01 Sep 11 Scientific Studies That Will Make You Feel Better to be Human
I've been enjoying Eric Barker's writing for a while now and I like him even more for writing this "feel good" article…
11 scientific studies that will restore your faith in humanity
Reading a lot about the science of human behavior can make you cynical, sometimes deservedly so, but cynical nonetheless.
On this blog I try to be accurate and useful and, as I have posted, research shows there is great power in optimism and hope.
So I want to take a second to step back from brass tacks and take a look at some studies that can renew a faith in humanity.
The world is not always fair. The bad are not always punished and the good do not always prevail.
But there are plenty of reasons, scientifically tested, to have hope and be positive about the future.
1) You bounce back better from tougher problems.
From a study by Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness:
People rationalize divorces, demotions, and diseases, but not slow elevators and uninspired burgundies. The paradoxical consequence is that people may sometimes recover more quickly from truly distressing experiences than from slightly distressing ones (Aronson & Mills, 1958; Gerard & Mathewson, 1966; Zimbardo, 1966)… ["The Peculiar Longevity of Things not so Bad” from Psychological Science]
2) Regret is not that scary.
We anticipate regret will be much more painful than it actually is. Studies show we consistently overestimate how regret affects us.
Another one from Stumbling on Happiness author Daniel Gilbert.
…margins of loss can have an impact on emotional experience, and our studies merely suggest that however powerful that impact is, it is not as powerful as people anticipate. [Stumbling on Happiness]
3) "What does not kill you makes you stronger" is often true.
Individuals who went through the most awful events came out stronger than those who did not face any adversity.
In a month, 1,700 people reported at least one of these awful events, and they took our well-being tests as well. To our surprise, individuals who'd experienced one awful event had more intense strengths (and therefore higher well-being) than individuals who had none. Individuals who'd been through two awful events were stronger than individuals who had one, and individuals who had three— raped, tortured, and held captive for example— were stronger than those who had two. [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being]
…keep reading HERE for even more inspiration and happiness from Eric