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Perhaps Unsurprisingly, Most Happiness Studies Aren’t Well-Backed
Some lady at the University of British Columbia wanted to see if “happiness research” was robust and real, so she found 494 papers purporting to offer said research and/or a series of strategies to be happier. When she put them through the academic rigor, only 57 of the 494 were valid in any way, and in general: “The vast majority of the papers were too poorly designed to support their conclusions.”
It’s detailed here:
Social sciences, especially psychology and sociology, can feel fluffy — and whenever people try to causate A and B, it’s usually a bridge too far. I’d argue about 190 different things can make a person happy or sad, and it’s not really a mix of 3–5 core things, although I think if you have a warm affect and some good people in your life, you’ll be OK. We can all point up to someone with more money or material trappings, so that sure as hell ain’t it.
