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The Key To Happiness, According To A Decades-Long Study

Sending a text to a friend can bring a smile to your face. Now, research suggests it could also help bring long-term health benefits. guoya/Getty Images hide caption

Sending a text to a friend can bring a smile to your face. Now, research suggests it could also help bring long-term health benefits.

If you could change one thing in your life to become a happier person — like your income, a job, your relationships or your health — what would make the biggest difference? That's the question Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Robert Waldinger has been attempting to answer through decades of research. He's the director of "the world's longest-running scientific study of happiness," and he spoke with Ari Shapiro about the factor that appears to make the biggest difference in people's lives. Waldinger is a co-author of The Good Life: Lessons from the world's longest scientific study of happiness . In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Email us at [email protected] .

This episode was produced by Lee Hale and Megan Lim. It was edited by William Troop and Christopher Intagliata. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

Equanimity: The Key to Happiness

Here are some suggestions for finding the inner peace that all of us seek..

Posted November 7, 2019 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

There is no shortage of quotations on how to be happy. I won’t list them here, except to note that, some years ago, the Dalai Lama famously said: “I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy.”

Many people have taken this to mean that the purpose of life is to be gleeful or to live in the perpetual state that is suggested by these common synonyms for the word happy: delighted, thrilled, elated. But in this same quotation, the Dalai Lama went on to say that “…it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.”

That inner peace is what I'm referring to as equanimity.

What is equanimity?

Equanimity is an even-tempered state of mind that enables you to ride life’s challenges with calmness and serenity, instead of being tossed about like a ship in a storm. Equanimity arises when you feel OK about your life no matter what’s happening. That last phrase was easy to write, but it carries a big punch: no matter what’s happening . Would that include losing a beloved pet? Yes. Would it include learning that a loved one was diagnosed with a terminal illness? Yes. Learning that you’ve had a similar diagnosis? Yes.

Those examples alone are why I cannot claim to always dwell in equanimity. But I am committed to working on it every day because, when I get a taste of it, I know at the deepest level that this is the inner peace that the Dalai Lama is referring to.

The reason that happiness cannot, as the Dalai Lama said, be found in external circumstances is that there’s no way around it: Life is a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant experiences, successes and disappointments, good times and sad times. Equanimity is a mental state that enables you to meet life’s unpleasant experiences, disappointments, and sad moments with even-tempered calm instead of with aversion. Aversion takes two forms: passive indifference as in, “Who cares?” and anger , as in “I’ve got to get rid of this feeling right now !”

A few years ago, a close friend of mine died. It hit me hard, even though I’d been expecting it for months. One night, so as not to wake my husband, I got out of bed and went into the living room and sobbed for an hour. I felt my sorrow physically, like emptiness in my gut, as if she’d been there and had been yanked away.

So, how do you find the inner peace of equanimity when you’re in the midst of such deep sorrow? You find it by being wholly present for your sadness and grief . For me, this meant not pushing the sorrow away in aversion (that is, in indifference or anger), but instead, acknowledging how painful the loss was and making room for it in my heart.

And so, the mental quality of equanimity is that willingness to be present for your experience as it is —even when it’s not the one you’d have ordered up.

How to Cultivate Equanimity: Mindfulness and Effort

Equanimity—this “key to happiness”—requires both mindfulness and effort to develop. I’m referring to mindfulness in the sense of paying attention to what’s going on in your mind (and also in your body because that’s where you feel what’s going on in your mind). Are you clinging to how you want something to be even though you have no control over it? If so, can you feel the contraction that accompanies that clinging—a contraction both in your mind (as rigidness in your thinking) and in your body (as tightened muscles or gut pain, for example)?

If you can become aware of how you’re clinging to “wants and don’t wants” (as I like to call them) that are out of your control, and if you can then feel the detrimental effects of that clinging on your mind and body, this alone can loosen the grip of clinging and allow you to begin to feel the calm of equanimity.

Then you can go a step further by making a gentle effort to let go of clinging to those wants/don’t wants that you have no control over, no matter what they’re in relation to. By letting go, I don’t mean allowing that inner critic to bark marching orders at you: “ Let go. Let go. Let go .” That never works and only makes you feel like a failure. I’m suggesting, instead, that you make an effort to let go of that clinging by reflecting on how fruitless it is and on how it only makes you feel worse.

It's fruitless because we control a lot less in this life than we think we do. As I said earlier in this piece, there’s no way around it: Life is a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. This means that we’re simply not always going to get what we want…and clinging to the thought that we should be able to, makes us feel worse. This “worse” takes many forms: anger, resentfulness, frustration, even hatred of ourselves or others. Obviously, that is not the path to happiness—to that inner peace that the Dalai Lama was referring to.

The peace of equanimity comes from making the effort to see life as it is—sometimes joyful, but often sorrowful…and almost always unpredictable and not within our control. Understanding that these are the very conditions of being alive prepares us for those tough times. It enables us to accept them with calm serenity instead of becoming angry and bitter.

The difference between equanimity and passivity or indifference

Sometimes equanimity is mistaken for passivity or indifference, but it’s not the same. Equanimity calls for engaging with life. Passivity and indifference are forms of giving up. Engagement opens your heart and mind to your life as it is, and that makes it possible for you to take constructive action to make things better for yourself and others.

Here’s an example. Some years ago, when our dog Scout was a puppy, she broke her right front leg—badly. It took two surgeries to set it correctly. When we brought her home from the vet hospital, we were told: “Keep her confined to a four by four space for two months.”

At first, I was anything but equanimous about this! The prospect of confining a puppy in this way for two months was definitely unpleasant as experiences go, but my aversion to it was not only compounding my misery, it was keeping me from taking constructive action to find a way to live as best I could with something I had no control over.

It took several days, but thankfully, through mindfulness practice, I became aware that my aversion and resentment to what I could not change were making a difficult situation worse. I started looking for ways to make the experience as pleasant as possible. I took some blankets and set up two four by four areas—one in the bedroom and one in the living room. Then I used leashes to keep Scout within those areas. And so, instead of putting her in a crate or a pen, she was out in the open, and I could easily sit or lie down next to her and cuddle or engage in gentle play. All in all, those two months weren’t so bad.

That’s why I say that equanimity calls for engagement with life, not turning away in indifference.

In my experience, I’m happy when I’m able to open-heartedly accept my life as it is right now—even if the present moment is a sad or difficult one. That’s inner peace. That’s equanimity. That’s happiness.

You might also like my article: “ How to Cultivate Equanimity Regardless of Your Circumstances .”

Toni Bernhard, J.D., is a former law professor at the University of California, Davis. She's the author of How to Be Sick , How to Wake Up , and How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness .

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What Is Happiness?

Defining Happiness, and How to Become Happier

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

Verywell/ Jiaqi Zhou

How to Cultivate Happiness

How to be a happier person.

Happiness is something that people seek to find, yet what defines happiness can vary from one person to the next. Typically, happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment. While happiness has many different definitions, it is often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction. 

When most people talk about the true meaning of happiness, they might be talking about how they feel in the present moment or referring to a more general sense of how they feel about life overall.

Because happiness tends to be such a broadly defined term, psychologists and other social scientists typically use the term ' subjective well-being ' when they talk about this emotional state. Just as it sounds, subjective well-being tends to focus on an individual's overall personal feelings about their life in the present.  

Two key components of happiness (or subjective well-being) are:

• The balance of emotions: Everyone experiences both positive and negative emotions, feelings, and moods. Happiness is generally linked to experiencing more positive feelings than negative ones.
• Life satisfaction: This relates to how satisfied you feel with different areas of your life including your relationships, work, achievements, and other things that you consider important.

Another definition of happiness comes from the ancient philosopher Aristotle, who suggested that happiness is the one human desire, and all other human desires exist as a way to obtain happiness. He believed that there were four levels of happiness: happiness from immediate gratification, from comparison and achievement, from making positive contributions, and from achieving fulfillment. 

Happiness, Aristotle suggested, could be achieved through the golden mean, which involves finding a balance between deficiency and excess.

Signs of Happiness

While perceptions of happiness may be different from one person to the next, there are some key signs that psychologists look for when measuring and assessing happiness.

Some key signs of happiness include:

• Feeling like you are living the life you wanted
• Going with the flow and a willingness to take life as it comes
• Feeling that the conditions of your life are good
• Enjoying positive, healthy relationships with other people
• Feeling that you have accomplished (or will accomplish) what you want in life
• Feeling satisfied with your life
• Feeling positive more than negative
• Being open to new ideas and experiences
• Practicing self-care and treating yourself with kindness and compassion
• Experiencing gratitude
• Feeling that you are living life with a sense of meaning and purpose
• Wanting to share your happiness and joy with others

One important thing to remember is that happiness isn't a state of constant euphoria . Instead, happiness is an overall sense of experiencing more positive emotions than negative ones.

Happy people still feel the whole range of human emotions—anger, frustrastion, boredom, loneliness, and even sadness—from time to time. But even when faced with discomfort, they have an underlying sense of optimism that things will get better, that they can deal with what is happening, and that they will be able to feel happy again.

Types of Happiness

There are many different ways of thinking about happiness. For example, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle made a distinction between two different kinds of happiness: hedonia and eudaimonia.

