- Blah.
- Blah blah.
- Well.
- Maybe.
- Really?
- I mean, really?
- Of course.
- Of course not.
- Nah.
- Duh.
- C’mon.
- WTF?
- Nevermind.
- I don’t care.
- Get a life.
- Um?
- Stop falling for clickbait headlines.
- Yada yada yada.
- Oh my.
- Irrelevant.
- Yeah, right.
- Nope.
Social Media
33 ½ Science-backed Methods to Boost Your Mood and Be Happier | Part I
Want to lead a happier life in 2016 (and beyond)?
This list includes valuable tips, exercises and “hacks” to be happier and lead a more meaningful life. All of these recommendations are backed by psychological science. In case you are interested to learn more, I´ve included links to some research articles that have examined the corresponding topic. No. 12 – 22 can be found here, No. 23 – 33 ½ will be published shortly. The pieces of advice are ordered (roughly) by difficulty/level of effort etc. Share and enjoy!
1) Smile, Baby
Conventional wisdom holds that people tend to smile because they are happy. And while that is certainly true, it turns out that the other way around makes sense as well. We get happier because we smile. This is called facial feedback hypothesis and it has been shown to hold true over many studies. Accordingly, one way to better our mood is to make ourselves smile – even if we don´t feel like it in that particular moment. A popular method in order to achieve this is to hold a pencil between your teeth for a minute or so.
- Duchenne smile, emotional experience, and autonomic reactivity: A test of the facial feedback hypothesis
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Facial feedback hypotheses: Evidence, implications, and directions
2) Eat (dark) Chocolate
Consuming moderate amounts of chocolate, especially the darker, less sugary type, has been shown to improve peoples´ mood. Whether this is just a consequence of the pleasurable eating experience, or caused by specific psycho-active ingredients in the cocoa, is still under debate. It works, anyway. But don´t overdo it. You know what I mean…
3) Please don’t stop the Music
Listening to happy and/or you favorite music is associated with elevated mood. It seems that there´s music that has a general happiness-inducing quality (e.g., Happy by Pharrell Williams) but otherwise, it´s more important that you really, really like what you´re listening to. By way of example, I´m really into heavy metal – a type of music that was once seen as fostering aggression and antisocial behavior. In the meantime, it became clear, that the emotional consequences of listening to music should be attributed to the fit between music and listener.
- Trying to be happier really can work: Two experimental studies
- The Effects of Heavy Metal Music on Arousal and Anger
4) Catch the Sun
Low levels of Vitamin D seem to be associated with depressive disorders, especially S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder a.k.a. winter blues) – and it´s comparably difficult to generate enough intake just from food. Our body is able generate this vitamin, but we need exposure to sunlight in order to pull off that stunt. That´s why we need to go out regularly, even when the weather is not all that great. You don’t need to take an actual sunbath – just being outside is enough (even when it´s cloudy), especially around noon-time. Sitting in the sunlight inside of the house does not help. What´s more, sunscreen seems to inhibit the process that generates the vitamin. For more advice, please see this article on Psychology Today.
- Vitamin D deficiency may play a role in depression
- Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated With Low Mood and Worse Cognitive Performance in Older Adults
5) Go green
Paying heed to No. 4 will additionally help you with this one: the so-called biophilia hypothesis states (among other things) that spending time in green environments (parks, forests etc.) helps to fight off stress and boosts our mood. Basically, the equation goes: the greener, the better, so you´ll profit more from a stroll in a nearby forest than a walk in the park. Long-term studies have found that moving from an inner-city area (lots of concrete, few greens spots) to a more rural area is greatly beneficial for several aspects of our psychological and physiological health.
- Biophilia: Does Visual Contact with Nature Impact on Health and Well-Being?
- Longitudinal Effects on Mental Health of Moving to Greener and Less Green Urban Areas
6) Shake that Booty
Now, I´m perfectly aware of the fact that dancing may not be the most favorite subject among lots of my fellow men. Actually, psychologists have described a specific facet of our personality by the name of dance confidence – and that tends to be a bit lower with the not-so-fair sex. Nevertheless, regular dancing – even when you do it on your own in your living room – has tons of positive side effects, e.g., lifting your mood, boosting your immune system, and fighting stress by decreasing the concentration of cortisol in your blood.
- Shall we dance? An exploration of the perceived benefits of dancing on well-being
- Enhancing positive affect and divergent thinking abilities: Play some music and dance
7) Hit the Pillow
It is known that people need different amounts of sleep, and that the need for sleep changes over our lifetime (generally becoming less the older we get). And yes, there are people out there that claim to get along with just four hours of sleep per night. But the truth is: those folks are probably killing themselves very slowly. Most “normal” adults need at least seven to eight hours of good rest per night. Anything below that level for prolonged periods of time will very likely lead to performance problems (e.g., concentration disorders) – and yes: bad moods.
