Increasing Happiness in The General Population:

Empirically Supported Self-Help?

Acacia C. Parks1, Stephen M. Schueller2 & Arber Tasimi1

1University of Pennsylvania, 2University of California, San Francisco

Keywords: positive interventions, positive psychotherapy, self-help, increasing

happiness, subsyndromal depression

Self-help is a burgeoning industry, and with good reason. Subthreshold depressive

symptoms (often referred to as the “blues”) are more than a nuisance; they are a serious

public health issue. In addition to being at least as prevalent as Major Depressive

Disorder (MDD), subthreshold depressive symptoms lead to substantial functional

impairment, and are a risk factor for the future development of MDD (Flett, Vredenburg

& Krames, 1997; Judd, Akiskal & Paulus, 1997; Cuijpers & Smit, 2004). However, the

existence of subthreshold depressive symptoms goes largely unaddressed by medicine

and clinical psychology. For individuals whose lives are impaired by subthreshold

depression, the dearth of other options often leads them to turn to self-help for relief.

Although there are several empirically-based self-help books that target

depression (Burns, 1999; Lewinsohn, Muñoz, Youngren & Zeiss, 1992) these typically

draw from the literature on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT; A. Beck, Rush, Shaw,

& Emery, 1979; J. Beck, 1995). Problem-focused therapies such as CBT have reliably

demonstrated efficacy as a treatment for MDD (DeRubeis et al., 2005), as have CBT-

based self-help books (Cuijpers, 1997). However, it is not clear that a cognitive-

behavioral approach is ideal for populations with subclinical depressive symptoms.

Whereas CBT for major depression often produces robust effect sizes in symptom

reduction, an 8-week CBT-based program for individuals with subthreshold symptoms

only led to small reductions in symptoms and prevention of future disorders (Seligman,

Schulman, & Tryon, 2007).

A growing area of research and practice involves the promotion of mental well-

being and happiness as a complement to previous approaches that primarily targeted the

the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders (National Research Council and

Institute of Medicine, 2009). We believe that this is particularly appropriate for

individuals with subthreshold depressive symptoms for three reasons.

First, it is theoretically plausible that increasing happiness will be effective

against depression. Depression is characterized by a deficit in positive emotions (Forbes

& Dahl, 2005; Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006) and laboratory studies have

demonstrated that positive emotions can both alleviate negative mood states and

counteract the physical stress (e.g. cardiovascular reactivity) resulting from negative

emotions (Fredrickson, Mancuso, Branigan & Tugade, 2000). Indeed, interventions

targeting happiness counteract existing depressive symptoms with moderate to large

effect sizes (Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2004).

As subthreshold depressive symptoms are a risk factor for MDD, reducing these may

result in a decreased probability of future episodes of MDD (Seligman, Schulman, &

Tryon, 2007). Thus, we have reason to believe that interventions targeting happiness are a

reasonable approach to reducing depressive symptoms in nonclinical populations.

Second, there is preliminary evidence that happiness-focused approaches may be

more acceptable to consumers than are problem-focused approaches, and as a result, may

lead to better rates of adherence (Haidt, 2002; Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006). Even if

happiness-focused and problem-focused programs are equally efficacious when followed,

if participants are more likely to participate in happiness-focused programs, they might

be more effective than problem-focused programs if both are available for consumers.

This is a particularly important consideration for nonclinical samples, where the need for

change (and subsequent follow-through on treatment) is often less than for individuals

with a mental disorder. So, in addition to being effective against depressive symptoms,

happiness-focused interventions may have greater potential than problem-focused

approaches for being used in the long-term.

Lastly, increasing happiness is an endeavor that is both worthwhile in its own

right (see Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005), and practically feasible. It is on these

two points that we will focus for the remainder of the chapter.

Self-help books and websites that target happiness – with a few recent exceptions

(Emmons, 2007; Kashdan, 2009; Lyubomirsky, 2007; Seligman, 2002) – lack an

empirical basis. Yet there remains a constant demand for self-help materials such as

books or websites. Therefore, we argue that research-based materials must be more

accessible to the public. Just as clinical psychology has sought to meet the demand for

therapy with the Empirically Supported Therapies movement (Chambless & Hollon,

1998), the goal of this chapter is to outline the beginnings of what will hopefully one day

become a field that establishes techniques of Empirically Supported Self-Help (ESS-H)

for increasing happiness.

In order to pursue such an enterprise, however, we must demonstrate that our

efforts are based on a solid underlying science of happiness. To that end, we address two

questions in this chapter: First, what is the theoretical basis of psychological interventions

designed to increase happiness, and second, what positive interventions exist and what

evidence supports their effectiveness? We conclude with some thoughts about what

remains to be addressed in this line of research, suggesting some important future

directions.

Theoretical Framework: By What Means Can Happiness be Increased?

Duckworth, Steen, and Seligman (2005) define positive interventions as

techniques that build happiness through one or more of three routes: pleasure,

engagement, and meaning.

“Pleasure” deals with positive emotions such as joy, contentment, or gratitude.