• Hedonia: Hedonic happiness is derived from pleasure. It is most often associated with doing what feels good, self-care, fulfilling desires, experiencing enjoyment, and feeling a sense of satisfaction.
• Eudaimonia: This type of happiness is derived from seeking virtue and meaning. Important components of eudaimonic well-being including feeling that your life has meaning, value, and purpose. It is associated more with fulfilling responsibilities, investing in long-term goals, concern for the welfare of other people, and living up to personal ideals.

Hedonia and eudemonia are more commonly known today in psychology as pleasure and meaning, respectively. More recently, psychologists have suggested the addition of the third component that relates to engagement . These are feelings of commitment and participation in different areas of life.

Research suggests that happy people tend to rank pretty high on eudaimonic life satisfaction and better than average on their hedonic life satisfaction.  

All of these can play an important role in the overall experience of happiness, although the relative value of each can be highly subjective. Some activities may be both pleasurable and meaningful, while others might skew more one way or the other.

For example, volunteering for a cause you believe in might be more meaningful than pleasurable. Watching your favorite tv show, on the other hand, might rank lower in meaning and higher on pleasure.

Some types of happiness that may fall under these three main categories include:

• Joy: A often relatively brief feeling that is felt in the present moment
• Excitement: A happy feeling that involves looking forward to something with positive anticipation
• Gratitude: A positive emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative
• Pride: A feeling of satisfaction in something that you have accomplished
• Optimism: This is a way of looking at life with a positive, upbeat outlook
• Contentment: This type of happiness involves a sense of satisfaction

While some people just tend to be naturally happier, there are things that you can do to cultivate your sense of happiness. 

Pursue Intrinsic Goals 

Achieving goals that you are intrinsically motivated to pursue, particularly ones that are focused on personal growth and community, can help boost happiness. Research suggests that pursuing these types of intrinsically-motivated goals can increase happiness more than pursuing extrinsic goals like gaining money or status.  

Enjoy the Moment

Studies have found that people tend to over earn—they become so focused on accumulating things that they lose track of actually enjoying what they are doing.  

So, rather than falling into the trap of mindlessly accumulating to the detriment of your own happiness, focus on practicing gratitude for the things you have and enjoying the process as you go. 

Reframe Negative Thoughts

When you find yourself stuck in a pessimistic outlook or experiencing negativity, look for ways that you can reframe your thoughts in a more positive way. 

People have a natural negativity bias , or a tendency to pay more attention to bad things than to good things. This can have an impact on everything from how you make decisions to how you form impressions of other people. Discounting the positive—a cognitive distortion where people focus on the negative and ignore the positive—can also contribute to negative thoughts.

Reframing these negative perceptions isn't about ignoring the bad. Instead, it means trying to take a more balanced, realistic look at events. It allows you to notice patterns in your thinking and then challenge negative thoughts.

Impact of Happiness

Why is happiness so important? Happiness has been shown to predict positive outcomes in many different areas of life including mental well-being, physical health, and overall longevity.

• Positive emotions increase satisfaction with life.
• Happiness helps people build stronger coping skills and emotional resources.
• Positive emotions are linked to better health and longevity. One study found that people who experienced more positive emotions than negative ones were more likely to have survived over a 13 year period.
• Positive feelings increase resilience. Resilience helps people better manage stress and bounce back better when faced with setbacks. For example, one study found that happier people tend to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and that these benefits tend to persist over time.
• People who report having a positive state of well-being are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors such as eating fruits and vegetables and engaging in regular physical exercise.
• Being happy may make help you get sick less often. Happier mental states are linked to increased immunity.

Some people seem to have a naturally higher baseline for happiness—one large-scale study of more than 2,000 twins suggested that around 50% of overall life satisfaction was due to genetics, 10% to external events, and 40% to individual activities.

So while you might not be able to control what your “base level” of happiness is, there are things that you can do to make your life happier and more fulfilling. Even the happiest of individuals can feel down from time to time and happiness is something that all people need to consciously pursue.

Cultivate Strong Relationships

Social support is an essential part of well-being. Research has found that good social relationships are the strongest predictor of happiness. Having positive and supportive connections with people you care about can provide a buffer against stress, improve your health, and help you become a happier person.

In the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a longitudinal study that looked at participants over 80 years, researchers found that relationships and how happy people are in those relationships strongly impacted overall health.

So if you are trying to improve your happiness, cultivating solid social connections is a great place to start. Consider deepening your existing relationships and explore ways to make new friends. 

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise is good for both your body and mind. Physical activity is linked to a range of physical and psychological benefits including improved mood. Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise may play a role in warding off symptoms of depression, but evidence also suggests that it may also help make people happier, too.

In one analysis of past research on the connection between physical activity and happiness, researchers found a consistent positive link.  

Even a little bit of exercise produces a happiness boost—people who were physically active for as little as 10 minutes a day or who worked out only once a week had higher levels of happiness than people who never exercised.

Show Gratitude

In one study, participants were asked to engage in a writing exercise for 10 to 20 minutes each night before bed.   Some were instructed to write about daily hassles, some about neutral events, and some about things they were grateful for. The results found that people who had written about gratitude had increase positive emotions, increased subjective happiness, and improve life satisfaction.

As the authors of the study suggest, keeping a gratitude list is a relatively easy, affordable, simple, and pleasant way to boost your mood. Try setting aside a few minutes each night to write down or think about things in your life that you are grateful for.

Find a Sense of Purpose

Research has found that people who feel like they have a purpose have better well-being and feel more fulfilled.   A sense of purpose involves seeing your life as having goals, direction, and meaning. It may help improve happiness by promoting healthier behaviors. 

Some things you can do to help find a sense of purpose include:

• Explore your interests and passions
• Engage in prosocial and altruistic causes
• Work to address injustices
• Look for new things you might want to learn more about

This sense of purpose is influenced by a variety of factors, but it is also something that you can cultivate. It involves finding a goal that you care deeply about that will lead you to engage in productive, positive actions in order to work toward that goal.

Press Play for Advice On Reaching Your Dreams

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Challenges of Finding Happiness

While seeking happiness is important, there are times when the pursuit of life satisfaction falls short. Some challenges to watch for include:

Valuing the Wrong Things

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but there is research that spending money on things like experiences can make you happier than spending it on material possessions. 

One study, for example, found that spending money on things that buy time—such as spending money on time-saving services—can increase happiness and life satisfaction.  

Rather than overvaluing things such as money, status, or material possessions, pursuing goals that result in more free time or enjoyable experiences may have a higher happiness reward.

Not Seeking Social Support

Social support means having friends and loved ones that you can turn to for support. Research has found that perceived social support plays an important role in subjective well-being. For example, one study found that perceptions of social support were responsible for 43% of a person's level of happiness.  

It is important to remember that when it comes to social support, quality is more important than quantity. Having just a few very close and trusted friends will have a greater impact on your overall happiness than having many casual acquaintances.

Thinking of Happiness as an Endpoint

Happiness isn’t a goal that you can simply reach and be done with. It is a constant pursuit that requires continual nurturing and sustenance.

One study found that people who tend to value happiness most also tended to feel the least satisfied with their lives.   Essentially, happiness becomes such a lofty goal that it becomes virtually unattainable. 

“Valuing happiness could be self-defeating because the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed,” suggest the authors of the study.

Perhaps the lesson is to not make something as broadly defined as “happiness” your goal. Instead, focus on building and cultivating the sort of life and relationships that bring fulfillment and satisfaction to your life. 

It is also important to consider how you personally define happiness. Happiness is a broad term that means different things to different people. Rather than looking at happiness as an endpoint, it can be more helpful to think about what happiness really means to you and then work on small things that will help you become happier. This can make achieving these goals more manageable and less overwhelming.

History of Happiness

Happiness has long been recognized as a critical part of health and well-being. The "pursuit of happiness" is even given as an inalienable right in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Our understanding of what will bring happiness, however, has shifted over time.

Psychologists have also proposed a number of different theories to explain how people experience and pursue happiness. These theories include:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

The hierarchy of needs suggests that people are motivated to pursue increasingly complex needs. Once more basic needs are fulfilled, people are then motivated by more psychological and emotional needs.

At the peak of the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization, or the need to achieve one's full potential. The theory also stresses the importance of peak experiences or transcendent moments in which a person feels deep understanding, happiness, and joy. 

Positive Psychology

The pursuit of happiness is central to the field of positive psychology . Psychologists who study positive psychology are interested in learning ways to increase positivity and helping people live happier, more satisfying lives. 

Rather than focusing on mental pathologies, the field instead strives to find ways to help people, communities, and societies improve positive emotions and achieve greater happiness.

Finley K, Axner M, Vrooman K, Tse D. Ideal levels of prosocial involvement in relation to momentary affect and eudaimonia: Exploring the golden mean . Innov Aging . 2020;4(Suppl 1):614. doi:10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2083

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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Happiness Essay: Definition, Outline & Examples

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A happiness essay is an academic paper that explores the concept of happiness, and how it can be achieved and maintained in our lives. The purpose of a happiness essay is to explore the psychological, social, and cultural factors that contribute to happiness. On this type of essay, students should provide insights into how individuals can cultivate a happy and fulfilling life.

