Very Happy People

TLDR

The study compared the upper 10% of consistently very happy undergraduates with average and very unhappy peers. Researchers screened 222 undergraduates for high happiness using multiple assessment filters and then compared the top 10% of very happy individuals to average and very unhappy groups. Very happy students were more social, extraverted, agreeable, less neurotic, and scored lower on psychopathology scales; they had stronger romantic and other social relationships, but no single variable explained happiness, though good social relations were necessary, and they reported mostly positive emotions with occasional negative moods, indicating a functioning emotion system.

Abstract

A sample of 222 undergraduates was screened for high happiness using multiple confirming assessment filters. We compared the upper 10% of consistently very happy people with average and very unhappy people. The very happy people were highly social, and had stronger romantic and other social relationships than less happy groups. They were more extraverted, more agreeable, and less neurotic, and scored lower on several psychopathology scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Compared with the less happy groups, the happiest respondents did not exercise significantly more, participate in religious activities significantly more, or experience more objectively defined good events. No variable was sufficient for happiness, but good social relations were necessary. Members of the happiest group experienced positive, but not ecstatic, feelings most of the time, and they reported occasional negative moods. This suggests that very happy people do have a functioning emotion system that can react appropriately to life events.