Drawing on broaden-and-build theory (Frederickson, 2001), positive emotions broaden

an individual’s thought-action repertoire. In other words, positive emotional states

expand the number of thoughts available to an individual, and subsequently, the number

of actions they are willing to engage in, at a given moment. The broadening of an

individual’s momentary thought-action repertoire, in turn, results in increases in

intellectual resources (faster learning performance; Bryan & Bryan, 1991), social

resources (stronger social relationships; Lee, 1983), physical resources (cardiovascular

recovery; Frederickson & Levenson, 1998), and psychological resources (resilience;

Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004).

“Engagement” is marked by absorption, social engagement, and, in particular,

flow. Flow refers to the state of complete absorption in a single activity that is

challenging yet appropriate for one’s level of skill (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Moneta &

Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). When experiencing flow, an individual is living fully and

optimally (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). While many situations and activities

can be conducive to flow, including hobbies, work, and social interactions, Seligman

(2002) argued that one is most likely to experience flow when engaging in activities that

make use of one’s character strengths.

“Meaning” entails the connection to positive institutions, such as families,

schools, communities, and societies (Peterson, 2006). Since meaning is created from a

sense of belonging or attachment to something larger than oneself such as a group

(family, work) or spiritual purpose or being, it is posited that positive institutions will

engender a meaningful life. Meaning in life provides clear goals and values for one to

pursue and imbues actions with purpose (McKnight & Kashdan, 2009).

Peterson, Park, and Seligman (2005) provided initial empirical support for the

idea that happiness is comprised of these three separate, but not mutually exclusive,

components. In a sample of 845 adults who responded to online surveys, Peterson and his

colleagues found that although the three domains of happiness are distinguishable – that

is, each is independently predictive of life satisfaction – one can pursue all three

simultaneously. Furthermore, individuals who reported pursuing all three were more

satisfied than would be expected based on the predicted influence of each domain

individually. In short, pleasure, engagement, and meaning each appear to contribute to

life satisfaction on their own, but they also interact synergistically to produce even more

life satisfaction when pursued in combination.

Positive Interventions: Empirically Supported Techniques for Increasing

Happiness

Positive interventions are cognitive or behavioral strategies that attempt to build

well-being through psychological processes. According to meta-analyses, positive

interventions yield average increases in happiness ranging from small to moderate (r =

.29, Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2008) and decreases in depressive symptoms ranging from

small to large (r = .31, Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2008). Below we provide an overview of

existing techniques for increasing happiness divided into the three pathways defined by

Seligman (2002); at the same time, however, we want to be clear that this distinction is

more theoretical than empirical, and additional research is necessary to determine the

extent to which the pleasure/engagement/meaning distinction is warranted.

Building Pleasure

Whilst there are several techniques that seek to cultivate, amplify, and prolong

positive emotional experiences in the present, three approaches have proven to be

particularly reliable for inducing positive emotion: savoring, loving-kindness meditation,

and gratitude.

Savoring

Savoring involves bringing conscious awareness to pleasurable momentary

experiences, along with the attempt to make these experiences last (Peterson, 2006).

Savoring is enabled by three preconditions: eliminating one’s own concerns, attending to

the present, and being aware of the positive aspects of the experience (Bryant & Veroff,

2006). In order to make savoring more likely, Bryant and Veroff (2006) recommend: 1)

taking time out from everyday activity to savor, 2) becoming more open to experiences

that could potentially be savored, and 3) attempting to narrow one’s focus to the positive,

pleasurable aspects of life. Peterson (2006) provides several specific techniques that can

be used while savoring, including self-congratulation (focusing on the details of a

personal victory, prolonging it), absorption (focusing completely on the experience),

memory building (making efforts to remember positive experiences, i.e. taking

photographs or keeping a journal), and sharpening perceptions (focusing on each distinct

aspect of an experience in turn, i.e. paying attention to the temperature, texture, and

different taste components of a dessert).

Compared to other happiness-increasing activities, relatively few research studies

have focused exclusively on savoring; instead, savoring generally appears as one of

several techniques taught in a sequence. Savoring exercises typically involve taking a few

moments, several times per day, to truly focus on and enjoy an experience such as taking

a warm shower or sipping a warm cup of coffee (Seligman et al., 2006). Individuals who

consistently savor are more optimistic, less depressed, and more satisfied with life

(Bryant, 2003; Wood, Heimpel, & Michela, 2003). Recognizing the fleeting nature of the

present moment can furthermore increase one’s well-being (Kurtz, 2008).

Loving-Kindness Meditation

In loving-kindness meditation (LKM), individuals practice directing their

attention towards generating warm and tender feelings and extending those feelings

towards others (Salzberg, 1995). In LKM, individuals are first directed to think of a

person that they already hold positive and compassionate feelings towards. The

meditative practice then guides participants to extend those feelings first towards

themselves and then towards others radiating first to those closely connected to them and

moving out towards all people. This can be accomplished through imagery (i.e.,

imagining oneself or the other smiling) or phrases (i.e., “I am warm”, “I am safe”, “I am

uplifted”). Frederickson et al. (2008) have proposed LKM as a way of experimentally

inducing positive emotion in a way that is more substantial and long-lasting than the

short-term mood induction techniques typically used in the laboratory. After teaching

LKM to 139 working adults, Frederickson and colleagues found that participants

experienced increases in positive emotion over time. In line with broaden-and-build

theory (Frederickson, 2001), these increases were associated with greater levels of social

support and purpose in life, as well as decreased illness symptoms.