- Effects of sleep deprivation on performance: A meta-analysis
- Evolution of Sleep Quantity, Sleep Deprivation, Mood Disturbances, Empathy, and Burnout among Interns
8) Move your Ass
Most people start exercise regimens at the onset of a new year to lose some pounds in order to look better in their Speedos once summer comes along. As less known fact: regular physical activity, especially endurance exercises like jogging, swimming etc. at medium intensity might just be one of the strongest anti-depressants out there.
- The influence of physical activity on mental well-being
- Long-term Association Between Leisure-time Physical Activity and Changes in Happiness
9) Put down that Smartphone
Now, I certainly don´t belong to the type of people that engage in simple-minded smartphone (and social media) bashing – but: there are more and more studies that show detrimental effects of too much smartphone use. Especially among heavy users, there seem to be several adverse effects such as concentrations disorders – and also, a kind of separation anxiety when not having access to one´s favorite toy, e.g. due to low battery. Bottom line: the tool is fine, but don’t get attached to it.
- The relationship between cell phone use, academic performance, anxiety, and Satisfaction with Life in college students
- Out of sight is not out of mind: The impact of restricting wireless mobile device use on anxiety levels among low, moderate and high users
10) Don’t be a Hater, stop the Gossip
Research shows the more meaningful conversations you have (as opposed to small talk and gossip), the happier you will be. Additionally, certain types of expressions on social media, such as swearing and verbalizing aggression, seem to be associated with bad moods and even adverse health conditions, e.g., a higher risk rate for cardio-vascular diseases. So, watch your language, young ladies and gentlemen.
- Eavesdropping on Happiness: Well-being is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations
- Psychological Language on Twitter Predicts County-Level Heart Disease Mortality
11) Practice Gratitude
Cultivating gratitude seems to be the Swiss Army knife of Positive Psychology. It´s one of the most thoroughly researched positive interventions. Mostly, it comes in the form of keeping a gratitude (or: www for “what went well”) journal; please see this post on Greater Good Science Center´s website for more detail). The power of gratitude lies in its ability to counter the effect of what psychologist like to call the hedonic treadmill. We get used to almost all circumstances and things in our lives, whether they be desirable or undesirable. That´s why it´s helpful to actively focus our attention on all the good things in our lives once in a while. Also, it doesn’t cost thing.
- Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life
- Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration
Please note
Science shows that you do not have to practice all of these things (at once) to be happier. Rather, you should find out which of these activities best fit your personality and current way of life – so you´ll find it easy to sustain them. Please refer to: To each his own well-being boosting intervention: using preference to guide selection.
Please like my new Facebook Page
Dear Mappalicious Visitor!
In the past, I ran a Mappalicious Facebook page where I basically re-posted all the articles that I’ve published on this blog.
Recently, I’ve decided to abandon this site. The reason is that I also publish regularly on other outlets, sometimes on topics that are not directly related to Positive Psychology.
In order to have “everything in one place” in the future, I’ve created a new Facebook page that is directly associated with my name: Therefore, if would like to be notified about new Positive Psychology content via Facebook regularly, I kindly ask you to “like” this new page.
You can find it here.
Thank you!
Dr. Nico Rose
Study Alert: The Positive Psychology of Cat Content
I knew it! I kneeeeew it!!! If millions and millions of people do something, there must be a good reason. Even if those people don’t know exactly why they are doing it.
Do you fancy watching cat content on the Internet? I do. Well, I have two real cats myself, but still Iindulge in a feline YouTube spree at least once a week. Makes me smile, makes me happy. Love it…
Researchers at Indiana University now surveyed some 7.000 people on their behavior of watching cat content online. Here’s what they found (excerpts taken from the study report on the University’s homepage):
- They were more energetic and felt more positive after watching cat-related online media than before.
- They had fewer negative emotions, such as anxiety, annoyance and sadness, after watching cat-related online media than before.
- They often view internet cats at work or during studying.
- The pleasure they got from watching cat videos outweighed any guilt they felt about procrastinating.
That’s it! Cat content = happiness. For those that now go “Duh…” because they already knew: At least, now we have science on our side…
The 10 most Valuable Positive Psychology Resources on Mappalicious
- A list of some 40 seminal Positive Psychology articles (with links to PDFs)
- A list of some 20 articles (with links to PDFs) on often-used Positive Psychology questionnaires and scales.
- A post that describes how to find almost any (Positive Psychology) research paper on the internet.
