Category: Social happiness

  • Fear of trying new things

    I heard on the radio recently that a significant number of New Zealand 12-year-olds refrain from an activity they would like to do, out of fear that they won’t be good at it. That’s sad, not just because kids are missing out on something they might enjoy, but also because avoiding things you’re nervous about […]

  • Humour at Work

    Isn’t it uplifting when you work alongside someone with a sense of humour! Some people have a natural gift for making you laugh at just the right moment; others are great at appreciating humour, sharing cartoons and lightening the mood with their laughter. (Of course, I’m talking here about upbeat or silly humour, not the […]

  • Staying upbeat despite the moaners

    Two long term studies of couples showed that partners’ happiness scores tend to become more similar over time.  That’s not surprising, but what’s alarming is that it’s the happier one whose mood declines to match their partner’s, while the more miserable person remains relatively stable. Many of us have probably experienced this at work too, […]

  • Nature, nurture or circumstance?

    At New Year we often think about changes we’d like to make in our lives. To do so, we need to believe that we are not destined to stay the same forever. In other words, we need to have a ‘growth mindset.’ If you believe that people are born either good or bad at something […]

  • Happiness and Social Connection

    If you believe the ads, happiness is to be found in being rich, ‘successful’, good-looking and the envy of your friends. Ads appeal to our inborn desire for something better than the status quo; an instinct that evolutionary psychologists would say has prompted human civilisation to improve and evolve. In reality, of course, those things […]

  • What is Tolerance and How Do We Achieve it?

    The International Day for Tolerance is observed this week, although the devastating conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere show that we have a long way to go before there is much to celebrate. From our relative safety and distance, we can see international conflicts with detached clarity; naming the atrocities as unacceptable without having to […]

  • Kindness on the Bus

    Taking the bus recently, I’ve noticed a very positive bus culture. Passengers thank the driver as they leave, while drivers greet passengers and wait until they’re seated before starting to move the bus. Recently a young mother got on, with a small baby in a pram. She parked the pram in the wheelchair/pram section of […]

  • The Benefits of Not Complaining

    The average day provides a myriad of blessings to be grateful for, along with multiple niggles and challenges – all of which are opportunities to complain, if that is our focus. People who constantly complain are hard to be around and don’t attract warmth from others. The sad thing is that their focus on the […]

  • The role of goodwill in communication

    Some people seem to have no trouble making new acquaintances, whereas others find it difficult to navigate ‘small talk’ and getting to know people. Research has shown that people who have more social connections are happier than those with few, and people with a habit of chatting to strangers tend to attract more positive opportunities […]

  • Random Acts of Kindness

    On 1st September, New Zealand celebrates Random Acts of Kindness Day, a tradition started in 2005 by Josh de Jong and some friends. After witnessing a road rage incident, Josh thought how good it would be if people could be kind to strangers, even if only for one day of the year. The result was […]