Gratitude

Gratitude is the feeling that something good has happened to oneself combined

with the acknowledgement that an outside source is responsible (Solomon, 1977). Given

the substantial benefits of naturally-occurring gratitude (Emmons & McCullough, 2003),

several techniques have been employed to teach gratitude to individuals. Emmons and

McCullough (2003), for instance, studied gratitude journaling and its effect on well-

being. Gratitude journaling refers to the practice of writing down things, both big and

small, that one is thankful for. Participants who completed weekly entries in a gratitude

journal experienced higher levels of positive affect. Interestingly, gratitude also led to

fewer physical symptoms, greater propensity to exercise, and higher sleep quality in

participants. Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) experimented with different “doses” of gratitude

and found that people benefitted more when they made one weekly entry into a gratitude

journal compared with more frequent entries. This study suggests that to be effective, an

intervention must represent a substantial enough change in one’s life to feel different to

an individual.

Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005) piloted two different gratitude

exercises: “Three Good Things,” in which the individual keeps a nightly journal of

positive events and speculates as to their cause, and “The Gratitude Visit,” in which the

individual writes a letter to someone they wish to thank detailing their gratitude, and

reads the letter out loud to the recipient. They compared these two exercises’ effects on

happiness and depressive symptoms with those of a placebo exercise and found that the

Gratitude Visit resulted in large, immediate increases in self-reported happiness and

decreases in self-reported depressive symptoms that did not last over time, while Three

Good Things led to a smaller, but more long-lasting increase that occurred with a time

delay, one month after participants began using the exercise.

Grateful processing of events also promotes positive emotions and decreases

negative emotions (Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, 2003). Findings in studies with

youth samples mirror those found in adult samples. For instance, in a study of middle

school students, reflecting on what one is thankful for led to significant increases in

gratitude, optimism, life satisfaction, and school satisfaction (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons,

2008). The benefits of this intervention on positive emotions, however, may be most

pronounced with lower initial levels of positive affect (Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski, &

Miller; 2008). This could be due to a ceiling effect limiting individuals high in positive

affect from receiving additional benefits from this exercise. Another possibility is that

individuals lower in positive affect were less grateful to begin with which would be

consistent with the conclusion drawn by Lyubomirsky and colleagues (2005) that

interventions need to be a significant enough shift from one’s daily life to boost one’s

well-being.

Increasing gratitude through reflecting on good things throughout the day has

gained considerable attention as a quick, simple, and easily disseminated positive

intervention. In fact several Internet groups and web sites, such as Momentary.org,

provide opportunities for individuals to journal about good things online and allow others

to view one’s journal. One study examined the use of a Facebook application to promote

connection with others in one’s social network using the three good things exercise

(Munson, Lauterback, Newman, & Resnick, 2010). Although the application – which

contained features such as automated reminders, privacy settings (e.g. the ability to make

some posts private and others public), the ability to export postings to their Facebook

feeds, where friends can comment, and a way of tracking how often various topics show

up in the user’s own postings – was not evaluated in terms of its efficacy, it did improve

adherence. Compared to users who were part of a simple Facebook group (distinct from

an application in that it is merely a place where people can post, with no features), people

using the application posted roughly twice as often. Integrating this exercise into an

already widely used social networking site provides a promising example of the

widespread dissemination of positive interventions.

Building Engagement

Using Signature Strengths

Signature strengths are positive traits that an individual possesses, celebrates, and

continually displays (Peterson, 2006). Peterson and Seligman (2004) identified 24

strengths, or positive traits, based on a list of criteria that requires strengths to be

ubiquitous, morally valued, fulfilling, distinct, trait-like, and measurable, among other

factors. These criteria were selected to identify strengths that are agreed-upon across

cultures, and that can provide reasonable targets for study and intervention (Dahlsgaard,

Seligman, & Peterson, 2005). These strengths are divided into six virtues (wisdom,

courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence) and include such

characteristics as creativity, honesty, leadership, forgiveness, kindness, and humor. To

measure these characteristics Peterson and Seligman designed an online strengths

assessment that provides instant feedback about an individual’s top strengths. Since

Seligman’s (2002) theory posits that strengths are a logical path to achieving flow, it has

been hypothesized that providing individuals with feedback on their strengths and

encouraging them to use them more regularly should lead to enhance engagement.

Indeed, Seligman et al (2005) found that asking people to utilize their “signature”

strengths in a new way every day for a week resulted in decreased depressive symptoms

and increased happiness (compared to a placebo exercise). These improvements were

maintained at a 6-month follow-up.

Engaging in Social Connections

Engagement and relationships often go hand in hand. Individuals often report that

relationships are a primary source of engagement in their lives, and experiencing

engagement with others is a predictor of relationship satisfaction (Duckworth, Steen, &

Seligman, 2005). One exercise designed to build social engagement is Active-

Constructive Responding. Gable, Reis, Impett, and Asher (2004) proposed that

individuals could respond to good news in either an active or passive and constructive or

destructive manner. Table 1 provides an example of each style of responding to a

hypothetical positive event of a job promotion. Couples that use more active-constructive

responding, according to Gable, Gonzaga, and Strachman (2006), are more satisfied with

their relationships and are less likely to break-up two months later.

