Positive Psychology Updates

Recently psychologists in the Positive Psychology movement, as well as economists like Richard Layard, have been looking at what promotes happiness.

In the economic field, Layard and others have found that beyond a fairly basic minimum level, increases in income don't make us happier. Once our basic comfort and survival needs are satisfied, we focus on status. Plus, money matters less the more you have of it. More about this in Layard's excellent book Happiness: Lessons From A New Science.

The Education Guardian recently interviewed another 'happiness economist', Andrew Oswald :"Before we can tell how happy we are, we have to keep comparing ourselves with the neighbours. To keep up with the Joneses, we spend a vast proportion of our income on things we don't need. It's the way human beings are. But, collectively, we can't all be ahead of the average. That's the key factor in why the continued emphasis on economic growth doesn't work for the whole of society."

Keeping a Gratitude Diary stops us from comparing ourselves with everyone around us. It keeps us focussed on what is really important to us, what it is that makes us happy and gives us joy.