In this article, we will explore the definition of happiness and its various components and outline the key elements of happiness essay structure. Whether you are seeking how to write a happiness essay or want to know more about this feeling, this is the right article. You will also find en example for your inspiration. Struggling with your writing? Say goodbye to stress and let our experts handle your ' write my essay for me ' challenge. Our team of skilled writers is ready to tackle any topic and deliver top-notch papers tailored to your instructions.

What Is a Happiness Essay?

The definition of a happiness essay can differ, but in general, a happiness essay is a paper that examines emotions, experiences, and perspectives related to the pursuit of contentment. Likewise, it may explore the philosophical and psychological aspects of delight and how it is affected by factors like wealth, relationships, and personal circumstances. A happiness essay provides a deeper understanding of enjoyment, how it can be achieved, and its influence on society. It is an opportunity to take readers on a reflective and stimulating journey, exploring the essence of joy. Writing a thematic essay on happiness is also a chance for writers to share their thoughts and observations with other people. Let's dive in and explore what delight really means to you!

Purpose of an Essay on Happiness

The reason for writing an essay about happiness is to explore the concept of delight to understand what it means to different people. For example, many believe it primarily depends on external factors such as wealth, success, or material possessions. However, it can be illustrated that true joy largely comes from internal factors, like one's outlook, personal growth, and relationships, especially with family and friends. A happiness essay helps to dispel common misconceptions about what satisfaction truly is. Writing a paper on this subject can describe a deeper, healthy understanding of this universal pursuit.

Ideas to Write a Happiness Essay on

When you want to write a happiness essay , first, it is important to ask: What is happiness to you? How can it be understood? One approach is to define happiness and examine its various dimensions, such as psychological, emotional, and physiological.  For example, career satisfaction is a crucial factor in achieving contentment. When people enjoy their jobs and feel fulfilled, they tend to report higher levels of delight. It's worth exploring the link between happiness and career satisfaction and how people can find meaning in their work.  Another idea of how to be happy would look at factors like relationships, personal growth, and achievement. Besides, the connection between money and happiness can also be a significant factor in the quality of life. Can you buy satisfaction?  The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental aspect of life, and analyzing its various dimensions can help us gain valuable insights into what leads to a happy life.

Happiness Essay Outline

An outline for a happiness essay serves as a roadmap for writers to keep their paper organized. It helps to break down researched content into manageable sections while ensuring that all necessary information is included.  The essay outline on happiness example might look something like this:

• Topic definition
• Topic importance
• Thesis statement
• Topic sentence
• Supporting evidence
• Concluding sentence, connected to your thesis
• Summarizing main points
• Final thoughts and future recommendations
• Encouraging readers to reflect on their delight

This outline provides a comprehensive format for an essay about happiness, ensuring that articles are well-structured, easy to understand, and cover all the necessary information.

Structure of a Happiness Essay

Happiness essay structure is critical to a successful article because it helps to organize the ideas clearly and coherently. It is easier for readers to follow and understand writers' perspectives on this complex and multifaceted topic if the essay has the following sections: Introduction:  provides context for the topic with a clear thesis statement. Body:  delves into the details while providing evidence to support the thesis. Conclusion:  summarizes the main points while restating the thesis statement in a new way. By following this structure, writers can produce compelling essays on happiness in life that engage and inform readers.

Happiness Essay Introduction

The introduction of a happiness essay is critical to setting the stage for the article’s body. Good introductions should have three key elements: a hook, background information, and a thesis statement.  The hook draws readers in and keeps them engaged, but a boring or generic one may make them lose interest. The background information provides context for the topic and gives the audience a better understanding of why the essay is being written. Lastly, the thesis statement states the writer's stance on contentment, providing a roadmap for the rest of the essay.  An essay about happiness introduction is an important part that sets the tone and lays the foundation for the paper. By following this structure, authors can ensure that the introduction of their paper is well-organized, concise, and effective in drawing the readers into their piece.

Happiness Essay Introduction Example

An introduction to your paper should be engaging, interesting, brief, and to the point. It clearly states the objectives of the research and introduces readers to the key arguments that will be discussed. Here is an example of a happiness essay introduction:

Satisfaction is never a straightforward and easily attainable idea. It has intrigued philosophers, religious figures, and people alike for centuries. Some say contentment is found inside a material wealth lifestyle, and others believe it is a state of mind or a result of spiritual fulfillment. But what is happiness, really? And how can we cultivate it in our own lives?

Happiness Essay Thesis Statement

A happiness essay thesis statement is the backbone of an article and a crucial element in your paper. A good thesis statement about happiness should be arguable, specific, and relevant to the topic. It is important for defining the scope of an article and highlighting its focus while also identifying what it will not cover.  Finally, the thesis statement tells readers the writer's point of view and sets a standard for judging whether the essay achieves its goal. By creating an effective statement, writers can significantly impact their paper's quality by providing direction and focus to the author’s argument.

Happiness Thesis Statement Example

This thesis statement defines the pursuit of delight and outlines its contributing factors. Here is an example of a happiness essay thesis statement sample:

True happiness comes from family, friends, and learning to be content in life, while money can only purchase momentary happiness.

Happiness Essay Body

A happiness body paragraph is a component of the body section of an article that provides evidence, examples, and supporting arguments to develop an essay's central idea. Good paragraphs cover a topic in-depth and engage readers, prompting them to reflect on what brings joy and how to pursue it. A paragraph about happiness should be well-structured and focused, analyzing factors contributing to contentment in a logical and coherent manner. A well-crafted essay body on happiness includes several paragraphs, each focused on specific aspects of enjoyment while supporting an article's overall argument. Following these guidelines, writers can create persuasive essay paragraphs.

Happiness Body Paragraph Example

Body paragraphs should provide a deeper understanding of the topic while engaging readers with relevant, thought-provoking information. Happiness body paragraph example:

Contentment brings a smile to our faces, peace to our hearts, and a skip in our steps. It's what many of us strive for every day, and it turns out it's not just good for our spirits but our health too! Studies have linked contentment to lower stress, reduced risk of heart disease, and elevated life satisfaction. Delight can come from doing what you love, being with loved ones, or having a sense of purpose. Or, it may simply be found in everyday moments like a sunny day, a good meal, or a breathtaking sunset. Although joy can be fleeting and affected by life events, we can still work to cultivate it in our lives.

Happiness Essay Conclusion

A conclusion is the last section of an essay that summarizes the main points while offering a final perspective on the topic. To write a strong conclusion on a happiness essay, consider these key elements: 

• summarize the main arguments
• provide closure
• include a final thought or reflection
• leave a lasting impression
• avoid introducing new information.

A good conclusion can make the difference between a forgettable essay and one that stays with the reader long after they've finished. Following these guidelines ensures that your essay conclusion about happiness effectively wraps up the argument and provides readers with memorable final impressions.

Happiness Essay Conclusion Sample

Conclusion helps readers better understand the topic by providing a sense of resolution or insight. Here is an example of a happiness essay conclusion:

In conclusion, delight is a difficult and multi-faceted concept that can influence various factors, including personal relationships, life events, and individual perspectives. The pursuit of contentment is a common initiative for all humans, and it is evident that becoming content requires a perfect balance and order of internal and external factors. This article presents evidence that helps you see clearly that contentment is not a fixed state. It is a journey that needs effort, reflection, and self-awareness to enjoy. I hope this paper has helped you realize a deeper understanding of this topic and become better equipped to embark on your pursuit of joy. 

How to Write an Essay on Happiness?

If you want to write an essay on happiness, remember that it can be a hard yet rewarding experience. Whether you are doing it for a class assignment, a job, a scholarship application, or personal growth, exploring what contentment means to you can be the journey of self-discovery.  You should clearly understand the topic and have a well-structured plan. The steps to effective happiness essay writing include defining satisfaction, conducting research, and organizing thoughts. When writing, it's crucial to consider factors that contribute to delight and obstacles that can hinder the process. Following the steps below, you can craft an article that effectively communicates your perspective on this topic.

1.  Pick a Topic About Happiness

Choosing a topic about happiness essay can be daunting, but with some guidance and creativity, you may find a subject that is both interesting and relevant. When brainstorming for happiness essay topics, follow these steps:

• Start with a broad idea related to your issue. Narrow the focus to a specific aspect, gather information, list potential cases, evaluate options, refine the matter, and check for relevance to your audience.
• Gather information, consider the different perspectives, and take note of the arguments you come across.
• Come up with five to ten potential concerns and evaluate each, asking questions such as if it is interesting, has enough information available, and if you can find a unique approach.
• Refine your chosen discussion to make it specific, focused, relevant, and interesting to your audience.

2. Do In-Depth Research

Gathering information from credible sources is crucial when writing an essay about happiness. Here are some tips to ensure that you collect accurate and relevant facts:

• Research from trustworthy sources like academic journals, books by experts, and government websites.
• Evaluate information's credibility and reliability. When you are reading, take notes on the information that you find. Write down the author, title, and publication date of each source to keep track of your research.
• Use multiple sources to broaden your understanding of your topic.
• Organize your research with a citation manager or bibliography.

Following these tips, you can delve into a wealth of credible sources for your happiness essays to elevate your article to new heights of insight.

