Happiness

by Ed Diener

  The research linking money to happiness need not be an emotional death sentence for less affluent people. While, on average, poorer individuals take a psychological hit from their living conditions, this does not apply to every individual. We saw, for instance, how most homeless people were dissatisfied with their lives, but some were actually faring well in terms of happiness. And in the study of the Forbes list of millionaires, several were unhappy. This important fact underscores a crucial and often overlooked point in the money-happiness discussion. That is, although money and happiness are linked, the effect of money on happiness is often not large. Income appears to buy happiness, but the exchange rate isn't great. Extra dollars often amount to modest gains in happiness.

  More important than the absolute amount of your paycheck or your exact net worth is your attitude toward your money and the ways in which you spend it. Rich people who spend outside their means feel poor, and poor people who live within a careful budget feel secure. Regardless of your actual income, it is your material aspirations that color your mood. The traditional Maasai of Africa are very satisfied with their lives, despite the fact that they have almost no monetary incomes, because material desires are mostly fulfilled and they are doing well in other areas of life. The worst cases are those individuals around the world who have moved to cities and joined the market economy, but have extremely low incomes to meet their needs and developing aspirations. Even for people in wealthy societies, problems can arise when they become too wedded to the idea of striking it rich and accumulating wealth. Materialists are generally less satisfied with their lives than folks who highly value love, friendships, and other worthwhile pursuits.

  In the end, it is difficult to sum up with a simplistic yes or no answer the question of whether money causes happiness. However, we can say that the research on this topic tells us that it is generally good for your happiness to have money, but toxic to your happiness to want money too much. A high income can help happiness, but is no sure path to it. Therefore, readers must determine the motives underlying their desire for money, and not sacrifice too much in the pursuit of wealth. It is important not only to spend money wisely, but to earn it wisely as well.

  7

  Religion, Spirituality, and

  Happiness

  The Talmud, an important compilation of Jewish writing, is filled with fascinating stories. Among these is the curious tale of the wedding night of Rabbi Akiva's daughter. Astrologers warned the rabbi that on the night of his daughter's wedding, she would be bitten by a snake and die. During the wedding reception, Rabbi Akiva's daughter happened to be holding a long pin, which she stuck into a small opening in the wall. A snake was coiled in the wall, and the pin pierced it in the eye, killing it. The rabbi, greatly relieved but also curious as to how she had avoided her fate, asked his daughter whether she had done anything out of the ordinary. She answered, "A poor man came to the door, but no one heard him over the noise of the reception. I went to the door and gave the man the gift you had given me for my wedding." The rabbi, according to the tale, was delighted to hear how generously his daughter had acted, and from then on, he taught his followers, "Charity delivers from death." Like other stories in the Talmud, this one is meant to be instructive. It is not about how to kill snakes, but rather about the importance and rewards of acting justly and morally. The major religions of the world teach many similar lessons, such as the value of being unselfish. They use entertainment, ritual, prayer, and other methods to help people live good lives. Religions, in some sense, act as how-to manuals for living.

  Religion is central to the lives of billions of people. For anyone who has been fortunate enough to travel the world, the importance of religion in everyday life is readily apparent. Cities and villages across the globe are littered with religious architecture, ranging from neighborhood shrines to massive temples and cathedrals. Hundreds of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, for instance, are places of worship, ruins of ancient temples, and places of pilgrimage for religious groups. People wear clothes and jewelry related to their religion, from crucifix necklaces for Christians, to sidelocks for Orthodox Jews, to bindis for Hindu women. Hotel rooms in the United States have Bibles in their end tables, while hotel rooms in Islamic nations have arrows pointing toward Mecca.

  Religion is one of the activities that most clearly set us apart from the rest of the animals. It should be clear that it is more than just window dressing for many people; it is a deeply personal mindset that can lead to tremendous generosity and, sometimes, intense animosity. If we can learn anything from the charitable giving done and the wars fought in the name of religion, it is that people take their faith seriously.

  Many studies have shown small but significant benefits of religion to well-being. Research from a variety of sources provides evidence that churchgoers are a bit healthier, more likely to be forgiving, and, in some circumstances, even more tolerant than their nonreligious counterparts. One study, in particular, bears directly on Rabbi Akiva's message. Neal Krause was interested in the benefits of social support at church. He collected data on social support, financial stress, health, and other variables from more than a thousand elderly Christians in 2001, and then followed up with them in 2004. He found that both receiving and giving support to fellow congregants help alleviate worries about money. Krause also found that more frequent churchgoers were significantly more likely to be alive at the three-year follow-up!