Insert Table 1 about here

Although teaching individuals to respond more actively and constructively has not

yet been tested in isolation, Seligman, Rashid and Parks (2006) included such an exercise

as part of a 6-week program (see below, “Positive Psychotherapy”). Specifically, their

exercise asked participants to keep track of how they respond to good news, and to make

an effort to respond actively and constructively when possible. Seligman and colleagues

expected this exercise to result in increased life satisfaction, as the experimental data

suggest that by responding actively and constructively, conversations are lengthened,

partners become more engaged, and relationships are strengthened (Peterson, 2006).

Another technique for increasing social engagement is “Acts of Kindness”, which

consists of helping others (close friends or strangers) in ways that can range from

relatively brief, simple acts (e.g. putting change in someone’s parking meter or helping to

fix someone’s computer) to more time consuming acts (e.g. coordinating a fundraiser or

spending the day helping a friend move). Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade (2005)

asked participants to perform acts of kindness, either in a concentrated period of time

once a week (five acts in one day) or spread out over the week, for six weeks, and found

that participants who did several acts of kindness at once reported higher levels of

happiness and lower levels of negative affect and stress, whereas the group in which

participants spread out their acts of kindness did not report any significant benefits as

compared to the control group. In a further study, participants who varied the acts of

kindness performed over an 8-week period received larger boosts in well-being compared

to a group that repeated the same kind acts each week (Tkach, 2006). Similar to reflecting

on things one is grateful for, simply keeping track of one’s kind acts produces

psychological benefits as well (Otake et al., 2006).

Flow and Mastery

As the concept of engagement is closely tied to flow states, one would expect that

interventions aimed at increasing flow would be an obvious way to increase engagement.

Indeed, enhancing flow has been suggested as a possible intervention for increasing

happiness as higher levels of engagement in life are correlated with higher levels of

happiness (Schueller & Seligman, 2010). Unfortunately, no empirical investigations to

date have directly tested an intervention aimed at increasing flow. However, because a

key criterion for the experience of flow is a balance of challenge and skill, it is reasonable

to extrapolate that flow consists, in part, of feelings of mastery – and there exist several

interventions that target this related construct. Such interventions, referred to in the

literature as behavioral activation, aim to increase engagement in rewarding activities. A

recent meta-analysis of 20 studies and 1,353 participants found that behavioral activation

in both clinical and non-clinical samples led to reliable boosts in well-being compared to

control conditions (g = .52, Mazzucchelli, Kane, & Rees, 2010).  

Building Meaning

Expressive Writing

Writing has many different benefits for health, well-being, and emotional

adjustment (Frattaroli, 2005; Smyth, 1998). The cognitive change theory of expressive

writing posits that these benefits come from the creation of coherent and meaningful

narratives of the event (Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999). Indeed, writing a narrative about an

event induces analytic processing which might support the construction of meaning

(Lyubomirsky, Sousa, & Dickerhoof, 2006). Humans show a tendency to explain

ambiguous events and the meaning imbued can have powerful effects on emotions and

behaviors (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978; Wilson & Gilbert, 2008).

When it comes to the positive aspects of life, writing and talking about one’s

goals can be particularly beneficial (Cheavens et al., 2006; Pham & Taylor, 1999; Rivkin

& Taylor, 1999). Writing about life goals brings greater clarity and awareness to those

goals, and in turn, having clear and valued goals is strongly related to positive

psychological functioning (Emmons, 1986; King, 2001). Writing about life goals reduces

goal conflict, which can result in reductions in risk for physical illness (Emmons & King,

1988; Pennebaker, 1998). Disclosive writing about goals has also been shown to improve

self-regulation, which can lead to imagined goal success (Pham & Taylor, 1999; Rivkin

& Taylor, 1999), and a greater sense of meaning about one’s life purpose (King, 2001).

Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2006) implemented an exercise that focuses on

disclosive writing – “Best Possible Selves”. Adapted from King (2001), this exercise

required participants to visualize and write over a period of 4 weeks about their “ideal

future life”, in as much detail as possible. Participants experienced immediate reductions

in negative affect and increases in positive affect. Moreover, they displayed more interest

and higher degrees of motivation compared with the control group who merely wrote

about life details (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006). This could be attributed to the fact

that writing about one’s possible selves can illuminate one’s motivations, priorities, and

values (Emmons, 1986; Omodei & Wearing, 1990). In bringing greater awareness to

one’s experiences and possible future the exercise seems to facilitate the process of

meaning-making about one’s life (Lyubomirsky, Sousa, & Dickerhoof, 2006).

