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While the pursuit of happiness may seem like a reasonable aim, new research shows that making happiness a personal goal will only stand in the way of your achieving it.

The researchers found that women who valued happiness more tended to report being less happy and more depressed than women who didn't place such a high premium on a lasting smile. [5 Things That Will Make You Happier]

"Wanting to be happy can make you less happy," said study researcher Iris Mauss, an assistant professor in psychology at the University of Denver. "If you explicitly and purposely focus on happiness, that appears to have a self-defeating quality."

Stress and happiness

In the first study, researchers surveyed 59 women who reported having a stressful life event in the past six months, such as a divorce, self-injury, injury or death of a close family member, sudden unemployment, or exposure to crime. Women also indicated the value they placed on happiness and their stress levels.

(The researchers studied only women, because past research has shown that women and men typically have similar emotional responses in the lab, but that men are more likely to conceal those responses.)

Among women who reported lower stress levels, those who valued happiness more reported being less happy and had an average of 17 symptoms of depression versus four for low-stress women who valued happiness less. Regardless of the value placed on happiness, the high-stress women showed no significant differences in their happiness levels.

This is important, Mauss explained, because women with higher levels of stress can blame their unhappiness on that stress. So, regardless of the value they place on happiness, the stress is unlikely to leave them the chance to worry about how happy they are.

While this study showed a link between focus on happiness and actual happiness, it didn't show that one was causing the other.

To figure that out, in the second study, researchers randomly assigned 69 female college students to one of two groups. Half of them read about how valuing happiness could benefit social relationships, professional success and personal health, while others read that "making accurate judgments" could lead to those same benefits.

Participants then watched either a happy or sad film clip.

Those who read about the benefits of accurate judgments (and so were primed to not put a high value on happiness) reported higher levels of happiness after viewing the happy clip; women who had read about valuing happiness reported similarly low bliss levels as those who had watched the sad clip. There was little difference in happiness ratings between the two groups after watching the sad clip (neither group reported being very happy).

Why we're not happy

Mauss noted two mechanisms by which happiness-focused women might find themselves in the dumps. [10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors]

For one, they might set higher goals for themselves.

"When people want to be happy, they set higher standards by which they're more likely to fall short," Mauss said. "This, in turn, may lead to greater discontent, in turn lowering levels of happiness and well-being."

The second study, she said, provided evidence for this, as the link was the experimental result of a sad, disappointing movie clip.

Source:livescience

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