by David G. Myers (@DavidGMyers)
Who is happy? What should you know about someone to predict their joyfulness? While sifting mountains of data for my book, The Pursuit of Happiness, and for my reporting since, I’ve been surprised by how little certain things, like one’s age, gender, or race, matter. Income and wealth help to a point—better to afford life’s necessities and feel in control than not. Yet beyond an “income satiation point,” ever-increasing wealth produces diminishing emotional returns. Once a millionaire, it hardly matters how many more millions sit in your bank accounts.
What does matter, big time—what best predicts whether people report being “very happy”—are enduring, close, supportive relationships. We are, as Aristotle observed, social animals. To be socially malnourished—as when ostracized, exiled, imprisoned, or bereaved—is to feel bereft. Solitary confinement is a dehumanizing punishment.
