There have been many studies on happiness. Harvard has the longest-running study on happiness, which followed 724 men since they were teenagers in 1938. This and many other studies look to determine what it is in life that makes people happy as well as the physical and emotional benefits of living a happy life. Some studies evaluate happiness by country or by demographics. As with any scientific study, measurable criteria must be used. But can we objectively measure happiness?
Happiness is subjective and means different things to different people. There are those, such as Dr. Jordan Peterson, who think happiness is the wrong thing to be using as a reference to determine a good life. The problem that I have with measuring happiness is that it causes many to make it a goal or a destination. When I achieve this I will be happy. When I meet the right person I will be happy. This is where I believe many go wrong in their assessment of happiness.
Ultimately, happiness is a result of the way we experience, perceive, and interpret life. Instead of determining what happy people have in common so that we can make a list of ingredients for a happy life, there may be a more practical way to reflect on happiness. If we can define what happiness means to us as individuals, we can then use this as valuable feedback about ourselves and the life we are living. An absence of happiness can tell us a lot about our choices, our environment, our lifestyle, and our beliefs about the world. If we are going to measure happiness perhaps it should be how many hours per day or days per week that we are happy.
Once we recognise the things in life that lead to more moments of happiness, we can use this to make better choices and arrange our lives differently. It may be that the quantity of happiness in any given period of our lives may determine the quality of our lives. If we use happiness as feedback, it can help us make positive adjustments to the way we live our lives. It requires self-awareness and time for reflection but doing so may provide more practical insights than any scientific study.