How to be happy

The equation of happiness

Let's imagine a happiness meter, calibrated so that if we measure the happiness of everyone on earth, the average happiness is exactly 0. If you get -1, you are sadder than average, and if you get +4, you are much happier than average.

Then we can imagine an "equation of happiness": given a person P's genes, memories, current job, current activity, friends, etc, predict what their happiness is.

Happiness(P) = ?

Well, to start with, we can do the laziest thing possible:

Happiness(P) = 0

After all, that's the global average. Can't be too wrong! But that's boring. What is interesting is to account for the variation of happiness level between people. So let's try that. What accounts for variation in happiness?

Next, remember that people seem to have a set level of happiness that they return to after a while. Good things make them happier than the set level, and bad things make them less, but they always return to it.

Happiness(P) = SetLevel(P's personality) + EventsHappiness(P's history)

Next, remember the general lesson: for personality traits, usually half is based on genes, half based on environment. 

Happiness(P) = 0.5 GeneScore(P's genes) 

+ 0.5 EnvScore(P's environment) 

+ EventsHappiness(P's history)

And we have a fairly workable model of happiness! 

Actually, the current best model for happiness is roughly this:

Happiness(P) = 0.5 GeneScore(P's genes) 

+ 0.1 CircumstanceScore(P's circumstance) 

+ 0.4 ActivityScore(P's activity)

where "circumstance" stands for

the national, geographical, and cultural region in which a person resides, as well as demographic factors such as age, gender, and ethnicity. Circumstantial factors also include the individual’s personal history, that is, life events that can affect his or her happiness, such as having experienced a childhood trauma, being involved in an automobile accident, or winning a prestigious award. Finally, circumstantial factors include life status variables such as marital status, occupational status, job security, income, health, and religious affiliation.

and "activity" stands for things that you do intentionally, non-automatically. Some activities particularly useful for happiness include meditation, exercise, practicing a valued skill, helping others without asking for reward.

How important are genes?

The most shocking thing to me is that genes matter that much for happiness, but that's true. According to Happiness Is a Stochastic Phenomenon (1996), genes really account for half of the variation in the happiness set-point. Most of the "major life events" account for a statistically-significant but practically-insignificant amount of happiness.

Happiness, or subjective well-being, was measured on a birth-record-based sample of several thousand middle-aged twins using the Well-Being (WB) scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Neither socioeconomic status, educational attainment, family income, marital status, nor an indicant of religious commitment could account for more than about 3% of the variance in WB. From 44% to 52% of the variance in WB, however, is associated with genetic variation. Based on the retest of smaller samples of twins after intervals of 4,5 and 10 years, we estimate that the heritability of the stable component of subjective well-being approaches 80%.

the variance in adult happiness is determined about equally by genetic factors and by the effects of experiences unique to each individual.

Educational attainment accounted for less than 2% of the variance in WB for women, and less than 1% of the variance for men. For both men and women, SES accounted for less than 2%. of the variance in general well-being. The data for income mirror those for SES: Income category accounted for less than 2% of the variance in feelings of well-being.

Less than 1% of the variance in WB was associated with marital status for men or women

religious conversion or being "born again" is said to be a joyful experience, but its effect on mood may not be more lasting than being promoted or winning the lottery.

This is a classical study, but it's incomplete. Genes aren't the only determinant of your happiness set-point. As later, more longitudinal studies showed, major life events do affect your happiness set-point, in different ways. For example, Subjective Well-Being and Adaptation to Life Events: A Meta-Analysis on Differences Between Cognitive and Affective Well-Being (2011):

For instance, the initial reaction to marriage was positive, but subsequent adaptation was fast and completed after two years on average. In contrast, the rate of adaptation was much slower for negative events such as the onset of disability, widowhood, and divorce. The findings were perhaps most striking for unemployment: After the beginning of unemployment, mean levels of subjective well-being were significantly below baseline, even if people became reemployed. Repeated unemployment spells aggravate this effect.

How should you grow up?

According to The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way they do (JR Harris, 2011), other than having good genes, these are what you need while growing up:

Have okay parents. As long as they aren't abusive, that's good enough. They can't make you better or worse.