- A list of (general) Positive Psychology books.
- A list of Positive Psychology books focusing on the business context.
- A list of popular Positive Psychology people on Twitter.
- A list of different Positive Psychology discussion/news groups on different social media channels.
- A list of +20 Positive Psychology TED talks.
- Al gallery showing pictures of eminent Positive Psychology researchers (with links to their homepages).
- A gallery displaying inspirational quotes that elucidate Positive Psychology concepts.
Please share this if you like…
A unified Hashtag for all Things Positive Psychology: #PosPsy
By now, a whole lot of people are writing and blogging about Positive Psychology. There´s also a pretty active Twitter community (please read the post 7 Positive Psychology People and Institutions to follow on Twitter). But as far as I know, people have not (intuitively) agreed on a single Twitter hash tag for the topic. Some use #PositivePsychology (which is quite long), some #PosPsychology (still long and rather unusual), some use #PosPsych – and others do not use hash tags at all when sharing their content. Following my fellow German #PosPsy evangelist Michael Tomoff, I propose to use the hash tag #PosPsy (or #pospsy) from now on whenever talking about this magnificent topic. Using a single unified hash tag as a community has a couple of advantages:
- Content in general becomes more visible. Tweets with (more or less) popular tags profit from a higher interaction rate. Additionally, as people get accustomed to the expression, it´ll become the general search term for the topic – helping people to find all the good stuff that is out there on Twitter.
- For the same reason, it will help your content to become more visible.
- Ultimately, using #PosPsy as the unified hash tag will create a sense of community – just as e.g., all the tweets supporting a certain football team will display the same tag.
Of course, we should still use our more individualized tags like #Gratitude or #Happiness, but using #PosPsy in addition will create the additional attention our topics deserve. So, if you think that having a unified hash tag for all things Positive Psychology is a great idea, please share this post or the following picture! Would be cool to make it a trending topic on Twitter… 🙂
Update
- Yes, I´ve done some research. If PP hashtags were a market, I´d say it´s “absolutely not consolidated”. On some days, one tag is used more often than others, and on other days, it´s something else. In general, when comparing “our” tags to really popular ones, the result would be: they´re all insignificant. That´s why it´s a really good idea in the first place to start using a single one as a community – whatever it may be at the end of the day.
- My learning is: with hashtags, it´s all about brevity. You´d want a “minimum understandable solution” that is not occupied by another topic – that´s why I propose #PosPsy.
- I´m not sure if hash tags are really important in terms of “resonance”. People resonate with content, not with hash tags. The thing is: in most cases when there´s no predefined tag given out by a source with a considerable outreach, it´s a sort of “winner takes it all” dynamic (you can monitor that e.g. with large sports events). The one that is used most in the beginning (and/or is supported by someone with a large audience) tends to win. First, due to “social pressure”, and second due to the Twitter algorithm that magnifies this effect by suggesting the one that is mostly used anyway.
Update No. 2
The Positive Psychology Center at UPenn twittered that they support #PosPsy. That´s not like the Pope supporting us, but it´s not too far away either… 🙂
10 great Ways to stay up-to-date on Positive Psychology (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.)
Luckily, the field of Positive Psychology is growing fast. Yet sometimes, it can be hard to stay up-to-date with all the latest studies coming out, books being published, articles and blog posts being written – and all the other exciting PP stuff that happens around the globe 24/7.
Below, you’ll find 10 social networking and news groups that you might want to join to be part of the ongoing conversation on all things Positive Psychology.
Please note that some of the groups might have a restricted access and/or posting policy. Anyway, I would like to encourage you to read the corresponding FAQs and “house rules” (e.g., on advertizing) before actively participating. See you there…
- International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) group LinkedIn (+8,500 members)
- Positive Psychology Coaching group (managed by Robert Biswas-Diener; +19,000 members)
- Positive Psychologist group (+7,500 members)
- Positive Psychology Professionals (+14,500 members)
- Positive Psychology group (+100.000 members)
Google+
- Positive Psychology group (+5.400 members)
XING (the German LinkedIn, sort of…)
- Positives Management, Stärkenpsychologie, Well-Being (+150 members)
American Psychological Association (APA)
77 Positive Psychology People and Institutions to follow on Twitter
Update 2: If you´d like to follow all of the accounts mentioned below, you can do so by following this Twitter list I´ve created this morning.
Update 1: Thanks a lot for all the positive feedback to this post. Within just 12 hours, it has become one of the most-read on Mappalicious. Via your suggestions, the list is now at 90 Twitter accounts. Therefore, I´ve decided to copy/paste this post to the (permanent) Positive Psychology Resources section. Further suggestions to the list will be added there, not here.