Reminiscing

Exercises that engage people in reminiscences about pleasant past memories (i.e.

recalling positive experiences in great detail) seems to lead to a variety of emotional

benefits, particularly among elderly individuals. Early research found that individuals

who intentionally practiced reminiscence reported higher levels of positive affect (Fallot,

1980; Hedgepath & Hale, 1983). More recently, Cook (1998) and Bryant et al. (2005)

reported similar results using a different outcome measure: compared to participants in

the control condition, people assigned to reminisce on a regular basis reported significant

increases in life satisfaction. Zauszniewski et al. (2004) reported that a 6-week group

reminiscing intervention reduced negative emotion (depressive and anxiety symptoms)

among elders in a retirement home. Interestingly, these effects seem to be especially

potent when individuals use cognitive aids such as vivid imagery as opposed to physical

reminders such as memorabilia or photographs (Cook, 1998).

In sum, there is a solid foundation for the science of sustainably increasing

happiness and a variety of reliable methods and techniques have been developed for this

purpose.

Building Pleasure, Engagement, and Meaning: Positive Psychotherapy

Earlier, we discussed the findings that pleasure, engagement, and meaning are not

mutually exclusive, that each pathway can independently lead to life satisfaction, and that

these pathways interact synergistically with individuals who pursue all three reporting

higher levels of life satisfaction than that expected by the independent contribution of

each (Peterson, Park & Seligman, 2005). While most of the studies discussed in this

chapter have employed standalone exercises, this is practically rather than theoretically

driven – in order to isolate the pattern of efficacy of each specific exercise. It is unlikely,

however, that the use of standalone exercises is reflective of (or feasible in) everyday

practice. Further, it is both possible and potentially more beneficial to target pleasure,

engagement, and meaning, rather than focusing on any one route in particular.

Group positive psychotherapy (PPT; Seligman, Rashid & Parks, 2006; Parks,

2010). Rashid (this volume) provides an example of a more integrated positive

intervention that addresses pleasure, engagement, and meaning. PPT contains exercises

that are the same as or similar to many of the individually validated and empirically

supported techniques already discussed. In both a pilot study and a replication, group

PPT outperformed a no-intervention control group on measures of life satisfaction and

depression in a sample of mild-to-moderately depressed undergraduates (Parks, 2010).

Although research on PPT is still in its infancy, it shows promise as an integrated positive

intervention that can be used with individuals with subthreshold depressive symptoms – a

population for which there are few empirically-supported interventions.

Concluding Remarks

From increases in positive emotion and greater life satisfaction to decreases in

depression, anxiety, and illness symptoms, positive interventions that build pleasure,

engagement, and meaning exhibit both short-term and long-lasting effects on well-being.

These techniques provide a solid foundation for the creation of Empirically Supported

Self-Help for increasing happiness – one in which techniques that have demonstrated

efficacy in research can be woven together in book or web format and disseminated to the

general public. However, there is much still to be done in the pursuit of a science of

promoting happiness. Below, we discuss several future directions for research.

Sustainability

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005) argue that intentional activity is

necessary in order to increase happiness, yet evidence suggests that initial boosts require

continued effort to be sustained. Additional research is needed to assess patterns of use

that participants display with each of these exercises – what percentage of people keep

using each exercise naturally, and how can that percentage be maximized? To that end, it

is worth considering how exercises can be modified and integrated into everyday life.

Previous research has suggested that continued use is important, highlighting the need for

activities that can be integrated into the daily practices of individuals who use them; at

the same time, one must also find ways to keep activities novel in order to prevent

hedonic adaptation (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). Therefore, an important task for the future

practice of these exercises is to find ways to address both objectives, promoting

continued use while also providing room for variation.

The Gratitude Visit, for example, which provides large and immediate effects on

happiness, is not designed, nor is it appropriate, for daily use. Furthermore, as described

above, gratitude exercises are subject to becoming “stale” if practiced too frequently, so

one must be careful when seeking to create a regular gratitude practice. However, there

are ways to practice elements of this exercise on a more regular basis without rendering

the practice vulnerable to hedonic adaptation. For example, an individual could make

daily additions to a gratitude list – a compilation of all the things about a given person for

which they are grateful – and then make monthly or yearly “gratitude reports” to that

person. This modifies features of the Gratitude Visit – a powerful, one-time gratitude

intervention – into a sustainable exercise that can be continuously practiced. Unlike the

Gratitude Visit, which focuses on broad gratitude towards a person, and is thus very

difficult to repeat, the “gratitude report” makes the content of the exercise variable (e.g.

based on the ongoing behavior of a gratitude recipient chosen by the individual), which

keeps the exercise “fresh,” minimizing the potential for adaptation. At the same time, this

new variation retains the power of the original Gratitude Visit – which comes from the

immediate and powerful effects of conveying gratitude to someone else in written form –

by having the regular “gratitude report” experiences.

Technology also provides a powerful tool to increase the sustainability of these

techniques. Indeed, research teams are currently utilizing mobile device applications for

the monitoring and enhancement of happiness (e.g. Gilbert’s

www.trackyourhappiness.org or Signal Pattern’s Live Happy iPhone application based on

Sonja Lyubomirsky’s work). Furthermore, as previously mentioned, pilot studies have

examined the feasibility and effectiveness of disseminating positive psychology exercises

through popular social networking sites (Munson, Lauterbach, Newman, & Resnick,

2010). Technology provides a powerful tool to increase the sustainability of these

techniques.

