. . . . Where other

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2016 25 [ BEHAVIOR & BELIEF STUART VYSE

investigators adjusted for self-rated ple would still prefer to be happy rather but those who lived with a spouse health, any apparent excess mor- than unhappy, and as a result, happi- or partner were happier than those tality associated with unhappiness ness self-help books will remain popu- who did not. People who drank were was attenuated or disappeared com- pletely. (Liu et al. 2015, 880) lar. But one common claim of the hap- happier than those who didn’t, and piness gurus faces a serious challenge: smokers were less happy than non- According to Liu and her collabora- Contrary to popular opinion, happiness smokers. The relationship with hours tors, most previous researchers missed a may not prolong your life, and unhap- of sleep was U-shaped, with those who confounding variable and, as a result, piness may not shorten it. got seven or eight hours being the happiest, and those getting either more or less being less happy. Not too many surprises there, but then my eye fell on HAPPINESS LONGEVITY the results for education. Liu and her colleagues reported a strong association between education The conventional view. Happiness has a direct causal effect on longevity. and happiness, but the direction of effect was the opposite of what I— perhaps naively—assumed it would be. The least educated women— those whose educational attainment was below the ordinary-level exam HAPPINESS (O-levels)—were the happiest, and as education increased, happiness LONGEVITY decreased. The lowest educational group was 38 percent more likely to be generally happy than those holding HEALTH college and university degrees. Intrigued by this finding, I went off in search of more information to de- The more likely causal relationship found by Liu et al. (2015). Health (self-reported) termine whether this was a fluke or a affected both happiness at the beginning of the study and predicted longevity at the end of the study. consistent outcome. I discovered that the effect of education on happiness is a somewhat under-researched question, but several studies done in developed countries have shown this negative re- lationship. For example, a 2010 Aus- tralian study summed up the previous confused cause and effect. Happiness If there is an upside to this episode, research this way: and longevity are correlated because it is that you are free of the burden of It is surprising to discover, then, people who don’t feel well are less being happy. If you are a contented that more educated people should happy and less likely to survive. But grouch, for whom the pursuit of bliss be no happier or even less happy than people with lower levels of researchers who failed to measure par- has little appeal, this study offers some ticipants’ self-reported health at the education. Instances of such a nega- consolation. If the results are valid, you tive correlation between educational beginning of their studies missed this can be relieved of any concern that your attainment and subjective wellbeing relationship. failure to be happier is killing you. have been observed in a number This is just one study conducted of developed countries, including Australia. (Dockery 2010, 9) on middle-aged women in the United Maybe Ignorance Really Is Bliss Kingdom, and as a result, further re- It is unclear what causes this nega- As I reviewed this article, I came across search will be needed to confirm and tive relationship, but the results of the another finding that gave me pause. In extend these findings. But the inves- Australian study contradict the hypoth- tigation by Liu and her colleagues has the description of their participants, esis that people who pursue college are several strengths: it was a prospective Liu and her coauthors presented an simply less happy in general. The re- study, using a very large sample that extensive table of demographic vari- sults, based on 3,518 men and women produced clear results. If these findings ables that were correlated with hap- from the Longitudinal Study of Austra- hold up in future research, they would piness. Many of the outcomes were as lian Youth, show that those who pursue not entirely undercut the happiness in- you might expect. For example, having higher education are “relatively happy dustry. All else being equal, most peo- children was not related to happiness, at school and while attending univer-

