What is happiness, and how do we get it?
It’s a question scholars have been asking for millennia. Even today, answers vary greatly across academic fields and from individuals.
Robert Grossfeld, a professor of zoology, physiology and behavioral biology at the University, offered insights into the neurophysiology of happiness.
“Dopamine is a major neurotransmitter, and dopamine circuits are involved in reward and also anticipation of a reward,” Grossfeld said. However, he said these “rewards” might lead to addiction instead of happiness. Grossfeld also spoke of the effect of endorphins, the chemicals experienced during a runner’s high. “When we run and push it to the wall then endorphins are released, and they activate circuits that, whatever their means, make us feel good,” Grossfeld said.
Though they can induce pleasure in the brain, Grossfeld said dopamine and endorphins might not be the cause of true happiness.
“From my perspective, it’s about being content with what you’re doing rather than feeling good for the moment,” he said.
According to Grossfeld, the cause of true happiness is still largely unknown.
“What are the circuits and neurotransmitters involved in feeling contentment? I believe that we aren’t there yet,” Grossfeld said.
Rupert Nacoste, professor of psychology, defines happiness as “a level of satisfaction with what is going on right now.”
Nacoste is a social psychologist who believes happiness is attained through engagement in positive interpersonal relationships.
“We are born into relationships with people, so from the very beginning we need each other and that’s where our true source of satisfaction comes from,” Nacoste said.
According to Nacoste, there is a relatively new movement within psychology known as positive psychology. Unlike traditional psychology, which tends to focus on negative topics such as mental disease, positive psychology focuses on factors which lead people to be positive and cheerful.
Nacoste said positive psychologists “talk about a lot of different stuff, but it seems to all come down to some sort of authentic engagement. Being connected to something is really what matters to us.”
Nacoste explained that though the connection can come from an activity, it often depends on interpersonal relationships within that activity.
“I have talked to rock climbers. Do you know what they talk a lot about? They talk about the exhilaration of climbing, but they talk about camaraderie, being with people who like doing this too,” Nacoste said.
Michael Pendlebury is head of the department of philosophy and religious studies at the University.
“Philosophers tend, in thinking about happiness, to think about a whole life rather than what things are like today or tomorrow or for a short period of time. What makes a life worth living?” Pendlebury said.
Pendlebury explained that there are different views within philosophy about what constitutes happiness.
“Some philosophers might say that it really is just a mantle of the total balance of pleasure over pain in a life,” Pendlebury said.
“If over the course of a life you get maximum pleasure and minimum pain then that’s happiness.” Pendlebury said other philosophers think that focusing on the ratio between pleasure and pain is too narrow.
“There might be a sense of reward to a life that can’t be reduced to mere pleasure and pain,” Pendlebury said. “Exercising your capacities to the fullest is a crucial part of well-being and a worthwhile life.”
According to Pendlebury, another key factor in happiness is a sense of autonomy.
“Human beings have got to have some sort of sense that they are in control of their own lives,” Pendlebury said. So how can we be happier?
“Too often I hear students say that basically all they do is go to class and stay in their room. That is a mistake. Get out there and get involved,” Nacoste said. “There are all kinds of things to do with other people.”
Nacoste recommends that students join clubs and go to University events, which are often discounted or free for students, while Pendlebury advocates keeping busy with an activity that you find worthwhile.
“If you sit back and hope that pleasures and happiness and good things will come to you, then you’re likely going to get quite miserable,” Pendlebury said. “Even when it’s difficult to get yourself moving to do things that you regard as valuable, it’s worth it to keep doing it.”
If nothing else, being happy might be good for your health. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center recently published a study which shows a relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease. After taking into account age, sex, other cardiovascular risk factors and negative emotions, the researchers found that, over the 10-year period, increased positive emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment were associated with a decrease in the risk of heart disease by 22 percent per point, on a five-point scale measuring levels of positive emotional expression (ranging from “none” to “extreme”).
Though we still know very little about the exact mechanisms of happiness, there is clearly good reason to be happy. The advice of Nacoste and Pendlebury offers students practical ways to enjoy their lives to the fullest.
As Nacoste said, “Life is short, live well.”