Person-Activity Fit

Taking personal preference or choice into consideration may maximize the

benefits of these happiness strategies. Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2006) propose the idea

of “fit”; that is, assigning an exercise that is concordant with an individual’s personality,

values, interests, and goals. This idea could be accomplished by giving participants a list

of strategies and later asking them which strategy they think would work best. For

instance, an introvert assigned to complete the gratitude visit exercise may experience

short-term benefits, but feel more comfortable and thus more likely to continue using an

exercise more consistent with his introverted personality such as Three Good Things.

Schueller (2010) found that participants’ self-reported preferences for an exercise

predicted the number of days they engaged in the assigned exercise over a week period;

thus, participant preference may well be an important consideration for practitioners

using these techniques.

Along similar lines, an alternative model for accommodating individual

differences in preference and responsiveness to specific exercises is the approach taken

by Parks (2010). Each participant samples a variety of exercises, then in the time

following the intervention, chooses one or two to continue practicing. In this way,

participants are exposed to several techniques and have the opportunity to select what

they continue to practice, but do so having tried each one rather than relying on their

initial impressions of what may or may not be helpful for them.

In essence, flexibility is crucial for the success of each and every one of these

happiness-increasing strategies. The greater the extent to which researchers can find ways

to make these strategies more flexible, the greater the likelihood that people will benefit

from them and stay with the intervention.

Skepticism

Among the lay public, there exists a certain wariness of efforts to increase

happiness as some kind of push to create an oblivious, unrealistic, or otherwise

undesirable society (see Ehrenreich, 2009). A science of Empirically Supported Self-Help

can only thrive if it reaches the people for whom it is intended – and in order for

Empirically Supported Self-Help to have a broad audience, we must do what we can to

address suspicion and skepticism surrounding the idea of increasing happiness.

An important first step in this direction is to place our primary goal of increasing

happiness in a larger context that includes an important role for negative affective states

and experiences. Despite scientific evidence that positive and negative affect are

somewhat independent (Diener & Emmons, 1984), many members of the general public

equate becoming happier with eliminating distress, and assume that the goal of positive

psychology is to eradicate negative emotions altogether. However, it would be more

accurate to say that we aim to shift the balance so that one’s positive experiences

outweigh one’s negative experiences. Work by Fredrickson and colleagues suggest that a

ratio of between 3:1 and 13:1 positive emotions to negative emotions is necessary in

order to flourish psychologically (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005). Most notable about this

finding is that there is an upper limit, above which positive emotion is not adaptive

without sufficient negative emotion to anchor it. Thus, there is evidence that eliminating

negative emotion is an undesirable outcome – if doing so was truly the goal of positive

psychologists, the general public would be justified in being skeptical. Clearly

acknowledging the importance of negative emotion may go a long way in allaying

individuals’ concerns about the enterprise of increasing happiness.

Final Thoughts: Implications for Practice

In this chapter, we have provided an overview of exercises that target each of

three areas: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. As readers apply these exercises in

practice with clients, we make the following suggestions:

- Try to address pleasure, engagement, and meaning, as it appears that maximal

benefits occur when all three routes are pursued.

- Be flexible with which techniques that are selected and how they are applied,

taking into consideration client preference (to maximize adherence) and lifestyle

(to maximize sustainability).

- Explore and address any misconceptions or skepticism that clients might have

about the endeavor of increasing happiness, as such attitudes may interfere with

progress.

Lastly, we recommend that practitioners think ahead towards making these

techniques available to the general public in ways that break out of the standard 1-on-1

practitioner/patient model. Statistics demonstrate that this mode of dissemination has not

been effective for getting Empirically Supported Treatments to the general public – many

individuals do not have access to therapy, and even if they do, many practicing therapists

choose not to use ESTs (Hirschfeld et al., 1997; Stewart & Chambless, 2007). If

empirically-based happiness-increasing interventions are to be widely disseminated to the

general public, we must rely on some other means – it is for this reason that we believe

Empirically Supported Self-Help is the future of the dissemination of positive

interventions.

References

Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in

humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49-74.

Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of

depression. New York: Guilford Press.

Beck, J. S. (1995). Cognitive therapy: Basics and beyond. New York: Guilford Press.

Bryan, T., & Bryan, J. (1991). Positive mood and math performance. Journal of Learning

Disabilities, 24, 490-494.

Bryant, F. B. (2003). Savoring Beliefs Inventory (SBI): A scale for measuring

beliefs about savoring. Journal of Mental Health, 12, 175-196.

Bryant, F. B., Smart, C. M., & King, S. P. (2005). Using the past to enhance the present:

Boosting happiness through positive reminiscence. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6,

227-260.

Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience.

Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Burns, D.D. (1999). Feeling good: The new mood therapy (2nd ed). New

York: William Morrow.

Carson, J. W., Keefe, F. J., Lynch, T. R., Carson, K. M., Goli, V., Fras, A. M., & Thorp,

S. R. (2005). Loving-kindness meditation for chronic low back pain: Results from

a pilot trial. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 23, 287–304.

Chambless, D. L. & Hollon, S. D. (1998). Defining empirically supported therapies.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 7-18.

