An interesting article on the
Science of Well-Being... The distinction between feeling good, which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure... and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness.
Initially I figured this was just another round of the "psychobabble" that used to be so popular in the 70's and 80's, but there is some serious science involved here...
In one often-cited study, researchers at the University of Kentucky analyzed the essays novices born before 1917 wrote on entering the School Sisters of Notre Dame and correlated them to the nuns’ life spans.
They found that 9 out of 10 of the most positive 25 percent of the nuns were still alive at 85, while only one-third of the least positive 25 percent were.
Overall, their study showed positive emotions correlated to a 10-year increase in life span, greater even than the differential between smokers and nonsmokers.
Technorati Tags: happiness, nun, science