3. Create an Outline for a Happiness Essay

Crafting an outline is essential in writing an essay on happiness and can give your work the structure and direction it needs to succeed. Here's how to create an effective happiness essay outline:

• Framework Start by outlining the main sections of your essay - introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Pinpoint your ideas Determine the key points you want to convey in each section.
• Supplement with specifics Add details that reinforce and support your ideas under each main point.
• Follow the guide Use the happiness essay outline example above as a starting point, but feel free to customize depending on the situation.

By following these steps and utilizing an essay outline , you'll have a clear map to guide you as you craft your paper, ensuring that your ideas are coherently organized, and your writing flows effortlessly.

4. Write an Essay About Happiness

In this essay about happiness, we will delve into the elusive and complex nature of this emotion. Here is an example to follow when you write your happiness essay.

Contentment is a subjective experience that varies significantly from person to person. It is often considered the ultimate goal of human life, and many people spend their entire lives searching for it. Despite its elusive nature, it is a crucial component of well-being and has been linked to numerous benefits for physical, mental, and emotional health. The reasons to smile or experience joy are varied and can be both internal and external. Some individuals find joy in the simple things in life, like being with family, pursuing their passions, or exploring new experiences. On the other hand, others may find it through accomplishing personal goals, acquiring material goods, or attaining financial security. Nonetheless, it's crucial to keep in mind that these external sources of happiness may not always be possible and may not alleviate suffering. Conversely, true joy comes from within and is characterized by a sense of being content, satisfied, and with purpose. It can be cultivated through mindfulness, gratitude, and self-reflection. By focusing on personal growth, forming meaningful relationships, and finding meaning and purpose in life, individuals, including children, can develop a deep sense of satisfaction that is not dependent on external circumstances and is not easily disturbed by life's problems. In conclusion, delight is a complex and multifaceted experience that both internal and external factors can influence. While external sources can bring temporary joy, true and lasting contentment can only be found within. Individuals can create a foundation for joy that will endure throughout their lives by focusing on personal growth and cultivating a positive mindset.

5. Proofread Your Happiness Essay

When proofreading your happiness essay, make sure to take your time and approach it methodically. Follow these steps:

• Read through the entire essay to get a sense of its overall structure and flow.
• Pay close attention to the introduction, as this sets the tone for the entire piece.
• Look for typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasing .
• Ensure your paragraphs are well-organized, with clear transitions between ideas. Check that your happy essay accurately reflects your thoughts and clearly conveys the message you want.
• Finally, read the paper out loud to yourself, or have someone else read it to you.

This can help you pick up on any errors that you might have missed during your initial proofreading. Finally, the article will leave a lasting impression on your reader and enhance your credibility as a writer.

Happiness Essay Examples

If you're looking to write truly captivating happiness essays, it's always helpful to seek inspiration from various sources. Consider checking out these excellent essay examples about happiness:  Happiness essay example 1

Essay example about happiness 2

Happiness essay sample 3

Essay on happiness example 4

Example of a happiness essay 5

They offer a rich tapestry of perspectives on what enjoyment truly means. Whether you draw on your own experiences or delve into the experiences of others, a happiness essay example will serve as a valuable resource as you strive to make your mark on this timeless topic.

Happiness Essay Writing Tips

When writing a happiness essay, there are key tips to keep in mind to help you create a compelling piece of work. Here are a few suggestions to get you started in happiness essays writing:

• Explore the concept from a cultural or historical perspective, looking at how attitudes towards your topic have changed over time across different societies.
• Consider how relationships, community, and social connections shape our enjoyment. How can these factors interact?
• Weigh the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches, such as positive or negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-care, offering a well-rounded perspective on the topic.
• Reflect on the connection between happiness and success, considering whether one necessarily leads to the other or can be pursued independently of success.
• Incorporate humor and lightheartedness into your writing, making your essay entertaining.

By going about integrating these unique tips into your writing day by day, you'll be able to craft essays on happiness that are both original and memorable, capturing the reader's imagination from start to finish. Students can explore a vast range of topics through our platform, from an essay about true friendship  and a  family essay to an illustration essay that will show how to convey complex ideas in a clear and engaging way.

Bottom Line on Happiness Essay Writing

To write a happiness essay, you should consider providing long and in-depth ways to explore what truly brings us joy. Instead of repeating common knowledge, take a personal approach and reflect on the things that delight you. Consider the fact that relationships, gratitude, mindfulness, and activities all contribute to shaping our joy. Your happiness essays should also showcase your introspective side. Examine any challenges or obstacles you have faced in your journey toward contentment. This will make your paper not only unique but also relatable and insightful. The goal is to create a piece that offers a fresh perspective on the concept of happiness and a true reflection of your experiences.

Buy custom essay online from StudyCrumb and get a happiness paper delivered on time. Top-notch quality is guaranteed!

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

You may also like

Happiness Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on happiness.

Happiness is something which we can’t describe in words it can only be felt from someone’s expression of a smile. Likewise, happiness is a signal or identification of good and prosperous life. Happiness is very simple to feel and difficult to describe. Moreover, happiness comes from within and no one can steal your happiness.

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

Every day we see and meet people who look happy from the outside but deep down they are broken and are sad from the inside. For many people, money is the main cause of happiness or grief. But this is not right. Money can buy you food, luxurious house, healthy lifestyle servants, and many more facilities but money can’t buy you happiness.

And if money can buy happiness then the rich would be the happiest person on the earth. But, we see a contrary image of the rich as they are sad, fearful, anxious, stressed, and suffering from various problems.

In addition, they have money still they lack in social life with their family especially their wives and this is the main cause of divorce among them.

Also, due to money, they feel insecurity that everyone is after their money so to safeguard their money and them they hire security. While the condition of the poor is just the opposite. They do not have money but they are happy with and stress-free from these problems.

In addition, they take care of their wife and children and their divorce rate is also very low.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Happiness Comes from Within

As we now know that we can’t buy happiness with money and there is no other shortcut to happiness. It is something that you feel from within.

In addition, true happiness comes from within yourself. Happiness is basically a state of mind.

Moreover, it can only be achieved by being positive and avoiding any negative thought in mind. And if we look at the bright side of ourselves only then we can be happy.

Happiness in a Relationship

People nowadays are not satisfied with their relationship because of their differences and much other reason. But for being happy in a relationship we have to understand that there are some rules or mutual understanding that keeps a relationship healthy and happy.

Firstly, take care of yourself then your partner because if you yourself are not happy then how can you make your partner happy.

Secondly, for a happy and healthy relationship give you partner some time and space. In addition, try to understand their feeling and comfort level because if you don’t understand these things then you won’t be able to properly understand your partner.

Most importantly, take initiative and plan to go out with your partner and family. Besides, if they have plans then go with them.

To conclude, we can say that happiness can only be achieved by having positive thinking and enjoying life. Also, for being happy and keeping the people around us happy we have to develop a healthy relationship with them. Additionally, we also have to give them the proper time.

FAQs about Happiness

Q.1 What is True Happiness? A.1 True happiness means the satisfaction that you find worthy. The long-lasting true happiness comes from life experience, a feeling of purpose, and a positive relationship.

Q.2 Who is happier the rich or the poor and who is more wealthy rich or poor? A.2 The poor are happier then the rich but if we talk about wealth the rich are more wealthy then the poor. Besides, wealth brings insecurity, anxiety and many other problems.

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

The keys to happiness: Associations between personal values regarding core life domains and happiness in South Korea

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Sociology, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea

Roles Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

• Min-Ah Lee, 
• Ichiro Kawachi

• Published: January 9, 2019
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821
• Reader Comments

Personal values refer to the beliefs, principles or ideas that are important to people’s lives. We investigated the associations between personal values and happiness. We inquired about the importance of four different categories of personal values: prioritizing social relationships, extrinsic achievements, physical health, and spirituality. Data were drawn from the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), a nationally representative cross-sectional sample collected over three years (i.e., 2007, 2008, and 2009). The findings showed that respondents prioritizing religion (i.e., spirituality) were the most likely to be happy, followed by those prioritizing social relationships, including family, friends, and neighbors. Those who prioritized extrinsic achievements (money, power, educational attainment, work, and leisure) as well as health were least likely to be happy. The findings suggest that pursuing goals focused on self-enhancement or self-centered value are less likely to result in happiness compared to pursuing alter-centered collective goals or self-transcendence/selflessness.

Citation: Lee M-A, Kawachi I (2019) The keys to happiness: Associations between personal values regarding core life domains and happiness in South Korea. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0209821. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821

Editor: Shang E. Ha, Sogang University (South Korea), REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Received: August 21, 2018; Accepted: December 12, 2018; Published: January 9, 2019

Copyright: © 2019 Lee, Kawachi. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: The data are third party and are available from the Korean Social Science Data Archive (KOSSDA) database ( http://www.kossda.or.kr/ ).

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

A growing literature has addressed the science of happiness, or subjective well-being (SWB). Although material well-being is a critical ingredient of human well-being, it has also been recognized that an increase in material well-being beyond a certain threshold (i.e. once basic wants have been satisfied) does not guarantee further increases in happiness [ 1 – 2 ] (although this point has also been debated [ 3 ]). This has influenced many scholars to seek other factors that determine subjective well-being [ 4 – 5 ].