  Other research shows that religious people are sometimes less likely to use drugs and commit crimes, and are more likely to receive more education, make more money, and live longer. If religion helps people live longer, it makes sense to consider whether there might be other psychological benefits of faith as well. The philosopher Daniel Dennett suggests that religions have been successful, in part, because they help people feel good about themselves and the world in which they live. Whether or not you believe the teachings of a particular religion, it is easy to recognize that religion would not be as widespread as it is today if it primarily made people sad. Which brings us to the question: "Does religion lead to happiness?" Are religious folks happier than their agnostic counterparts?

  Happy Are Those ...

  Psychologists who have studied whether religious people are happy or unhappy have often reached a general conclusion - religious people are on the whole happier than the nonreligious. In the vast majority of studies, religious people report higher well-being than their nonbelieving counterparts. Even when researchers define religiosity in various ways - such as attending church or having self-professed spiritual beliefs - studies show that religious people are, on average, mildly happier. In one study, conducted by one of the authors (Ed) and the Gallup Organization, about a thousand people living in St. Louis were contacted through random-digit telephone dialing and asked to answer a survey related to spiritual beliefs and life satisfaction. It was found that respondents who believed in God and in an afterlife were more likely to be satisfied with their lives.

  It makes sense to ask whether these research findings are unique to the United States, a country with fairly high rates of religiosity. Can we extend these findings beyond America, and do they generalize to religious observance, not just to religious belief? When we examined the Gallup World Poll, we noticed that the happiness of people who attend religious services depended on where they lived. In some societies, they were more satisfied with life, and in other societies less so. We are not certain how cultural context plays into the religionhappiness question, but it is possible that there are historical or social factors that add to or detract from the potential power of religion in various nations. Whatever the reason, religion does not seem to equal happiness everywhere.

  Varieties of Religious Experience

  It is not surprising that the relation between happiness and religiosity varies - across different religions, nations, and individuals - because religion is not a single activity, but includes diverse practices and beliefs. A Scientologist and a Muslim will have few t
enets and observances in common. The founder of American psychology, William James, wrote a book titled The Varieties of Religious Experience, and the diversity is enormous. For instance, the researchers Adam Cohen and Paul Rozin examined differences between Jews and Protestants in forgiveness and behavior. They found that Jews are more likely than Protestants to forgive thinking sinfully, but are more likely to harshly condemn acting sinfully. In other words, Protestants place more importance on what a person believes and whether he or she thinks bad things than do Jews. Thus, a married Protestant would likely feel guiltier about feeling lust, whereas a Jew might be most worried about actually being unfaithful to a spouse. Even devoutly religious people probably agree that not all religions may be equivalent when it comes to happiness, because religions differ from each other in so many different ways.

  Types of Religious Beliefs and Happiness

  When we inquired, we found that people who believe in hell and the devil tend to be slightly less happy than those who believe only in heaven. A view of the afterlife that includes only hell could easily create anxiety in the faithful. Beliefs differ dramatically from religion to religion, and group to group. Consider the Peace Prayer of St. Francis. The language of the prayer is undeniably positive and optimistic, and it is easy to see how such a framework for viewing life would help soldiers in the trenches, as well as clerks working in a grocery store:

  The Peace Prayer of St. Francis

  Anonymous, c. 1915

  Lord, make me an instrument of your peace

  Where there is hatred,

  Let me sow love;

  Where there is injury, pardon;

  Where there is error, truth;

  Where there is doubt, faith;

  Where there is despair, hope;

  Where there is darkness, light;

  And where there is sadness, joy.

  Love, pardon, truth, faith, hope, light, and joy.

  0 Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled

  As to console;

  To be understood, as to understand;

  To be loved, as to love.

  For it is in giving that we receive,

  It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

  And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

  It is hard to imagine that people, of whatever religion, who follow the Peace Prayer are not happier because of it. Even the last line about dying can be interpreted metaphorically by the nonreligious to refer to the value of dying to oneself - getting rid of egoism, selfishness, and self-centeredness.

  Perhaps at the opposite end of the compassion spectrum from the sentiments expressed in the Peace Prayer are the ideas of the Westboro Baptist Church, in Topeka, Kansas, and the beliefs of its founder, Fred Phelps. Followers of Phelps manage two controversial church-related websites, godhatesfags.com and godhatesamerica.com. They believe in a literal reading of the Christian Bible, and make no bones about condemning the multitudes for not living up to their interpretation of biblical standards.

  In a shocking display of insensitivity sure to offend people of almost any religious persuasion, Phelps's followers gather to protest the funerals of people who died of AIDS, as well as those of American soldiers who were killed in combat in Iraq. The flock holds signs bearing slogans such as "Thank God for AIDS." The church's websites profess that the American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., is "in hell," and - unlikely as it sounds - "God hates Sweden." Although they identify as Baptists, the Christian emphasis on love and forgiveness appears to be largely lost on Phelps's followers. It is difficult to imagine how such a hateful, angry, vengeful view could leave anyone feeling good about the world.

