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100 Things/ Categorising My Research

After analysing my researched I created a series of categories that elements and parts of my research could possibly fit into, through this process I was able to better understand what I had researched, create a relevance, context and specificity to the research. Categories also places greater meaning on the research as similar information is placed together and works together to create more meaningful information. This process also allowed me to consider new areas of possible further research. I was also able to develop areas of awareness that I could potentially communicate to an audience as happiness in it's self is quite broad creating an area of focus to deliver a series of facts about will help with communication rather than communicating the entire breadth of happiness or relating and manipulating certain facts into a certain context to fit within a single category.

Money 
  • Thirty-seven percent of the people on Forbes' list of Wealthiest Americans are less happy than the average American 
  • Starbucks regulars are 2 percent happier than McDonald’s regulars 
  • 23 percent of those whose household income is below $20,000 said they were happy 
  • Half of those earning at least $150,000 a year describe themselves as very happy 
  • 57% of people who have worked at company for more than 15 years said they were happy 
  • 14% of people who have only worked for a company for 5 years or less said they were happy 
  • General and administrative jobs have the highest amount of happiness, with 64% saying they were happy   
  • Sales and marketing and executive leadership only 7% said they were happy 
  • People with incomes over 75,000 are the most happy with 38% saying they are happy 
  • Richer workers tend to be happier than poorer colleagues 
  • Happy people tend to have greater potential to become rich 
  • Education and intelligence do not make you more happy than anyone else 
  • Estimates suggest that the increase in salary needed to compensate in happiness for not being in a close relationship was £50,000 
  • Winners of the lottery's life satisfaction was not significantly greater a year after winning 
  • Economic stability has a large effect on the happiness of society, while long-term economic growth has little. Unemployment reduces happiness by as much as bereavement

Global Happiness
  • 94% of people in iceland said they were happy (Happiness Net) 
  • 91% of people in Denmark, sweden and Netherlands said they were happy (Happiness Net) 
  • 90% of people in australia said they were happy (Happiness Net) 
  • United Kingdom is the 9th happiest country in the world with 87% of the population saying they are happy (Happiness Net) 
  • 4% of Slovakia said they were happy (Happiness Net) 
  • Only 2% of Russia said they were happy (Happiness Net) 
  • 55% of Venezuela said they were very happy 
  • 45% of Nigeria said they were very happy 
  • 42% of Iceland said they were very happy 
  • Estonia, Slovakia, Moldova and Lithuania also have low amounts of very happy people within only 4% of their population saying they are very happy 
  • Latvia has the least amount of very happy people with only 3% of the population saying they were very happy 
  • Bulgaria has the highest amount of unhappy people with 62% of people saying they are not very or not at all happy 
  • 56% of Moldova also said they are not very or not all happy 
  • 54% of Belarus said they are not very or not all happy
  • African-Americans are 8 percent happier than white American
  • Americans are 200 percent happier than those living in Cameroon's
  • Forty percent of the African-American say they are happy 
  • The City of London is the happiest place in Britain with With an approval rating of 92.4%
  • In the USA clinical depression is 3-10 times more common today than two generations ago


Lifestyle
  • Starbucks regulars are 2 percent happier than McDonald’s regulars 
  • If you're a stay-at-home mom, there's a 36 percent chance that you're very happy 
  • Married people are 19 percent happier than unmarried people 
  • 43 percent of married people describe themselves as very happy 
  • 24 percent of single people say they are happy
  • Grateful people are 25 percent happier than ingrates 
  • If your sibling who lives within a mile of you becomes happy, your chance of being happy increases by 14 percent
  • Thirty one percent of people "who prefer to have a Starbucks in their community describe themselves as very happy
  • 29 percent of those who would rather have a McDonald's in their neighbourhood describe themselves as happy
  • Forty three percent of those attending services weekly or more call themselves very happy
  • 'Serious talkers' are 39% happy (those who discuss politics, education, religion)
  • 'Light talkers' are 32% happy ( those who discuss tv, entertainment, gossip and sport)
  • Genes and upbringing influence about 50% of the variation in our personal happiness
  • Our circumstances (income and environment) affect only about 10 percent of our happiness level
  • 40% is of our happiness is accounted for by our outlook and activities, including our relationships, friendships and jobs, our engagement in the community and our involvement in sports and hobbies
  • Immigrants tend to acquire the happiness characteristics of the nation to which they move, not the nation from which they were born 
  • Children who hugged and cuddled more while growing up are more likely to be happy when they reach 40 than those who didn't
  • The happiest people are those who are living and working what they are passionate about irrelevant of financial return or compensation
  • The book, 'In praise of Slow' suggest the idea that by slowing down we can enjoy richer, fuller lives 
  • Religion has a positive effect on wellbeing


