Thirteen researchers with a combined 600 years of well-being research behind them sat down for one conversation about happiness. Their conclusions are surprisingly practical: what counts is the people around us, daily habits and work that feels worthwhile, not ever more money. Read what they found, and at the end take a short test to see how many of these habits you already have in your everyday life.
The idea was simple. Lara Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University in Canada, got on a Zoom call with 12 other distinguished researchers who have spent decades examining happiness. Together they have 600 years of research experience in the well-being domain.
They talked about both the science and their own everyday experience. The conclusions went into a paper published in the ‘Journal of Happiness Studies’. One of the questions was whether what they had learned changed their view on life or how they live.
Aknin’s answer is short. “Happiness emerges from a symphony of factors, but if I had to pinpoint one secret to happiness, relationships with other people might be it,” says the researcher, who also co-edits the annual World Happiness Report.
This is not just a personal opinion. “Having relationships is one of the most reliable predictors of happiness that has emerged from a robust body of evidence spanning the social sciences,” Aknin explains.
There is good news for those who do not have a crowd of friends around them: “We know that having just one person you can count on is extremely consequential.” Every further relationship and every community we feel part of strengthens well-being even more.
At university this matters especially. A new city, a new group, new responsibilities – it is a good moment to build at least one relationship you can lean on.
The experts also took on a popular myth. Happy people are not happy all the time, and happiness is not reserved for people with sunny dispositions or for those who lead ideal lives. According to Aknin, simple choices, self-awareness and adaptability build happiness – even in hard times.
Several other takeaways emerged from the conversation, and they are easy to apply to your own life:
Some of the major happiness models suggest that life circumstances account for up to 10% of happiness, while our daily choices drive 40%. In other words, quite a lot depends on us.
“That leaves a lot of opportunity for people who may be more innately pessimistic to start practising research-backed strategies like meditation or gratitude that might help them see the world in a more positive way,” says Aknin.
The researcher admits that, with so many large and threatening realities in the world, the pursuit of happiness can sometimes seem trite. Even so, she does not abandon this research, because happiness predicts a number of valuable outcomes, including the motivation to help other people.
“When people feel they are doing well, they have the ability, the capability, and the motivation to engage in world affairs—to take care of the people they love and take care of their communities,” she explains. And she adds: “Generosity is not zero-sum.”
Thirteen happiness researchers agree on one thing: relationships with people give the most, and sometimes one person you can count on is enough. Money helps until it covers basic needs. The rest is built by daily habits: gratitude, cherishing positive moments, helping others and work that feels worthwhile.
5 questions · one minute
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