Have peers that suit your nature, that accept you. Instead of parents, you get your values and aspirations from peers. If you are born with a talent for studying math, then going to math Olympiad club on weekends is a great way for you to grow that talent. 

A second-grade girl identifies with second-grade girls and adopts the behavioral norms of that group. Kids model themselves on other kids, "taking on [the group's] attitudes, behaviors, speech, and styles of dress and adornment," Harris says. Later, a child gravitates toward the studious kids or the mischief makers or whomever. Because people try to become more similar to members of their group and more distinct from members of other groups, innate differences get magnified. The jock becomes jockier, the good student more studious. This all begins in elementary school.

Don't get a major illness. They can actually decrease the set-point of happiness. Especially depression, schizophrenia, and borderline. 

Also, childhood trauma can trigger major psychological illnesses, so that's another reason having okay parents is useful.

Where should you live?

Generally, living in a rich country with a strong and stable government and human rights protection is good for happiness. Unsurprisingly, Scandinavia is the happiest place on earth, according to Self-reported Life Satisfaction vs GDP per capita, 2017.

What should you do?

Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change (2005):

a person's chronic happiness level is governed by 3 major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness-relevant activities and practices. The authors then consider adaptation and dynamic processes to show why the activity category offers the best opportunities for sustainably increasing happiness.

Basically, happiness is determined by genes (50%), circumstantial factors (10%), activities (40%).

Circumstantial factors are certain stable facts about one's life:

Happiness-relevant circumstances may include the national, geographical, and cultural region in which a person resides, as well as demographic factors such as age, gender, and ethnicity. Circumstantial factors also include the individual’s personal history, that is, life events that can affect his or her happiness, such as having experienced a childhood trauma, being involved in an automobile accident, or winning a prestigious award. Finally, circumstantial factors include life status variables such as marital status, occupational status, job security, income, health, and religious affiliation.

Activities are according to How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being? (2013):

We define positive activities as simple, intentional, and regular practices meant to mimic the myriad healthy thoughts and behaviors associated with naturally happy people. 

Experimenters have prompted people to write letters expressing gratitude, to count their blessings, to perform kind acts, to cultivate their strengths, to visualize their ideal future selves, and to meditate. All of these practices are brief, self-administered, and cost-effective.

Implications for politics: evidence-based policies for the pursuit of happiness

If a government, such as that of the United States of America, takes the pursuit of happiness seriously, then it should be very concerned with the fact that traditional tools of government and politics, such as public health campaigns, legalization of queer marriages, equal rights acts, etc, can only improve "circumstances". They do nothing about people's genetics and their activities. As such, governments are only improving 10% of variation in happiness.

The genetics of happiness, like the genetics of intelligence, might be improved with a eugenic project. However, the prospect of that happening is dim. First, eugenic projects are hard to do. Second, there is very weak economic and security benefits to improving population happiness, unlike intelligence. And governments are more motivated by improving their security and economic situation, no matter if they are capitalistic or socialistic or others.

That still leaves a great hope that governments can make people significantly happier by improving people's activities. Can governments help people do intentional happy activities? Perhaps. I can think of a few ways:

• Make public health campaigns to let people know how to be happy by doing intentional happy activities.
• Make time for practicing these activities in middle/high schools, so that more people have a habit of doing these activities.
• More holidays, more basic income, giving people more free time, so that they don't spend time doing things they hate. The free time then can be used to do intentional happy activities.
• Subsidy for teaching meditation and other intentional happy activities.
• More research in happiness research.

Note that most of these are cheap and simple, and neither conservative nor liberal. It puzzles me that they are not being done by the government... unless the government does not actually take the pursuit of happiness seriously, which seems a likely conclusion to me!

Highly speculatively, the government can invest in other, non-psychological routes to happiness. Shortcuts to happiness, or perhaps "euphoriants for normal people". Not just happy pills, but also other technologies, such as transcranial magnetic and electric stimulation that directly induce a calmer and more rational way of thinking whenever one is falling into obsessive sadness/anxiety. Technologies that help one reach deep meditation faster, without needing months of practice. Psychedelics as a possible route to increasing the set-point of happiness. Microdosing opioids for increasing baseline happiness...

But those are for another time.