The Dismal Science 

Otherwise, happiness seems to favor geography in some way: Latinos, Northern Europeans, Canadians and Americans, and Australians/New Zealanders, all seem to have a bit of a happiness advantage.  Countries belonging to the old Soviet Union seem to have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to happiness and income. 

It is puzzling that Mexico, the second happiest country in the world, keeps sending so many people north of the border, where they are unlikely, perhaps, to achieve the happiness they left behind.  Maybe that is why they return in such large numbers for visits, and to stay. 

Researchers have found that people tend to have a “set-point” of happiness that rarely deviates over time from its normal value.  That is probably why the things we acquire and accumulate lose their attraction after a while; we end up taking them for granted.  Holidays like Thanksgiving serve the purpose of reminding us how grateful we should be for our lives on the earth — and gratefulness is incompatible with being unhappy. 

Our own research has shown that satisfaction is felt more deeply if it meets a strongly felt need rather than a want.  Carl N. Platou just called to ask me a question about something we did together in 1976.  Carl, now 83 years of age, is one of the happiest people I’ve ever known.  He exemplifies the way satisfaction is tied to true human needs.  Here are the sources of satisfaction revealed by research conducted by our staff over a thirty-year period; we use them here to frame Carl’s satisfaction as an example: 

1.      Acceptance:  He is widely accepted by colleagues for his work in health care.

2.      Intimacy:  He knows his field intimately, and he has built a multi-hospital system of renown.

3.      Sensory Stimulation: You’ll find him on his boat; or walking the beach in Florida; or enjoying good music, good books and good food.

4.      Growth and Development: He attends conferences, he reads papers, and he discusses issues of the day.

5.      Achievement and Recognition: He is Knighted by the King of Norway, and has received a great number of the awards he could receive from his own profession.

6.      Outward Orientation and Caring: You’ll find him at a steel desk in the corridor of the University of Minnesota Medical School, right outside Dean Powell’s office, working the phones.  Earlier this month, he raised $5 million for the medical school. 

Research also shows that the only way to beat the human life span of 85 years is to be happy with one’s life and work, and have the means to live it in the way one wants. 

The trick, then, is not to get what you want, but to want what you get.  The dismal science may be useful to us after all: Satisfaction, or happiness, may not be solely about money or status.  Satisfaction is, after all, a feeling.  What were the moments of our lives when we felt the greatest amount of satisfaction?  Chances are, it was when we were conscious of, or engaged in, something that fell into the six categories listed above.   

Like now, when I’m finishing this little article.  Or if I learn that someone has actually read it . . .