One of the recent studies announced that happiness is when you have sex more often than others. But Harvard scientists believe that sex has nothing to do with it.
They published the results of one of the most long-term studies in the field of self-development and becoming individuality. The experts have spent 75 years trying to find out what makes us happy.
The Happiness Study
The study began in 1938. That’s when the experts began to study the life of 268 graduates of Harvard. They were interested in the psychological, anthropological and physical features of each member of the experiment, including IQ, type of character, family relationships, addictions, bad habits, and even the size of genitals.
Alcohol Dependence
Thus, the most important factors of influence on happiness included alcohol. In his book Triumphs of Experience, George Vaillant claims that alcoholism is a disorder with enormous destructive power. Alcohol is the leading cause of divorce. Alongside with smoking, alcoholism has become the most important factor of premature death and disease.
Intelligence
IQ is another important factor of happiness. For example, a man with an IQ in the range of 110-115 earns significantly less than men with an IQ higher than 150 points. And the ability to provide for his family is the main thing for a man.
Relationships with Friends & Family
Warm relations with others are an unexpected factor associated with health, happiness and even human well-being. For example, 58 men, who had the best relations with the surrounding, earned an average of 141,000 dollars a year more and had significantly more friends, compared with 31 men, who had mostly cool relations with everyone.
Warm relationship with mother is especially important. Those who enjoyed mother’s understanding and affection made more money and were less likely to suffer from dementia.
Cordial relationship with father reduced the level of anxiety and increased satisfaction with life.
It turns out that the following things are needed for happiness: intelligence and, as a consequence, a high salary, the absence of alcohol dependence, and good relations with the loved ones.
Does happiness seem attainable to you in this understanding of it?