Over the last four years, Twitter tweets could not be found via Google. Now, both companies announced a new partnership which makes sure tweets will be part of the search results again. This means Twitter will become (even) more important in the future. So I guess that’s a good reason to see what Twitter has to offer with regard to Positive Psychology. Below, you’ll find 77 Twitter accounts of researchers, consultants, coaches, writers, bloggers, instititions, associations, news outlets, and software tools. As always, this is meant to be work in progress. So if you feel you know somebody (or an institution etc.) that belongs on this list, please leave a comment below this article. If you want to make a suggestion, please stick to people that either are in research, or otherwise display an in-depth knowledge of Positive Psychology (visible through e.g., a corresponding university degree).
Researchers/Authors
- Robert Biswas-Diener: https://twitter.com/biswasdiener
- Paul Bloom: https://twitter.com/paulbloomatyale
- David Cooperrider: https://twitter.com/Dlc6David
- Amy Cuddy: https://twitter.com/amyjccuddy
- Paul Dolan: https://twitter.com/HappinessBD
- Jane Dutton: https://twitter.com/HQCJane
- Robert Emmons: https://twitter.com/robertemmons42
- Adam Grant: https://twitter.com/AdamMGrant
- Jonathan Haidt: https://twitter.com/JonHaidt
- Heidi Grant Halvorson: https://twitter.com/hghalvorson
- Dan Gilbert: https://twitter.com/DanTGilbert
- Stephen Joseph: https://twitter.com/ProfSJoseph
- Todd Kashdan: https://twitter.com/toddkashdan
- Scott Barry Kaufmann: https://twitter.com/sbkaufman
- Emilia Lahti: https://twitter.com/EmiliaLahti
- Ellen Langer: https://twitter.com/ellenjl
- Sonja Lyubomirsky: https://twitter.com/slyubomirsky
- Ryan Niemiec: https://twitter.com/ryanVIA
- John Ratey: https://twitter.com/jratey
- Tom Rath: https://twitter.com/TomCRath
- Karen Reivich: https://twitter.com/KarenReivich
- Esa Saarinen: https://twitter.com/esasaarinen
- Barry Schwartz: https://twitter.com/BarrySch
- Emma Seppälä: https://twitter.com/emmaseppala
- Michael Steger: https://twitter.com/MichaelFSteger
- Richard Wiseman: https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman
- David Yaden: https://twitter.com/ExistWell
Consultants/Coaches/Speakers/Writers/Bloggers etc.
- Shawn Achor: https://twitter.com/shawnachor
- Miriam Akhtar https://twitter.com/pospsychologist
- Louis Alloro: https://twitter.com/LouisAlloro
- Samantha Boardman: https://twitter.com/sambmd
- Dan Bowling: https://twitter.com/BowlingDan
- Jenny Brennan: https://twitter.com/jaycebrennan
- Oliver Burkeman: https://twitter.com/oliverburkeman
- Valorie Burton: https://twitter.com/valorieburton
- Christine Duvivier: https://twitter.com/Duvivier
- Sandeep Gautam: https://twitter.com/sandygautam
- Margaret Hudson Greenberg: https://twitter.com/profitbook
- Bridget Grenville-Cleave: https://twitter.com/BridgetGC
- Stella Grizont: https://twitter.com/StellaGrizont
- Susanna Halonen: https://twitter.com/SuskyH
- Donna Hemmert: https://twitter.com/dhemmert
- Aaron Hurst: https://twitter.com/Aaron_Hurst
- Renee Jain: https://twitter.com/renjain
- Louisa Jewell: https://twitter.com/louisajewell
- Meghan (Mika) Keener: https://twitter.com/PosPsychology
- Michael Jones: https://twitter.com/michaelvjjones
- Alexander Kjerulf: https://twitter.com/alexkjerulf
- Judy Krings: https://twitter.com/judykrings
- Paula Davis Laack: https://twitter.com/pauladavislaack
- Sue Langley: https://twitter.com/thelangleygroup
- Dan Lerner: https://twitter.com/DanLernerTweets
- Lesley Lyle: https://twitter.com/lesleylyle
- Senia Maymin: https://twitter.com/senia
- Jeremy McCarthy: https://twitter.com/jeremymcc
- Megan McDonough: https://twitter.com/meganmcdonough
- Michelle McQuaid: https://twitter.com/chellemcquaid
- Caroline Miller: https://twitter.com/PosPsyCarolineM
- Seph Fontane Pennock: https://twitter.com/PosPsyCourses
- David Pollay: https://twitter.com/DavidJPollay
- Shannon Polly: https://twitter.com/ShannonPolly
- Carin Rockind: https://twitter.com/carinrockind
- Giovanni Rodriguez: https://twitter.com/giorodriguez
- Nico Rose: https://twitter.com/DrNicoRose
- Gretchen Rubin: https://twitter.com/gretchenrubin
- Lisa Sansom: https://twitter.com/LVSConsulting
- Timothy Sharp: https://twitter.com/drhappy
- Emily Esfahani Smith: https://twitter.com/EmEsfahaniSmith
- Jan Stanley: https://twitter.com/JanStanley
- Katharina Tempel: https://twitter.com/Gluecksdetektiv
- Paolo Terni: https://twitter.com/paolo_terni
