by Megan Sy, M.A., M.S.
“It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness” — Viktor Frankl
In modern society, happiness is almost always the end goal, the thing we chase in nearly every aspect of our lives. We have all heard about the benefits of being happy – improved physical health, more harmonious relationships, overall life satisfaction, and more. Recently, however, some researchers from UCSF and UNC argued that the quest for happiness isn’t all it’s cut out to be. According to them, actively pursuing happiness – that is, deliberately forcing ourselves to be happy in a given moment – can actually make us feel worse. In some studies, even people who were made to think about or monitor their happiness ended up feeling less happy. One reason for this is that people who value happiness excessively often have rigid beliefs about it (e.g., “The amount of happiness I feel at this moment is a measure of how worthwhile my life is”). This kind of perspective can then lead to a lot of sadness, disappointment, and self-blame.
So what should we happiness-seekers do instead? One thing the researchers proposed is a concept they call prioritizing positivity. People that prioritize positivity put themselves in situations where they are likely to experience positive emotions. They make decisions and organize their days with this in mind. Now, this isn’t a new idea. What the researchers call prioritizing positivity is consistent with many positive psychology interventions as well as with behavioral activation, an frequently used technique in treating depression. But it’s an interesting way of looking at the pursuit of happiness because it puts the power into our own hands (or minds). Rather than hoping and wishing that a given moment will make us happy, we can construct our own happiness by designing our lives to include frequent experiences of positive emotions, whatever those may be. While there is still definitely a fine balance to be found, prioritizing positivity is something many of us can benefit from.
Reference: Catalino, L., Algoe, S., & Fredrickson, B. (2014). Prioritizing positivity: An effective approach to pursuing happiness? Emotion, 14, 1155-1161.
