The Way To Happiness

Posts Tagged ‘university’

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For Lots of People, Getting Older Means Getting Happier

From voaspecialenglish.com | http I’mAlex Villarreal with the VOA Special English Health Report. Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older.Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five. The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress. Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties. The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more …

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Lottery Winners – Are They Happy?

Can a Lottery Win Buy Happiness? – as part of the news series by GeoBeats. What would you do if you won a lottery? That was a common question in stores, bars, and homes across America during the $650 million lottery frenzy. A lottery has a universal appeal because it seems to be the easiest way to achieve our dreams – winning promises unlimited freedom and happiness ever after. But many research studies and interviews with past lottery winners presents a decidedly mixed picture. Certainly, there are many benefits – you can help family with loans, buy homes, cars, go on vacations but a research study done by Emory University suggests that people get less satisfaction out of the rewards they haven’t worked for. Then there are the additional issues that lottery winners face like lawsuit threats, relatives asking for money and predators. In a CNN report, a state lottery winner, who did not want to be identified remarked “Sometimes I wish I could change my name and go somewhere and hide,” A fascinating 1978 study by Northwestern and University of Massachusetts, as reported by The New Republic, reveals that winners just get used to more money after a while and what’s particularly interesting is that they enjoy routine activities like watching tv and talking to people less than the non-winners. A Wall Street Journal article notes that a University of California study found that lottery winners had higher happiness levels immediately after but then reverted to their pre-win …

Finding meaning makes people happy. Professor at University of California, Sonja Lyubomirsky states, “Why is the scientific study of happiness important?”

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Looking To Find Meaning In Life? – Scientific Study Suggests Your Success May Depend On It

What makes a healthy mind? Researcher Richie Davidson at is trying to find out. Through studying the minds and brains of Buddhist meditators, Davidson and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are gaining insight into how we can shift patterns of negative emotion into feelings of compassion, happiness and well-being. Excerpts courtesy of HESA Institute.

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Dalai Lama’s Vision for Healthy, Happy Minds

Most of us think of happiness as something that just happens. Or doesn’t. But recent studies are showing that happiness can actually be learned. How? Through meditation. Dr. Richard J. Davidson, PhD, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been using brain imaging to …

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Meditation and Happiness