The Foundation of Human Happiness

What are the biggest factors in determining human happiness?

Scientific American contains a fascinating read on this topic in the form of an article entitled, "The Science of Lasting Happiness." The article's central premise is that changes in larger life circumstances have little to do with our overall level of happiness in the long run:

An experimental psychologist investigating the possibility of lasting happiness, Lyubomirsky understands far better than most of us the folly of pinning our hopes on a new car--or on any good fortune that comes our way. We tend to adapt, quickly returning to our usual level of happiness. The classic example of such "hedonic adaptation" comes from a 1970s study of lottery winners, who a year after their windfall ended up no happier than nonwinners. Hedonic adaptation helps to explain why even changes in major life circumstances--such as income, marriage, physical health and where we live--do so little to boost our overall happiness. Not only that, but studies of twins and adoptees have shown that about 50 percent of each person's happiness is determined from birth. This "genetic set point" alone makes the happiness glass look half empty, because any upward swing in happiness seems doomed to fall back to near your baseline.

Yet, the article asserts, there is much more to the determination of our happiness than mere genetic predisposition:

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and another psychologist, David A. Schkade of the University of California, San Diego, put the existing findings together into a simple pie chart showing what determines happiness. Half the pie is the genetic set point. The smallest slice is circumstances, which explain only about 10 percent of people's differences in happiness. So what is the remaining 40 percent? "Because nobody had put it together before, that's unexplained," Lyubomirsky says. But she believes that when you take away genes and circumstances, what is left besides error must be "intentional activity," mental and behavioral strategies to counteract adaptation's downward pull.

My understanding from reading the above is that the current thought in the scientific community is that there is a significant contributing factor to human happiness that has not been precisely identified yet, which may be termed "intentional activity." To me, the writings of the Baha'i Faith speak very clearly and directly about the source of happiness, and have significant bearing on this question. Baha'u'llah taught that we should not get too caught up in the changes and chances of the world--which perhaps could be analgoized to what the article identifies as "life circumstances." In this vein, Baha'u'llah states:

Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.

Addressing the question of what the basis for true happiness is, 'Abdu'l-Baha taught that "human happiness is founded upon spiritual behavior." While thousands of words could not begin to scratch the surface of what the Baha'i writings have to say about spiritual behavior (certainly a concept related to "intentional activity"), the following excerpt from a talk given by 'Abdu'l-Baha in Paris is a very interesting starting point:

You belong to the world of purity, and are not content to live the life of the animal, spending your days in eating, drinking, and sleeping. . . . Your thoughts and ambitions are set to acquire human perfection. You live to do good and to bring happiness to others. Your greatest longing is to comfort those who mourn, to strengthen the weak, and to be the cause of hope to the despairing soul. Day and night your thoughts are turned to the Kingdom, and your hearts are full of the Love of God.

Thus you know neither opposition, dislike, nor hatred, for every living creature is dear to you and the good of each is sought.

These are perfect human sentiments and virtues.