- Michael Tomoff: https://twitter.com/was_wenn
- Emiliya Zhivotovskaya: https://twitter.com/CoachU2Flourish
Research Groups/Institutions/Association/Movements
- Action for Happiness: https://twitter.com/actionhappiness
- Canadian Positive Psychology Association: https://twitter.com/CdnPosPsych
- Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education (Stanford): https://twitter.com/CCARE
- Center for the Advancement of Well-Being (George Mason U.): https://twitter.com/CWB_Mason
- Corporate Happiness: https://twitter.com/corphappiness
- Greater Good Science Center (Berkeley): https://twitter.com/GreaterGoodSC
- International Positive Psychology Association: https://twitter.com/IPPAnet
- Positive Psychology Center (UPenn): https://twitter.com/pennpospsychctr
- Positive Psychology News (PPND): https://twitter.com/pospsych
- Positive Psychology People: https://twitter.com/ThePPPeople
- The Happiness Experiment: https://twitter.com/explosionsofjoy
- VIA Institute on Character: https://twitter.com/VIAstrengths
Apps/Tech/Media
- Fulfillment Daily: https://twitter.com/FulfillDaily
- Happify: https://twitter.com/Happify
- Happier: https://twitter.com/happier
- Happiness Headlines: https://twitter.com/HappinessNews
- Happiness Works: https://twitter.com/happiness_works
- Imperative: https://twitter.com/Imperative
- International Positive Education Network: https://twitter.com/PosEdNet
- Live Happy: https://twitter.com/livehappy
- Positive News (UK): https://twitter.com/PositiveNewsUK
- Puffell: https://twitter.com/Puffell
- The Happy Movie: https://twitter.com/TheHappyMovie
Can Twitter kill you? Probably not – but you should monitor what you tweet over time
There are lots of anecdotes that portray how a careless social media post has destroyed a reputation, a career, or a romantic relationship. But can tweeting actually kill you?
Probably not. But your Twitter account may at least have a say on your risk for developing heart disease. In a study published in the renowned journal “Psychological Science”, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (among them MAPP alum Johannes Eichstaedt, MAPP lecturer Peggy Kern, and Martin Seligman himself) have shown that Twitter can serve as a dashboard indicator of a community’s psychological well-being and can predict rates of heart disease.
They found that frequent expressions of negative emotions such as anger, stress and fatigue in a county’s tweets were associated with higher heart disease risk. On the other hand, positive emotions like excitement and optimism were associated with lower risk. Having seen correlations between language and emotional states in previous study using Facebook posts, the researchers now examined if they could detect connections between those emotional states and physical outcomes rooted in them.
Drawing on a set of public tweets made between 2009 and 2010, they used established emotional dictionaries to analyze a random sample of tweets from individuals who had made their locations available. There were enough tweets and health data from about 1,300 counties, which contain 88 percent of the USA´s population.
Eichstaedt et al. found that negative emotional language and topics, such as words like “hate” remained strongly correlated with heart disease mortality, even after variables like income and education were taken into account. Positive emotional language showed the opposite correlation, suggesting that optimism and positive experiences, words like “wonderful” or “friends,” may be protective against heart disease. In the future, this data could be used to marshal evidence of the effectiveness of public-health interventions on the community level, or serve as valuable input in the process of planning locations for new medical facilities.
While the study does not make any claims about the heart disease risk of individuals, I still suggest monitoring your Twitter timeline from time to time for prophylactic reasons. E.g., you can use the website www.tweetstats.com to obtain a free and easy overview of your tweeting behavior, for instance, a word cloud displaying your most frequently used words and hash tags.
This post kindly uses some passages from the Penn News service.
Generation Y: Why we don´t want to lead … like you lead!
I know that about half of my pageviews come from Germany – so I´d like to share with you a presentation I just uploaded on Slideshare. It´s about Generation Y and the future of leadership – but there´s a strong link to positive psychology, especially on the subject of meaning in life.*