26 Volume 40 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer sity, and that it is in the years following Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking watch the rolled leaves unfurl their poetic fury as it steeps, as you listen completion of their university qualifica- Is Undermining America. Having re- to Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé” or Jean tion that this relatively lower happiness ceived a diagnosis of breast cancer, she Françaix’s Concertino for Piano and sets in” (Dockery 2010, 41). was soon confronted with a disease Orchestra, 2a. One theory suggests that planning culture that claimed “survival hinges I propose there be melancholy for and attending college sets up a on ‘attitude.’” She went on to criticize perfumes, fashions, footwear (no run- number of expectations about life after the shifting of responsibility for recov- ning shoes under any circumstances), graduation and that when those ex- ery onto patients, who are implored to music (Lana Del Rey is the melan- pectations are not met, people become fight back with positivity. choly diva du jour, and Joni Mitchell and Billie Holiday still work), elixirs discontent. Given the amount of effort Ehrenreich was also very critical of (no alcohol; look what happened to and money that goes into getting a col- Martin E.P. Seligman, the founder of Edgar Allan Poe) and furniture ideally lege education, it is easy to see how ex- positive psychology, and his book Au- suited for indulging in or succumbing pectations might be elevated and then thentic Happiness, which touted many to the deeply tinted blue moods. 3 ■ dashed (Clark et al. 2015). Another health benefits of cheerfulness. Selig- I want moonlight. theory suggests that education encour- man fought back in his next book— ages critical thinking, which in turn with the rather audacious title Flour- leads to higher levels of dissatisfaction ish: A Visionary New Understanding of Notes with the government and the current Happiness and Well-Being—calling her 1. For example, Martin E.P. Seligman, state of the world (Dockery 2010). But “Barbara (‘I Hate Hope’) Ehrenreich” Authen tic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting as the author of the Australian study (Seligman 2012, 203) and accusing Fulfillment (Simon and Schuster, 2004). Ed put it, “there remains no convincing her of cherry-picking the data she re- Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Happiness: theoretical or empirical explanation” for viewed, highlighting studies that failed Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth the negative relationship between ed- to show the health benefits of opti- ( John Wiley & Sons, 2011). 2. For example, the state-level analysis of ucation and happiness (Dockery 2010, mism and happiness. The controversy Yakovlev and Leguizamon (2012) finds a posi- 41). goes on, but with the arrival of the U.K. tive relationship between percentage of college Like many scientific questions, this study by Liu and colleagues, an addi- graduates and the average subjective well-being one is far from settled.2 Some studies tional point can be assigned to the team of the state. of Ehrenreich and the grouches. At the 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/ have found either no relationship style/the-case-for-melancholy.html. between happiness and education very least it is safe to say the relation- or a positive relationship. But the ship of happiness to longevity has not References Australian study, the U.K. study been definitively established. Clark, Andrew E., Akiko Kamesaka, and Teru- of middle-age women, and several y uki Tamura. 2015. Rising aspirations previous investigations have shown this The Case for Melancholy dampen satisfaction. Education Economics negative relationship. 23(5): 515–531. I end by offering a few words of support Compton, William, and Edward Hoffman. So if this is a genuine phenomenon, for emotions other than happiness, joy, 2012. Positive Psychology: The Science of what should we do about it? Should we and optimism. Let us remember that Happiness and Flourishing. Scarborough, ON: Nelson Education. discourage people from going to college much of the most beautiful music ever because they might be happier if they Dockery, Alfred Michael. 2010. Education and written is sad—sometimes desperately Happiness in the School-to-Work Transition. simply got a job? I think not. There so—and yet we love listening to it. Adelaide, Australia: National Centre for are many other benefits to higher ed- Much of the world’s best literature and Voca tional Education Research Ltd. Easterlin, Richard A. 1974. Does economic ucation, both for the individual and for art is similarly dark and compelling. society. If education makes you a tad growth improve the human lot? Some There have been many defenses of empirical evidence. Nations and Households in grouchier, then so be it. The bliss of melancholy written over the years, but Economic Growth 89: 89–125. ignorance is not worth the ignorance. the best I’ve come across lately is “The Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2009. Bright-Sided: How the Case for Melancholy” written by Laren Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Happiness Backlash Undermined America. London: Macmillan. Stover November 8, 2015, for the Style Liu, Bette, Sarah Floud, Kirstin Pirie, et al. Taken together, the happiness/longev- section of the New York Times. It ends 2015. Does happiness itself directly affect ity data and happiness/education data like this: mortality? The prospective UK Million Women Study. The Lancet 387: 874–881. point to a similar conclusion: joyfulness Should melancholy descend, you may Seligman, Martin E.P. 2012. Flourish: A is a good thing—even a great thing— as well welcome it, wear your finest Visionary New Understanding of Happiness but it isn’t everything. Happiness may lounging outfit; give it your finest and Well-Being. New York: Simon and not save your life, and you may have to fainting couch or chaise to lounge in, Schuster. or that hammock stretched between Yakovlev, Pavel, and Susane Leguizamon. 2012. give up some of it to get an education. two elm trees. Let it settle in. Ignorance is not bliss: On the role of educa- In 2009, Barbara Ehrenreich, a You may as well enjoy it reclining tion in subjective well-being. The Journal of much admired curmudgeon, wrote with a pot of green thunder tea as you Socio-Economics 41(6): 806–815.

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2016 27