You may already have a large circle of friends, acquaintances, and coworkers; you may be married, have children, and have a large family.
Whatever the composition of your social network, it’s easy to find that life is busy and you aren’t really connecting with the people you care about. High-quality, close connections are the ones that make us truly happy, and those connections need to be cultivated
Build higher-quality connections with the people in your life with these suggestions:
Sources:
Positivity, by Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph. D.
The How of Happiness, by Sonja Lyubormirsky
One of the easiest ways to strengthen connections with others—and boost our own happiness—is to express gratitude.
Gratitude neutralizes many negative emotions—envy, anxiety, hostility, worry, anger—and taps into many positive emotions, such as wonder, appreciation, contentment, savoring, love, joy. And researchers have found that the positive effects from expressing gratitude can last for months. In one study, people who had completed gratitude exercises were happier and less depressed six months later.
Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky suggests the following exercises in her book The How of Happiness:
Psychologist Martin Seligman recommends a gratitude visit in his book Authentic Happiness. The basic steps are:
Sources:
The How of Happiness, by Sonja Lyubormirsky
Authentic Happiness, by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph. D.
Time - "The New Science of Happiness"
What is it about practicing a religion that seems to make people happy?
Researchers point to three factors in happiness that people may be finding in their religious practices:
People who were raised with religious beliefs and a church community are happier as adults—even if they have since left their religious tradition. A religious community may help provide stability and community to children as they grow up.
Positive effects of religion depend on the beliefs
For instance, religions that teach that only their faith is the right one and that other people must be condemned tend to produce lower life satisfaction—and, of course, human history is full of examples of religiously motivated persecution, violence, and war. People who believe in a loving and inclusive God are happier than those who believe in a punitive or unresponsive God.
Cultural context of the research findings
There is also a cultural context to the research findings. In the United States, research has shown that religious people are happier. The consistent difference in happiness among religious Americans is not replicated in other free societies. For example, Danes and Swedes consistently rate themselves happier than Americans, and they are also among the most secular democracies.
A study of 18 democracies found that the more secular countries had lower rates of violent crime, suicide, teen pregnancy, and abortion than the United States. These findings are leading researchers to focus on the important role of social support and connection (which is highly valued and implemented in Danish and Swedish policy). It may be that in the United States, religious communities are a significant source of social connection; other countries may develop social support in other ways.
Researchers have found the following positive effects among people who participate in religious practices (such as prayer, worship services, reading the Bible or other sacred texts):
Whether you consider yourself religious or not, experiencing positive emotions, having a strong connection to a community, and feeling a sense of meaning and purpose in your life are all linked to greater happiness. Participating in a religious community is one way to increase these factors in your life.
Sources:
Happiness, by Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener
Psychology Today - Spirituality
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