In this context, a considerable number of studies have examined personal values, goals, or aspirations as important factors associated with subjective well-being [ 5 – 7 ]. Personal values may affect individuals’ daily lives as well as major decisions regarding their lives and futures, shaping their life trajectories, social relationships, and subjective well-being in the long run. For example, it is well known that holding intrinsic values, such as personal growth and affiliation, is positively associated with happiness, in contrast to holding extrinsic values, such as economic success and popularity [ 5 , 8 ]. These studies clearly suggest that happiness is influenced by the personal values people hold in various life domains.

However, with the limitations of previous studies, questions remain regarding the association of personal values with subjective well-being. Although it is meaningful that previous studies have captured the relative propensity of individuals by using composite measures of personal values and goals [ 5 , 8 ], less is known about whether and how personal values attached to specific life domains are associated with happiness. For example, are people who prioritize family happier than those who prioritize money? Is valuing religion more strongly associated with happiness than family? These questions motivated the current study to directly investigate how prioritizing specific life domains relates to happiness.

Recent studies have shown that prioritizing time more highly than money is positively associated with happiness [ 9 – 10 ]. Individuals may choose to allocate more of their time to making money, but often do so at the expense of neglecting social relationships (spending time with family, friends, and the community). The millionaire rapper and songwriter Sean “Diddy” Combs recently said in an interview that “I can always make more money, but I can’t make time”, which expresses the ideas that (a) investing in relationships does not cost money, but (b) making more money is often traded off against other uses of time. It has been discussed that prioritizing time over money is beneficial for happiness because it can improve the quality of social relationships [ 9 – 10 ]. Although a recent study has shown that prioritizing family over work and leisure results in higher life satisfaction [ 11 ], most studies have compared a limited number of contrasting domains (i.e., time vs money, family vs. work), but not included diverse life domains together. Valuing specific life domains, such as family, power, money, or religion, not only indicates personal values and attitudes toward life, but also affects individual behaviors and decision making.

Furthermore, most studies regarding personal values and happiness have been conducted in Western societies, with a few exceptions [ 8 , 12 ], and have analyzed non-representative samples, such as convenience samples or samples of specific groups, such as college students [ 4 , 8 , 13 ]. It is therefore worth investigating these relationships using a representative sample in a non-Western societal setting such as South Korea. Korean society is traditionally founded on strong family-oriented values derived from Confucianism, although this has been weakening over the last several decades. In addition, religious influence on individual life might be stronger than other East Asian countries, although relatively weaker compared to other Western countries. As of 2015, it is reported that about 43.9% of Koreans have a religion. Among those who have a religion, 35.4% are Buddhists and 62.9% are Christians [ 14 ]. Among the total population, 15.5% are Buddhists while 27.7% are Christians [ 14 ]. This suggests that South Korea has a unique socio-cultural context in relation to Christianity and traditional values, which distinguishes it from other East Asian countries. For example, it is reported that only 1.5% of Japanese population are Christians as of 2012 [ 15 ]. South Korean society is therefore somewhat unique in the East Asian region for simultaneously maintaining Confucian family-oriented values together with Christianity.

In the current study we sought to investigate the effects of one’s personal values regarding core life domains on happiness. We used the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) of a nationally representative sample, collected over three years (i.e., 2007, 2008, and 2009), which asked respondents to indicate their most valued life domain among the 10 presented, such as family and money, and to rate their happiness. We classified the personal values into four categories: prioritizing social relationships, extrinsic achievements, physical self, and spirituality. We begin with a literature review on the human value system and associations between personal values and subjective well-being.

Literature review

The structure and content of human values.

Exploring the human value system can increase understanding of the content of personal values embedded in the system, which can be used to classify diverse life domains into common categories based on the nature of those human values. Schwartz [ 16 – 17 ] provided a two-dimensional circumplex model explaining the structure and content of human values. According to Schwartz [ 16 – 17 ], 10 types of values differentiated by motivational goals can be classified into four value dimensions: self-transcendence; self-enhancement; openness to change; conservation. Each type of value may conflict with other values if it is located in the opposite direction of the value dimension [ 16 – 17 ]. For example, self-transcendence, including universalism and benevolence, is opposite to self-enhancement, including achievement and power, while openness to change is opposite to conservation [ 17 ].

The contrast between self-enhancement and self-transcendence can be likened to the contrast between extrinsic and intrinsic values, although they are not synonymous. Intrinsic and extrinsic values are well-known descriptions of the content of human values and have been used to examine their associations with subjective well-being [ 12 , 18 ]. Intrinsic values include personal growth, affiliation, community feeling, and physical health, whereas extrinsic values include financial success, image, and popularity, directed mainly toward external rewards [ 5 ]. In contrast to extrinsic values, intrinsic values are more related to psychological needs and fulfillment.

A few studies have explored and provided modified classifications of personal values based on early studies [ 4 – 5 , 16 – 17 ]. Burroughs and Rindfleisch [ 19 ] conceptualized materialism as a self-centered value that is opposed to collective-oriented values like family, community ties, and religious fulfillment. Based on the studies of Schwartz [ 16 – 17 ], materialism, achievement, hedonism, and power can be categorized into the dimension of self-enhancement, whereas religiosity can be categorized as self-transcendence [ 19 ]. Grouzet et al. [ 20 ] provided a modified two-dimensional value structure considering that some specific values can be neither intrinsic nor extrinsic. For example, spirituality is not classified as intrinsic or extrinsic value. Spirituality is included in self-transcendence, in the opposite direction of physical self (i.e., hedonism) [ 20 ].

Associations between personal values and happiness

Numerous studies have contrasted intrinsic and extrinsic values in terms of their associations with happiness. It has been widely observed that extrinsic values are negatively associated with happiness in Western as well as non-Western societies [ 8 , 18 ]. In contrast with intrinsic goals like self-acceptance, extrinsic values of economic success, popularity, and image are adversely associated with happiness in Peru [ 8 ], China [ 12 ], South Korea [ 13 ], and Japan [ 21 ], as well as in Western societies, such as Germany and the United States [ 18 ]. A specific indicator of extrinsic values, viz. materialism, is also adversely associated with overall subjective well-being [ 6 – 7 ], satisfaction with life in family [ 22 ], and work [ 23 ] and positively correlated with depression and anxiety [ 19 ].

A few studies have investigated more diverse or specific personal values. Compared with materialism, which is a self-centered value and similar to the dimension of self-enhancement, collective-oriented values, such as family, community and religious values, appear to be beneficial for well-being [ 19 ]. Spirituality measured by religious values or practice is positively associated with subjective well-being [ 7 , 19 ]. A longitudinal study has reported that prioritizing family over work and leisure results in higher life satisfaction [ 11 ]. Recent studies have also shown that prioritizing money more than time is adversely associated with happiness [ 9 – 10 ]. Although there are variations in terms of categorization of personal values, previous studies have provided quite consistent results showing that prioritizing extrinsic achievements, such as money, is adversely associated with subjective well-being in general.

Why are extrinsic or self-centered values adversely associated with happiness? On the one hand, it can be explained in that extrinsic values facilitate social comparison of oneself with others, which is harmful for subjective well-being. Extrinsic achievements are more easily compared with others than are intrinsic achievements, such as self-fulfillment or attachment. For example, people with high levels of materialism are more likely to compare themselves with others [ 24 ]. With greater social comparison, there is higher likelihood of frustration and dissatisfaction with individual achievements. People who prioritize extrinsic aspirations, such as power, money, or status, tend to have more difficulty of achieving and being satisfied with their goals.

On the other hand, extrinsic values can be harmful for interpersonal and social relationships. Pursuing material gains is negatively associated with quality of interpersonal relationships [ 25 – 26 ] and increases difficulty of achieving a family–work balance [ 27 ], which then decreases subjective well-being. People often need to decide whether they will spend time on social relationships or on extrinsic goals. People prioritizing extrinsic values are less likely to invest in social relationships, such as family and friends, which can decrease the quality of social relationships that is important for happiness. Recent studies have similarly argued that valuing money more than time may have deleterious impacts on social relationships [ 9 – 10 ]. These studies suggest that self-centered values or valuing self-enhancement is harmful for happiness, whereas collective-centered values or valuing social relationships is beneficial.

In this context, specific life domains might be differentially associated with happiness according to the attribute and nature of life domains. It is probable that prioritizing a specific life domain is negatively associated with happiness as the life domain is more based on self-centered value or self-interest. In contrast, we expect that life domains related to social relationships (alter-centered rather than self-centered) or self-transcendence are positively associated with happiness. In addition, life domains which have been classified as a same value category may have different effects on happiness depending on the degree to which they are self-centered value. For example, although health is conceptualized as intrinsic value [ 5 , 20 ], it may have different meaning and effect for individuals compared with other intrinsic values or goals such as prioritizing family and friend. Prioritizing health can be self-centered propensity more than other intrinsic values such as prioritizing family. We classified the personal values regarding diverse life domains into four categories: prioritizing social relationships, extrinsic achievements, physical self, and spirituality, which reflects the different levels of self-centered propensity.

