While 40% of our happiness (or unhappiness) is due to our own actions, 50% is set by our genes, and another 10% is unaccounted for, at least that’s what psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky says in her new book The How of Happiness. She also notes, “Antidepressants don’t make people happier; they just decrease negative emotions.”
Lyubomrisky’s book was featured on a recent episode of 20/20 titled “Positive Psychology: The Pursuit of Happiness”.
The 20/20 episode also stated that those people who are the happiest in life are those that “practice acts of kindness, are able to lose themselves in what they do and avoid dwelling on their problems.”
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4 Comments to
“40% of Happiness/Unhappiness Due to Our Own Actions”
Apparently, Sonja Lyubomirsky has missed the research on how Neuroplasticy, the ability of the brain to change, has shone that it is possible to modify the effect genes have on a person. I will buy and read her book offering an apology is necessary……………….
I had no idea that so much percentage was bassed on your own actions. That really suprised me.
Try telling those statistics to my husband
I think if you want to be happy, you can learn ways to help yourself maintain that ilusion, but illusion it is. Or, you can learn to live your life as it actually is, and accept that you aren’t happy all the time, and don’t need to be. Of course, I’m not trying to sell any books, either…
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 14 Jan 2008