  When contacted for an interview, Phelps's wife, Shirley, referred us to two members of the congregation, husband and wife Charles and Rachel Hockenbarger. Charles, who is thirty-two, has been a member of the Westboro church since he was a teenager, as has his wife, who is now forty. The Hockenbargers agreed to be interviewed for this book. When we asked if they had any hope for humanity, the Hockenbargers answered: "The only hope for humanity is God. Given the fact that God hates most of mankind, we have no hope for humanity, in the sense that they will never be anything other than the depraved race of Adam." This point of view differs from that of many Christian denominations, in which God is seen as loving and merciful. When asked whether they thought Americans, on average, are happy, the Hockenbargers replied: "On the average, Americans, like most humans, are not happy. They are angry and miserable. Americans seem more angry and hateful, probably because they can see the blessings of God all around them - in nature, in their history, and in their laws - yet, they do not enjoy the blessings of God in themselves. Our experiences on the mean streets of this country, daily for the last fifteen years, lead us to this opinion. Americans are the meanest, most intolerant, hypocritical people on this earth. They pretend to love everyone, and tolerate all beliefs and opinions; in fact, if you do not agree with them, they hate you, and will try to kill you."

  The Hockenbargers illustrate the lessons of this chapter. On the one hand, they might be happy by virtue of being involved in a tight-knit community, and get a boost in self-esteem from believing they are better than others. On the other hand, they view humanity as largely miserable, believe in a hateful God, and view those around them as hypocritical, intolerant, and mean. Such a view seems incompatible with a satisfying and fulfilling life, and could easily lead to feelings of estrangement and victimhood. And indeed, religions that teach that only their religion has merit and can lead to salvation, and that all other religions are to be condemned, tend to produce lower life satisfaction. Thus, religious beliefs may help happiness, but do not inevitably do so; it depends on the particular beliefs.

  The Search for the Active Ingredient

  In light of this diversity, it makes sense to wonder whether there are psychological processes leading to happiness that are part of only some religions. Are there "active ingredients" contributing to happiness that are more often present in some religions than in others? It turns out that the ways religions differ - in beliefs, practices, morals, and attitudes toward outsiders - each influence whether a religion is helpful or harmful to happiness.

  Comforting Beliefs

  Ancient Egyptian mummies have long fascinated modern people. The Egyptians, masters of mummification, developed elaborate rituals and practices aimed at shepherding the recently dead from this life to whatever may come after. For the wealthiest citizens of Egypt, attendants worked to preserve the body, the organs, and the earthly possessions for possible use in the afterlife. Imagine how comforting it would be to know that you would not "cross over" empty-handed, but rather would be well-equipped for the life to come. The Egyptians, of course, were not unique in their attention to the afterlife. Nearly every culture, and certainly the major world religions, offer guidance about the "world to come." Many religious people find comfort in their beliefs about the afterlife. Death is a prospect that looms on the horizon for all of us, and most religions provide reassuring answers about our ultimate destination. Whether they believe in reincarnation, a seat in heaven, sex on other planets, or joining deceased loved ones, most religious people have a positive view of the unexplored territory after death.

  In a series of studies, the University of British Columbia researchers Ara Norenzayan and Ian Hansen asked participants to write "a paragraph about what will happen when you die." Across four separate studies, they found that simply making mortality salient, bringing it to the forefront of people's minds, made participants later endorse religious beliefs more heavily than those in a control condition. Not only did participants endorse the tenets of their own faith more strongly, but being reminded of death also served to make them open, at least in the short term, to the possibility of supernatural agents in many forms, including shamanistic powers and alien beings. Christians reminded of death were even open to the possibility that Buddha can hear and answer prayers. This last is not to say, of course,
that Christians suddenly converted to another faith, but that they were more receptive to the possibilities and comforting beliefs of other faiths when reminded of death. Although we tend not to think much about it in our day-to-day lives, religions offer tremendous psychological comfort by providing answers to questions about death and the afterlife.

  The example of our family matriarch, Mary Alice Diener, serves to dramatically illustrate how religious faith can protect us from the fear of death. In her eighties, Mary Alice contracted colon cancer, a disease that had already taken one of her daughters. Rather than fight the disease, she decided to succumb to it so that she could join her departed husband in heaven. As she told her children, although she enjoyed life, death caused her absolutely no fear. Because she had done all the things she wanted to do in life, she was looking forward to joining her husband, Frank, in heaven. Only the emotional pleading of her children and grandchildren led Mary Alice to relent on their behalf, and the surgery gained her another dozen years on this earth. The Christian Bible asks, "0 death, where is thy sting?" Mary Alice reveals the power religion can have to erase our biggest existential anxiety.