Data were drawn from the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) collected in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The KGSS is a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey conducted in South Korea [ 28 ]. The sampling method (i.e., multistage area proportional probability sampling), interview protocols, and data-processing procedures used for the KGSS conform to those used for the General Social Survey (GSS) conducted in the United States. Similar to the GSS, the KGSS includes special sets of questions every year in addition to core items, such as questions about socio-demographic factors. The KGSS in 2007–2009 included questions about personal values regarding life domains, happiness, and socio-demographic factors. Although the three years of data are not panel data, analyzing them as a pooled sample increases the statistical power for our analyses. The data were analyzed anonymously. The data for this study were made available by the Korean Social Science Data Archive (KOSSDA), Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.

Our dependent variable was subjective well-being (SWB), or happiness. Respondents were asked to rate their happiness via the following question: “When considering your life, how happy or unhappy are you overall?” The response categories of the 2007 and 2008 KGSS ranged from 1 (very happy) to 4 (not happy at all), whereas the happiness of 2009 was measured by a 5-point scale with a neutral category in the middle of the response categories. Due to this difference in response categories, we coded happiness as a binary variable in which two positive responses (i.e., very happy and happy) were assigned value 1 and the other responses were assigned value 0.

Personal values.

To measure personal values regarding life domains, respondents were asked to choose two items as the first and second most important domain in life among the following 10 items: (1) leisure; (2) friends; (3) power; (4) neighbors; (5) health; (6) money; (7) educational attainment; (8) religion; (9) family; (10) work. We used a response for the first most important domain in life only for our analysis. We classified the responses into four categories: (1) social relationships; (2) extrinsic achievements; (3) physical self; and (4) spirituality. Social relationships included family, friends, and neighbors, and extrinsic achievements included leisure, power, money, educational attainment, and work. We included leisure in the category of extrinsic achievements because leisure can be considered an external reward related to self-interest. Physical self and spirituality were each represented by a single item (i.e., health and religion, respectively). Prioritizing physical self refers to placing importance on maintaining physical health and survival in the present study. In the analyses, the reference group of the variable was the respondents prioritizing social relationships. All categories of personal values were mutually exclusive.

Other covariates.

Socio-demographic factors including gender, age, educational attainment, and marital status were measured. Gender was a binary variable with reference category of male (female = 1). Age was measured in years, and education attainment was classified into three categories: less than high school; high school graduates; college or more. The reference group for educational attainment in the analytic models was high school graduates. Marital status was measured by asking the respondents whether they were currently married, widowed, separated/divorced, or never married. The reference group for marital status in the analytical models was married.

We controlled for monthly household income and perceived social status as potential confounders of the association between personal values and happiness. Monthly household income was measured as a continuous variable in Korean 10,000 Won increments. We adjusted household income for the inflation rate across the three years of data, using the 2010 consumer price index [ 29 ]. After adjusting for the inflation rate, household income was log-transformed for the analyses because it was skewed. Perceived social status was measured with the question: “In our society, there are groups that tend to be positioned toward the top and those positioned toward the bottom. From the bottom (1) to the top (10), where would you put yourself on the scale?” Self-rated health was measured on a 5-point scale, and it was included in additional models examining the 2007 and 2009 data only because the 2008 KGSS did not include a self-rated health question.

Analytical strategy

We used Poisson regression models with robust error variances for a binary outcome [ 30 ] given that our dependent variable (happiness) had high prevalence. Logistic regression results in misleading and overestimated odds ratios when it examines common outcomes whose incidence is higher than 10% [ 31 ]. Thus, relative risks of Poisson regression with a robust error variance would be appropriate for our dependent variable.

We conducted two sets of Poisson regression analyses to examine how personal values regarding the core life domains are associated with happiness. The first set comprised four models. Model 1 included personal values in life domains with year dummies only; Model 2 added the socio-demographic factors of gender, educational attainment, and marital status to Model 1. Model 3 added household income and perceived social status to examine whether personal values are associated with happiness even after controlling for these two variables. We analyzed Model 4, as a supplementary model, excluding the year 2009 (which had different response categories compared to other years) to check whether personal values remained associated with happiness.

We used the second set of Poisson regression models to examine the associations between personal values and happiness with age restriction and/or self-rated health as a covariate. We conducted supplementary analyses excluding respondents aged 60 years or older and controlling for self-rated health, measured in the 2007 and 2009 data.

Sample characteristics

Table 1 presents the descriptive characteristics of the sample for the pooled data and for each survey year. For the total sample of pooled data, about 66% of respondents reported that they were happy overall; by year, 76.6%, 73.5%, and 49.7% reported being happy overall in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. It is notable that the percentage of those who were happy in 2009 was lower than in the other two years. This is most likely because the 2009 survey used a 5-point scale to measure happiness, rather than the 4-point scale of the other years, leading to a substantial number of respondents (37.9%, 606 of 1,599) choosing the neutral category (which we coded as 0 = not happy).

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.t001

In terms of personal values regarding life domains, 50.7% of respondents considered health to be the most important domain in life; 31.8% chose family, friends, or neighbors; 13.7% chose extrinsic achievements including money, power, educational attainment, work, and leisure; and 3.8% chose religion. Across years, a higher percentage of respondents in 2009 prioritized social relationships than in 2007 and 2008 (i.e., 28.6% in 2007, 27.3% in 2008, and 38% in 2009). However, the percentages of those prioritizing extrinsic achievements were consistent across years (i.e., 14.3% in 2007, 13.3% in 2008, and 13.5% in 2009).

Table 2 summarizes the descriptive statistics across personal values and provides the results of the Chi-squared or analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests comparing proportions or means of variables across the categories of personal values. For happiness, 81.2% of those who prioritized religion the highest answered that they were happy overall, which was the highest percentage observed. In contrast, about 54.7% of respondents prioritizing extrinsic achievements answered that they were happy, which was the lowest observed value. Among respondents prioritizing social relationships and health, 70.7% and 65% answered that they were happy, respectively. Bivariate statistics comparing distributions or means of the variables depending on personal values showed that all variables had significant differences depending on personal values regarding life domains.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.t002

Fig 1 shows the percentages of those who were happy across personal values and survey years. Reported happiness varied across the survey years, but we also observed consistent patterns linking personal values with happiness ( Fig 1 ). Respondents prioritizing spirituality and social relationships showed higher percentages of happiness than the others. Respondents who valued extrinsic achievements showed the lowest percentages of happiness across all years. Note that percentages of reported happiness were lower across all personal values in 2009 than in 2007 and 2008 due to the different response categories used in 2009. It would be also possible that the percentage of reported happiness in 2009 was dropped because the data were collected after the global economic crisis in 2008.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.g001

Poisson regression models

Table 3 summaries the results of Poisson regression models with robust error variances examining associations between personal values and happiness. Models 1, 2, and 3 showed that all categories of personal values had significant relationships with happiness. Compared with those prioritizing social relationships, respondents valuing extrinsic achievements and health had lower likelihoods of being happy, whereas those prioritizing religion were happier than the reference group. The categories of personal values were significant, even after controlling for household income and perceived social status, as well as socio-demographic factors in Model 3. Relationships between personal values and happiness are also shown in Model 4, excluding the 2009 data. Prioritizing extrinsic achievements was again adversely associated with happiness. Respondents prioritizing health were also less likely to report happiness than those prioritizing social relationships. One notable difference between the results of Model 4 and the other models was that prioritizing religion was not significant in Model 4 from which the 2009 data were excluded.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.t003

Gender, age, and marital status were significantly associated with happiness in Models 3 and 4. Females tended to be happier than males. Married respondents tended to be happier than unmarried respondents. The likelihood of being happy decreased as age increased. In terms of socio-economic status, both household income and perceived social status were significantly associated with happiness. The likelihood of being happy increased as household income and perceived social status increased.

Table 4 presents the results of the additional models showing the associations between personal values regarding life domains and happiness with age restriction and/or controlling for self-rated health. Model 1 excluded respondents aged 60 or older from the total sample, and Model 2 included self-rated health as a control variable in the 2007 and 2009 data. In Model 3, the age restriction was also applied with self-rated health, so Models 2 and 3 included only 2007 and 2009 data because information on self-rated health was not collected in 2008. As listed in Table 4 , all categories of personal value were significantly associated with happiness, regardless of whether age and/or data restrictions were imposed. Compared with prioritizing social relationships, prioritizing extrinsic achievements was adversely associated with happiness even after controlling for self-rated health and excluding those aged 60 years or older in Model 3. Prioritizing physical self was, however, marginally significant in Model 3 with self-rated health and the age restriction. Respondents who prioritized religion were most likely to be happy.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.t004

In addition, we conducted two supplementary sets of Poisson and multiple linear regression analyses as sensitivity analyses. The supplementary sets of Poisson regression models included personal values in life domains with leisure as a single category. It would be worth examining leisure separately because it can be closer to hedonism compared with the other extrinsic achievements. The supplementary sets of multiple linear regression models included the dependent variable as a continuous variable by multiplying the 4-point scale by 5 and multiplying the 5-point scale by 4 so that we could examine the continuous dependent variable with a 20-point scale and test if it had consistent results with Poisson regression analyses examining the dichotomized dependent variable.

S1 Table presents the results of Poisson regression models corresponding to the analytical models of Table 3 . Prioritizing leisure was negatively associated with happiness ( S1 Table ). Other personal value variables had consistent results with the findings in Table 3 . S2 Table presents the results of selected four multiple regression models due to word limitation. However, we had consistent results with our findings across all corresponding models in terms of effects and significances of personal value variables. Only one difference from the results of the Poisson regression analyses was that spirituality was still significant when the 2009 data were excluded as presented in Models 3 and 4 ( S2 Table ).