Theories/Science
  • Barbara Fredrickson from the University of Michigan claims that positive emotions have a grand purpose in evolution. Positive emotional mind sets widen our range of thoughts and actions, fostering play, exploration and creativity. We become open to new ideas and new experiences. 
  • Psychologists have found it useful to distinguish between a hedonic and a eudemonic state. A hedonic state is a transitory state of pleasure, while a eudemonic state is one associated with ongoing wellbeing 
  • Applications of coping strategies (learned behaviors) can increase a person's level of happiness. How do coping strategies improve a person's mood? Again, successfully coping with a challenge increases the amount of norepinephrine released in the brain. For instance, aerobic exercise (which is used as a coping strategy by many persons) can actually stimulate the output of norepinephrine by as much as four and one half times normal 
  • Social scientists measure happiness simply by asking people how happy they are 
  • High concentrations of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine leads to feelings of elation and euphoria
  • Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion 
  • individuals can be “trained” to be twenty-five percent happier through various training programs in from two to ten weeks 
  • Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better. Even “faking” a smile can lead to feeling happier 
  • Chocolate is associated with the release of serotonin, the hormone that makes you feel relaxed, calm, and happy 
  • Empathy is a part of our nature. If a friend suffers an electric shock, it hurts in exactly the same point of the brain as if you yourself suffer an electric shock 
  • Thomas Jefferson asserted that "the care of human life and happiness… is the only legitimate objective of good government" 
  • In the mid-18th century, the Scottish philosopher Frances Hutcheson was the first to describe the best society as the one that had "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" 
  • Self-reported happiness correlates well with measurements of bodily functioning, such as blood pressure, heart rate and immune system responses 
  • When we want something and then attain it, we don’t seem to be any better off. They called this the hedonic treadmill, It’s like we are walking on a treadmill but not really getting anywhere because we are adapting to things 
  • The left side is the activated when people are feeling happy and that the balance of activity between right and left moves as mood changes 
  • Emotions last only a few seconds. If you've ever been stuck in a bad mood for days on end, this might sound unlikely. But the reality is that each emotion we experience lasts only a few seconds

How to become happy

  • If you do 20 minutes of exercise, three days per week for six months, your general feeling of happiness will improve by 10-20%.
  • When people get married their happiness peaks, but after a while their happiness returns to the level it was before they got married
  • Having 100-200 belly laughs a day is the equivalent of a high impact workout, burning off up to 500 calories 
  • Among the things that make people happy are sport, music and - most of all dancing 
  • Several studies have shown that a pet can promote health and happiness 
  • Broadly speaking you would need to receive a windfall of more than £1 million to transform you from an unhappy person to a happy person and even then the effect is often temporary 
  • People in steady relationships are generally happier than singles
  • Children who hugged and cuddled more while growing up are more likely to be happy when they reach 40 than those who didn't 
  • The most powerful way to increase your short-term feelings of happiness is to perform random acts of kindness to others 
  • The most powerful way to increase your long-term feelings of happiness is to understand your strengths and talents, or life purpose, and to work on sharing those parts of yourself with others 
  • Do at least one thing per day completely will improve happiness
  • Every night, reflect on the things that went well that day 
  • Happiness breeds more happiness
  • The happiest people are those who are living and working what they are passionate about irrelevant of financial return or compensation
  • Estimates suggest that the increase in salary needed to compensate in happiness for not being in a close relationship was £50,000
  • The book, 'In praise of Slow' suggest the idea that by slowing down we can enjoy richer, fuller lives
  • Keep learning new things 
  • Be happy with who you are
  • Connect with people
  • Take care of your body 
  • Take a positive approach 
  • Religion has a positive effect on wellbeing 

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