The most popular happiness strategies lack data

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The science supporting happiness strategies isn't as strong as you think By Alice Park Senior Health Correspondent Who doesn’t want to be happier? Very few of us, if internet searches are any indication. Queries for ways to boost mood and introduce more happiness into our lives are among the most popular advice we seek. And there are plenty of recommendations. But how effective are they? It turns out the science behind them isn’t as robust as even many experts believed. I spoke to happiness researchers at the University of British Columbia who authored a new meta-analysis examining the quality of studies behind the five most recommended happiness strategies: expressing gratitude, becoming more socially engaged, practicing meditation or mindfulness, exercising, and spending more time in nature. Here’s what they found: Very few studies involving these strategies met strict criteria for high-quality scientific research. Even the studies with high-quality data indicate that most of these strategies only improve mood over short periods of time. Better research is needed to verify how these strategies can affect mood—and for how long. READ MORE Share This Story

What Else to Read Need a Break Now? Try Treating Your Weekend Like a Vacation By Angela Haupt and Video by Andrew. D Johnson Experts share ways to achieve a vacation mindset at home. Read More » Suffering from Seasonal Allergies? Here’s What Experts Say Works Best By Jamie Ducharme These medications and lifestyle fixes can help bring relief. Read More » Stop Spending Money to Avoid Uncomfortable Emotions By Jenn Lim Happiness expert Jenn Lim on why we misunderstand the relationship between spending money on ourselves and our emotional wellbeing. Read More » How to Be Ambitious Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health By Jamie Ducharme The key is to harness ambition for a goal that serves your well-being. Read More » How to Survive on Less Sleep By Abigail Abrams It's possible to train your body to need less sleep, some research has found. But it won't work for everyone. (Originally published in 2017.) Read More »

ONE MORE READ FROM ELSEWHERE Living under the shadow of a cruel genetic mutation If you knew you had a 50/50 shot of developing a rare, incurable form of dementia, would you want to know? The nine siblings at the heart of a gripping New York Times Magazine story had to make that impossible choice after learning their genes put them at risk for an unusual degenerative condition called frontotemporal dementia. Read More »

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