Our findings showed that there were significant associations between personal values regarding life domains and happiness. Prioritizing social relationships, including family, friends, and neighbors, was associated with a greater likelihood of happiness, whereas prioritizing extrinsic achievements, such as money and power, or physical self (i.e., health) was adversely associated with happiness. Although prioritizing spirituality (i.e., religion) was not significant when excluding the 2009 data, it was significantly and positively associated with happiness in the models when the age restriction was employed, or with self-rated health, as well as for the total sample. Respondents prioritizing religion were most likely to report happiness, whereas respondents prioritizing extrinsic achievements were the least likely. A significant difference between prioritizing extrinsic achievements and prioritizing health persisted in our supplementary models ( S3 Table ), in which extrinsic achievements was set as the referent category. Thus, we found that the rank order of happiness across personal values regarding life domains, from the highest to lowest likelihood, was spirituality, social relationships, physical self, and extrinsic achievements. Although previous studies have consistently shown that religious affiliation is positively associated with happiness [ 32 – 33 ], our findings have newly shown that respondents prioritizing religion are most likely to be happy than others.

The current findings support previous studies showing adverse associations between extrinsic, self-enhancement, or self-centered values and happiness [ 6 – 7 , 18 ]. Adverse associations between prioritizing extrinsic achievements and happiness can be explained in that extrinsic values facilitate social comparisons [ 24 ] and decrease quality of interpersonal relationships [ 25 – 26 ]. Prioritizing family over work and leisure enhances life satisfaction by increasing family satisfaction [ 11 ]. Recent studies [ 9 – 10 ] have similarly suggested that prioritizing time over money is beneficial for happiness via increasing the quality of social relationships. It is likely that people who consider extrinsic achievements as the most important thing in life are less likely to be satisfied with their current achievements and less likely to invest in social relationships, such as family and friends.

We also found that prioritizing social relationships is important for happiness and more beneficial than valuing extrinsic achievements or even physical self. This finding is consistent with a previous study showing that collective-centered values are more beneficial for well-being than are self-centered values [ 19 ]. Respondents prioritizing social relationships may tend to have higher quality of social relationships than those who value extrinsic rewards or egos (i.e., physical self). Additionally, spirituality, which can be classified into the dimension of self-transcendence or selflessness, is even more beneficial for happiness than is prioritizing social relationships. Psychological fulfillment through religion can be beneficial for happiness. Spirituality also may increase happiness in that it promotes a non-materialistic attitude toward life and decreases social comparison [ 7 ].

In sum, our findings showed how level of happiness is ranked according to the priority assigned to different personal values, with the highest level of happiness associated with spirituality, followed by social relationships, physical self, and (lastly) extrinsic achievements. This suggests that a greater propensity toward being self-centered is inversely associated with happiness. Among the four personal values, prioritizing extrinsic achievements can be considered as the strongest self-centered propensity whereas spirituality is the least self-centered propensity in that it could be categorized as self-transcendence [ 19 ]. Physical self might be intermediate between prioritizing extrinsic achievements and prioritizing social relationships. Although health is often conceptualized as an intrinsic value [ 5 , 20 ], prioritizing health might be more self-centered than prioritizing social relationships.

Some limitations of this study merit consideration. First, the data are cross-sectional and therefore we are limited in our ability to draw causal inferences. For example, it is possible that people who are unhappy with their social relationships are more likely to direct their attention toward earning the respect of others by seeking status, wealth, and power (reverse causality). In this scenario, individuals who are currently focused on prioritizing extrinsic achievements might not achieve happiness by being counseled to redirect their attention to their social relationships. Second, we used only three-year data of the KGSS (2007, 2008, and 2009) although the KGSS has been collected annually from 2003 to 2014, and biannually from 2014. The KGSS included both the personal value and happiness questions analyzed in the study for the three-year period only.

Third, we should be cautious about generalizing the findings about spirituality. Prioritizing religion was not significant in Model 4, shown in Table 3 , from which the 2009 data were excluded, although it was significant in the other models overall even with age restriction or with controlling for self-rated health, as shown in Table 4 . The lack of significance of spirituality when excluding the 2009 data might be due to the resulting decrease in statistical power. Compared with the 2007 and 2008 surveys, a slightly higher percentage of respondents chose religion as the most important domain in 2009 (i.e., 3.8% in 2007, 2.9% in 2008, and 4.5% in 2009). Only 3.38% of respondents (i.e., 99 of 2,933) chose religion as the most important domain after excluding the 2009 data, which might decrease statistical power. Further studies on associations between spirituality and happiness are needed to clarify these relationships. Finally, although it is reasonable to classify the 10 investigated life domains into four categories, more diverse classifications are needed in further studies. For example, we could not categorize neighbors as a separate category from social relationships because of the limited number of respondents who chose neighbors (i.e., 0.95% of respondents).

In spite of the limitations, this study extends previous knowledge about personal values and happiness by examining individual priorities for specific life domains and their impacts on happiness. Happiness may increase as individuals prioritize alters over egos, and egos over extrinsic rewards, which provides an ironic, but important implications about happiness in the individualistic and materialistic world.

Supporting information

S1 table. poisson regression analyses with robust error variances including prioritizing leisure as a single category (relative risks)..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.s001

S2 Table. Multiple regression analyses examining associations between personal values on life domains and happiness.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.s002

S3 Table. Poisson regression analyses with robust error variances including extrinsic achievements as a referent category (relative risks).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821.s003

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Essay: The Key to Happiness (Pride and Prejudice)