Cheavens, J. S., Feldman, D. B., Gum, A., Michael, S. T., & Snyder, C. R. (2006). Hope

therapy in a community sample: A pilot investigation. Social Indicators Research,

77, 61-78.

Cook, E. A. (1998). Effects of reminiscence on life satisfaction of elderly female nursing

home residents. Health Care for Women International, 19, 109-118.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-

Bass.

Cuijpers, P. (1997). Bibliotherapy in unipolar depression: A meta-analysis. Journal of

Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 28, 139-147.

Cuijpers, P. & Smit, F. Subthreshold depression as a risk indicator for major depressive

disorder: a systematic review of prospective studies. Acta Psychiatrica

Scandinavica, 109, 325-331.

Dahlsgaard, K., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Shared virtue: The

convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history. Review of

General Psychology, 9, 203-213.

Davidson, R. J. (2000). Affective style, psychopathology, and resilience: Brain

mechanisms and plasticity. American Psychologist, 55, 1196-1214.

DeRubeis, R.J., Hollon, S.D., Amsterdam, J.D., Shelton, R.C., Young, P.R., Salomon,

R.M., et al. (2005). Cognitive therapy vs. medications in the treatment of

moderate to severe depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 409-416.

Diener, E. & Emmons, R.A. (1984). The independence of positive and negative affect.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1105-1117.

Duckworth, A. L., Steen, T. A., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Positive psychology

in clinical practice. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 629-651.

Ehrenreich, B. (2009). Bright-sided: How the relentless promotion of positive thinking

has undermined America. New York: Metropolitan Books.

Emmons, R. A. (1986). Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective

well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1058-1068.

Emmons, R. (2007). Thanks: How the new science of gratitude can make you

happier. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Emmons, R. A., & King, L. A. (1988). Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and

long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1040-1048.

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An

experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377-389.

Fallot, R. D. (1980). The impact on mood of verbal reminiscing in later adulthood.

International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 10, 385-400.

Flett, G.L., Vredenburg, K., & Krames, L. (1997). The continuity of depression in

clinical and nonclinical samples. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 395-416.

Forbes, E. E., & Dahl, R. E. (2005). Neural systems of positive affect: Relevance to

understanding child and adolescent depression? Development and

Psychopathology, 17, 827-850.

Fordyce, M. W. (1977). Development of a program to increase personal happiness.

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 24, 511-521.

Fordyce, M. W. (1983). A program to increase happiness: Further studies. Journal

of Counseling Psychology, 30, 483-498.

Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis.

Psychological Bulletin, 132, 823-865.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology:

The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56,

218-226.

Frederickson, B. L., & Levenson, R. W. (1998). Positive emotions speed of recovery

from the cardiovascular sequelae of negative emotions. Cognition and Emotion,

12, 191-220.

Fredrickson, B.L. & Losada, M. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of

human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60, 678-686.

Fredrickson, B.L., Mancuso, R.A., Branigan, C., & Tugade, M.M. (2000). The undoing

effect of positive emotions. Motivation and Emotion, 24, 237-258.

Frederickson, B. L., Cohn, M. A., Coffey, K. A., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. (2008). Open

hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation,

build consequential personal resources. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 95, 1045-1062.

Frijda, N. H., & Sundararajan, L. (2007). Emotion refinement: A theory inspired by

Chinese poetics. Perspectives of Psychological Science, 2, 227-241.

Froh, J. J., Kashdan, T. B., Ozimkowski, K. M., & Miller, N. (2009). Who benefits the

most from a gratitude intervention in children and adolescents? Examining

positive affect as a moderator. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 408-422.

Froh, J. J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. (2008). Counting blessings in early

adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being.

Journal of School Psychology, 46, 213-233.

Gable, S. L., Gonzaga, G. C., & Strachman, A. (2006). Will you be there for me when

things go right? Supportive responses to positive event disclosures. Journal

of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 904-917.

Gable, S. L., Reis, H. T., Impett, E. A., & Asher, E. R. (2004). What do you do when

things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive

events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 228-245.

Hedgepeth, B. E., & Hale, W. D. (1983). Effects of a positive reminiscing intervention on

affect, expectancy, and performance. Psychological Reports, 53, 867-870.

Hirschfeld, R. M., Keller, M. B., Panico, S., Arons, B. S., Barlow, D., Davidoff, F., et al.

(1997). The National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association consensus

statement on the undertreatment of depression. Journal of the American Medical

Association, 277, 333-340.

Johnson, D. P., Penn, D. L., Fredrickson, B. L., Meyer, P. S., Kring, A.M., & Brantley,

M. (2009). Loving-kindness meditation to enhance recovery from negative

symptoms of schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 499-509.

Judd, L.L., Akiskal, H.S. & Paulus, M.P. (1997). The role and clinical significance of

subsyndromal depressive symptoms (SDD) in unipolar major depressive disorder.

Journal of Affective Disorders, 45, 5-18.

Kashdan, T. (2009). Curious?: Discover the missing ingredient to a fulfilling life. New

York: William Morrow.

King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and Social

Psychology Bulletin, 27, 798-807.

Kurtz, J. L. (2008). Looking to the future to appreciate the present: The benefits of

temporal scarcity. Psychological Science, 19, 1238-1241.

