Paradox of Seeking Happiness

Paradox of Seeking Happiness

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The finding that valuing happiness and holding it up as a standard can dull the response to happy events.

What it is

Mauss, Tamir, Anderson and Savino reported two studies of women. Valuing happiness more went with lower happiness under low life stress, and leading women to value happiness dulled their response to a happy film, with disappointment in their own feelings accounting for the gap.

In effect

The article on whether trying to be happier makes you happier sets it against the later studies in which doing a specific activity raised mood.

What it does not say

The two studies involved women and the effect on mood appeared under low life stress. It does not say that wanting to be happy defeats itself in every setting.

Sources

  1. Mauss, I. B., Tamir, M., Anderson, C. L., & Savino, N. S. (2011). Can seeking happiness make people unhappy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness. Emotion, 11(4), 807-815.