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Pride and Prejudice was written in 1797, around the same time as Marie Antoinette’s execution and Napoleon’s reign. So, it seems unlikely that Jane Austen has anything left to say to us today in 2019. But, hidden under unrequited love and prideful millionaires, Jane Austen used her books to impart morals and subtle debates on social status. Austen left us with the, morally correct, answer to one particularly burning question, how does one gain a happy life? Through Pride and Prejudice, Austen gives the reader a view into the class distinctions that once ruled social and romantic relationships to show the changing society of Realism that to gain a truly happy life, one must rid themselves of societal standards and make decisions based on their heart. Jane Austen was part of a group of authors that lived in the merge between Romanticism and Realism, and their writings show very unique blended themes from the two eras. One very important recurring theme in their writings was moral correctness in the choices we make, and the question of what leads humans to make these choices. This group of writers was “Essentially optimistic regarding human nature, they trust the individual heart and mind, and they resist laws, customs, and institutions that inhibit man’s “natural” impulses” ( “Historical Context.” 2). They viewed heart over mind, or rather over greed, as the correct way to walk through life. This was especially true in Jane Austen’s case, who used this idea of morals quite strictly in her books, where she rewarded those with correct morals happier lives than those with what she viewed as more corrupt morals. Austen was religious and thoroughly seemed to believe this rule to be correct: “As a practicing Christian, the daughter and sister of clergymen, Austen saw self-examination as an important part of her religious duties. “Teach us to understand the sinfulness of our own hearts,” asks a prayer she composed for private use, “and save us from deceiving ourselves by pride or vanity”’ ( “The Theme of Moral Blindness and Self-Knowledge.” 29). She was so serious about her views that she applied these ideas not only to her writings but to her own life. This philosophy was especially prevalent in her writing when it came to her characters finding happiness in who they chose as a life partner. Love and marriage, in Pride and Prejudice, is a very difficult idea to navigate for the characters. At the time of the book, class still ruled social interaction; class not only meant money or the size of your house, it meant exactly who you could talk to and who you could marry. It was a complicated construct that was difficult to navigate, but seemed to have one effect on most people: the want to move up the social ladder. There are three main relationships that form during Pride and Prejudice, Jane and Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and Lydia and Mr. Wickham. Each of these couples hold a different role in the book, and play a different romantic trope. Jane and Bingley are the first relationship introduced, and they are an example of love with absolutely no barriers. Other characters mention the class difference between the two, but Jane and Bingley seem to love each other unselfishly and to barely think of their different social standings. Unfortunately, despite their love, they are broken up early on in the story by Mr. Darcy telling Bingley he believes that Jane’s love for him may be untrue. This separates them for much of the novel. But, almost immediately after this is discredited, Bingley proposes. Their relationship was simple, as long as they believed their love was reciprocated, they were happy. But, while Jane and Bingley’s love appears without thought of class, other characters do often give their opinion on the match. Miss Bingley, and several others, share the opinion that Jane has no chance of marrying Mr. Bingley or anyone else of high rank because of where she falls on the social ladder. Mr. Bingley replies that for him, her social standing makes her no less agreeable. Jane equally gets many comments, especially from her mother Mrs. Bennet on how good of a match this would be for her. But, likewise, she seems to ignore these. Instead, she speaks of Mr. Bingley in a way that implies she hopes only for happiness in a relationship with him, not financial gain. This relationship is an example of love not grown from greed or want, and it fulfills Austen’s hopes for every couple. The next couple is Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, and their relationship is much more complicated than that of Jane and Mr. Bingley’s. At the start of the book Mr. Darcy makes a rude comment about Elizabeth, and it takes close to the whole book for them to get past their original impressions of each other. Mr. Darcy does soon realize he may actually like Elizabeth, possibly love, but he quarrels with the idea because of the expectations put on him by his class. He realizes that he is higher in society than her, and is not sure if he could bring himself to love a women with low connections. When Darcy finally proposes to Elizabeth he has still not fully come to terms with what being in love with a lower class women means. He wants to hold onto his dignity and to keep social superiority; this makes his proposal less a confession of love and more a statement of her poor connections, little wealth, and the unfortunate lack of social grace from her family at times. He is torn between loving her and being better than her. But, throughout the rest of the book Mr. Darcy learns to put aside tradition and pride and to treat Elizabeth with love and kindness. And, Elizabeth spends the book figuring out that they image she painted of Mr. Darcy in her head of a greedy, cruel rich man is not true, and, as he becomes kinder and opens up to her, she falls in love with him too. By the time Mr. Darcy proposes the second time he has completely put aside the social standards that held him back before and can view Elizabeth as his equal, and Elizabeth is able to see past his class. Near the end of the book he tells Elizabeth this of his self improvement: “I was spoiled by my parents, who, though good themselves…, allowed, encouraged, almost taught me … to think meanly of [others] sense and worth compared with my own. Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth!” (Austen 310). Austen used relationships like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s as a subtle way to show this shifting social world, and to show growth and acceptance as a part of love, and the road to happiness. The last main couple are Lydia and Mr. Wickham. They are the final couple to meet, and so we are given time before hand to understand their characters. Lydia is painted as a very vain, greedy young woman. She spends most of her time in town trying to talk to the military men, talking about said men and hopes of marriage to them, and shopping. She shares her desire to marry before the rest of her sisters to “win” or perhaps embarrass them. When she goes on a trip with one of the military men’s wives as the militia moves on, she meets and almost immediately runs away with Mr. Wickham. Mr. Wickham also has a bad reputation, he is outed as a liar and as greedy early on by Mr. Darcy, as he has repeatedly tried to get money from the Darcy’s, but does nothing with it because he does not want to work to better himself. He wants to be handed a comfortable life. He originally does not even want to marry Lydia, even though he convinced her to run away with him and lived with her unmarried for some time. But, Mr. Darcy bribes him and so he agrees to the marriage. Elizabeth, and most other characters, do not seem to understand the pairing: “How Wickman and Lydia were to be supported in tolerable independence, she could not imagine. But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture” (Austen 261). As a couple they are only brought together because of greed and want for marriage and money. The are the opposite of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, who put aside the idea of money for love to develop, and this juxtaposition is meant to show exactly what greed does to love: “The novel continually juxtaposes to Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage the completely selfish marriage, such as the unions between Lydia and Wickham and between Charlotte and Mr. Collins, who live only for themselves and their own advancement” (Brown). And, in retaliation for their greed, Austen gives these two characters a spouse and relationship that will only bring them very temporary happiness and comfort. As shown by these three couples, and Austen’s morals, greed has no place in love and marriage. The happiest and most regarded characters in Pride and Prejudice are those who put aside prejudices and are able to listen to their heart and go after what they want. Austen’s Pride and Prejudice shows the changing of societal standards through the lens of high society and class expectations; it embodies the transition and changing opinions of Realism. Elizabeth is a highly regarded character because she is able to stand up to those against her marriage with M.r Darcy and say, “I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me” (Austen 300-301). For this, she is an ideal character, and for this she marries Mr. Darcy instead of the prideful and materialistic Miss Bingley, who ends up alone at the end of the book. No person should make any decision without first examining their heart, themself, and their morals: “Pride and Prejudice is, then, first and foremost a story about learning and growth in the complicated and fascinating business of the moral life” (“The Theme of Moral Blindness and Self-Knowledge.” 33). By following these morals, people can be truly good and can find happiness, a lesson that is still worth hearing today.

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The Simple Key To Happiness: Hydration

NEW YORK — Picture this: It’s been a long day, and you’re feeling a bit down. But then, you take a sip of cool, refreshing water, and suddenly, your mood starts to lift. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. A new survey suggests that staying hydrated might just be the key to unlocking more joy in your daily life.

The poll of 2,000 American adults, conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by True Lemon, reveals that the average person experiences 57 “little things” that bring them happiness each week — that’s about eight per day. And what’s one simple way to boost your mood? Drinking enough water, according to 36% of respondents.

It turns out that the benefits of staying hydrated go beyond just quenching your thirst. The survey divided participants based on how many glasses of water they drink daily and found some interesting correlations with happiness. Among those who gulped down 10 or more glasses a day, 80% said it was very important to find joy in the small things , compared to just 48% of those who drank less than one glass.

Moreover, 46% of the most hydrated folks reported being very happy, while only 22% of the least hydrated group could say the same. And when it comes to outlook, 71% of those who drank seven or more glasses daily considered themselves “glass half full” types, compared to 38% of those who had less than a glass.

On the flip side, not getting enough H2O can lead to some serious physical and emotional symptoms. Dehydration can cause low energy (35%), headaches (29%), and muscle cramps (23%), as well as low mood (39%), irritability (34%), frustration (28%), and anxiety (27%).

Water Needs More Pizzazz

So, what’s stopping people from staying hydrated? Well, 43% of respondents said that plain water just tastes boring. In fact, half of those who drank less than a glass a day strongly agreed with this sentiment, compared to only 11% of those who downed 7-9 glasses.

To make water more appealing, 61% of participants reported using additives like drink mixes and powders . This was especially popular among the most hydrated group, with 61% of those drinking 10+ glasses daily using add-ins, compared to 41% of the least hydrated group.

Other strategies for staying on top of hydration included carrying a water bottle everywhere (39%), drinking water first thing in the morning (39%), and setting daily water intake goals (25%).

“There are a variety of easy steps people can take to ensure they’re staying hydrated throughout the day,” says Heidi Carney, Executive Vice President of Marketing at True Lemon. “From carrying a water bottle with you on the go, to setting little reminders for yourself, there are different ways to get in the habit of drinking enough water. For those who don’t like the taste of water, drink mixes can also be a great solution. It’s all about finding what works best for you, to ensure you’re getting the hydration you need.”

Of course, drinking water isn’t the only way to find happiness in the everyday. Respondents also reported boosting their mood by eating enough to avoid getting “hangry” (31%) and taking walks (30%). But with the myriad benefits of proper hydration – for both body and mind – it’s clear that keeping your water intake up should be a top priority.

“The health benefits of drinking enough water throughout the day are well documented — staying hydrated is as important as getting enough sleep and eating healthy,” says Carney.

So the next time you’re feeling a bit lackluster , try reaching for your water bottle instead of that afternoon coffee or sugary snack. Your mood (and your body) just might thank you. And who knows? With all those extra moments of joy, you might even start seeing your glass as half full.

Survey methodology:

This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 general population Americans was commissioned by True Lemon between Feb. 16 and Feb. 22, 2024. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll , whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research ( AAPOR ) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research ( ESOMAR ).

Had my annual physical with my GP last week, and he said he is telling all his patients to avoid the plastic bottled water, since microplastics are accumulating in our livers, brains, etc, and nobody knows the future impact. Use tap water or fitlered water…but has to be a good filter to remove microplastics.

The only method that leaves only pure water is steam distillation.

But you will miss out on microplastics, nanoplastics, lead, chromium, PFAS, viruses, particulates, phosphates, and any taste whatsoever.

Do these findings also hold true for those that consume an equal amount of soft drinks, coffee, tea, or sodas?

notice you list both soft drink and soda. these are bad for you. (period) much testing show good stuff in tea and coffee. Of course you can make them bad also by adding sweeteners and fake creamer.

“Studies” commissioned by companies seeking to benefit with “positive results” hold no water with me.

Where do they come up with this crap?

John F. Kennedy: Congratulations, how does it feel to be an All-American? Forrest Gump: I gotta pee. John F. Kennedy: [turning to camera] I believe he said he had to go pee.

“True Lemon”, the survey sponsor, is a lemonade powder mix. No wonder sentences like “To make water more appealing, 61% of participants reported using additives like drink mixes and powders” are inserted into the “survey findings”.

‘StudyFinds” should not have accepted the “survey” for publication, based on bias towards pushing a product and absence of peer review.

Only findings the contradict commercial product benefits should be published?

If you want to know who is controlling your country unlawfully look for those whom if you exposed their abominable atrocities and crimes you’re exiled jailed or canceled in the name of the law of the land!

Yeah keep chugging that fluoride water.

I came from Drudge and this is a promotional piece for True Lemon.

When I was diagnosed with stage 3 chronic kidney disease I immediately made and appointment to see a specialist. He was a very credentialed doctor and his only advice was to drink up to or more than 64 ounces of water per day. I was not drinking very much due to my age (77) and not being thirsty much during the day. I began hydrating and quickly felt much better and progressed, in a positive way,. to stage 2. I make a blender full of water with various powders, vegetables and fruits every morning and drink it during the day. The blender holds up to 70 ounces and by the I time I fill it with 32 ounces of water and fruits and vegetables the container is filled.

I like water. I decided a couple of months ago to increase my intake to help curb my appetite. I ended up consuming too much water (75-80 oz)/day and screwed up my electrolytes. Too much of a good thing can also be bad!

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