A new study reveals that happiness can be influenced by both internal and external factors, challenging traditional views. It emphasizes the importance of tailored well-being strategies to cater to individual needs.
The secret to happiness has long intrigued humanity, stirring debates over whether satisfaction arises from within or is shaped by external factors like health, relationships and wealth. A revelatory study published in Nature Human Behaviour sheds light on the dichotomy of happiness: it can derive from either internal attitudes, external circumstances, both or even neither, with significance varying among individuals.
Researchers sought to understand the determinants of happiness by analyzing data from over 40,000 people across Germany, Britain, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Australia over a span of up to 30 years.
“We have to understand the sources of happiness to build effective interventions,” first author Emorie Beck, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, said in a news release.
Traditionally, there are two dominant models of happiness.
The “bottom-up” perspective suggests that overall happiness emerges from satisfaction across various life domains — such as wealth, work and relationships. This model is commonly reflected in the World Happiness Report, which aims to enhance well-being through societal improvements.
Conversely, the “top-down” perspective posits that happiness stems from personal attitudes and qualities. This implies that mental states such as mindfulness or resilience can independently foster happiness, irrespective of external conditions. Beck pointed out that some people remain happy even after experiencing traumatic events, suggesting internal mechanisms are at play.
A third, bidirectional model posits that both intrinsic (internal) and external factors interact to govern overall happiness. According to this view, targeting either can enhance well-being.
Analyzing longitudinal life satisfaction surveys, Beck and her colleagues found that different people exhibit distinct patterns of happiness.
“What comes out is that we see roughly equal groups that demonstrate each pattern,” Beck added.
Some individuals’ happiness is predominantly influenced by external domains, others by internal attitudes, while still others show a bidirectional influence. There are also individuals whose happiness didn’t clearly correlate with either internal or external factors.
This nuanced understanding suggests that universal well-being measures may not effectively address individual experiences. Therefore, public policies aimed at enhancing societal happiness need to consider both improving external conditions like health, income and housing and nurturing personal qualities, such as resilience and purpose.
The most effective policies, according to Beck, are ones that are tailored to suit the individual. Interventions focused solely on external factors might be ineffective for those whose happiness is internally driven.
“These things are treated separately, but they aren’t really. They feed into each other at a personal level,” added Beck.
The research, supported in part by grants from the National Institute on Aging, was co-authored by Joshua Jackson of Washington University in St. Louis, Felix Cheung of the University of Toronto and Stuti Thapa of the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Source: University of California, Davis