Lee, P. C. (1983). Play as a means for developing relationships. In R. A. Hinde (Ed.),

Primate social relationships (pp. 82-89). Oxford: Blackwell.

Lewinsohn, PP., Muñoz, R., Youngren, M., & Zeiss, A. (1992). Control your

depression (2nd ed). New York: Prentice Hall.

Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the

life you want. New York: Penguin Press.

Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. A., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive

affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.

Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness:

The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111-

131.

Lyubomirsky, S., Sousa, L., & Dickerhoof, R. (2006). The costs and benefits of writing,

talking, and thinking about life’s triumphs and defeats. Journal of Personality and

Social Psychology, 90, 692-708.

Mazzycchelli, T. G., Kane, R. T., & Rees, C. S. (2010). Behavioral activation

interventions for well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5,

105-121.

McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and

sustains health and well-being: An integrative testable theory. Review of General

Psychology, 13, 242-251.

Moneta, G. B., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). The effect of perceived challenges

and skills on the quality of subjective experience. Journal of Personality, 64, 275-

310.

Munson, S., Lauterbach, D., Newman, M., & Resnick, P. (2010). Happier together:

Integrating a wellness application into a social network site. In T. Ploug, P. F. V.

Hasle, & H. Oinas-Kukkonen (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science (Vol.

6137, pp. 27-39). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). The concept of flow. In C.R. Snyder &

S.J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of Positive Psychology (pp. 89-105).

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2009). Preventing mental,

emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and

possibilities. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Omodei, M. M., & Wearing, A. J. (1990). Need satisfaction and involvement in personal

projects: Toward an integrative model of subjective well-being. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 762–769.

Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Otsui, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006).

Happy people become happier through kindness: A counting kindness

intervention. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 361-375.

Parks, A.C. (2010). A randomized trial of group positive psychotherapy for mild-

moderate depressive symptoms in young adults. Manuscript under review.

Parks, A.C., Della Porta, M.D., Pierce, R.S., Zilca, R., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2011). How

do people pursue happiness in their everyday lives?: The characteristics and

behaviors of happiness seekers. Manuscript under review.

Pennebaker, J. W. (1998). Conflict and canned meat. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 219-220.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Segal, J. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative.

Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1243-1254.

Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University

Press.

Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life

satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6,

25-41.

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues. Oxford:

Oxford University Press.

Pham, L. B., & Taylor, S. E. (1999). From thought to action: Effects of process- versus

outcome-based mental simulations on performance. Personality and Social

Psychology Bulletin, 25, 250–260.

Rivkin, I. D., & Taylor, S. E. (1999). The effects of mental simulation on copingwith

controllable stressful events. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25,

1451-1462.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). On happiness and human potentials: A review of

research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology,

52, 141-166.

Schueller, S. M. (2010). Preferences for positive psychology exercises. Journal of

Positive Psychology, 5, 192-203.

Schueller, S. M., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2010). Pursuit of pleasure, engagement, and

meaning: Relationships to subjective and objective measures of well-being.

Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 253-263.

Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness. New York: Free Press.

Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American

Psychologist, 61, 774-788.

Seligman, M.E.P., Schulman, P. & Tryon, A. (2007). Group prevention of depression

and anxiety symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1111-1126.

Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology

progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410-

421.

Salzberg, S. (1995). Loving-kindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Boston:

Shambhala.

Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive

emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves.

The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 73-82.

Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive

symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-

analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 65, 467-487.

Smyth, J. M. (1998). Written emotional expression: Effect sizes, outcome types, and

moderating variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 174-

184.

Solomon, R. C. (1977). The passions. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.

Tkach, C. T. (2006). Unlocking the treasury of human kindness: Enduring improvements

in mood, happiness, and self-evaluations. Dissertation Abstracts International:

Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 67, 603.

Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions

to bounce back from negative emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and

Social Psychology, 86, 320-333.

Wallace, B. A., & Shapiro, S. L. (2006). Mental balance and well-being: Bridges between

Buddhism and western psychology. American Psychologist, 61, 690-701.

Watkins, P. C., Woodward, K., Stone, T., & Kolts, R. D. (2003). Gratitude and

happiness: The development of a measure of gratitude and its relationship with

subjective well-being. Social Behavior and Personality, 31, 431-452.

Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). Explaining away: A model of affective

adaptation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 370-386.

Wood, J. V., Heimpel, S. A., & Michela, J. L. (2003). Savoring versus dampening: Self-

esteem differences in regularity positive affect. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 85, 566-580.

Zauszniewski, J.A., Eggenschwiler, K., Preechawong, S., Chung, W., Airey, T.F., et al.

(2004). Focused reflection reminiscence group for elders: Implementation and

evaluation. Journal of Appiled Gerontology, 23, 429-442.

Table 1. Example of Responding to Good News of a Job Promotion

Constructive Destructive

Active

“That is great news!

I am so happy for you! We

should go out to dinner to

celebrate the occasion!”),

“Does this mean that

you will have to put in extra

hours? I’m assuming this

promotion will be

burdensome.”),

Passive

“Good for you.” “Do you know what

the weather will be like

tomorrow?”