How Can People Become Happier? A Systematic Review of Preregistered Experiments

Abstract

Can happiness be reliably increased? Thousands of studies speak to this question. However, many of them were conducted during a period in which researchers commonly “ p-hacked,” creating uncertainty about how many discoveries might be false positives. To prevent p-hacking, happiness researchers increasingly preregister their studies, committing to analysis plans before analyzing data. We conducted a systematic literature search to identify preregistered experiments testing strategies for increasing happiness. We found surprisingly little support for many widely recommended strategies (e.g., performing random acts of kindness). However, our review suggests that other strategies—such as being more sociable—may reliably promote happiness. We also found strong evidence that governments and organizations can improve happiness by providing underprivileged individuals with financial support. We conclude that happiness research stands on the brink of an exciting new era, in which modern best practices will be applied to develop theoretically grounded strategies that can produce lasting gains in life satisfaction. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 75 is January 2024. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Long-term analysis of a psychoeducational course on university students’ mental well-being

“…Our study also strengthens this growing area of research interest by adhering to preregistration, making data openly available and looking at the longer-term benefits of psychoeducational courses. This is important because a recent systematic review of popular positive psychology interventions found that most studies did not adhere to pre-registration which undermined the credibility of the field (Folk & Dunn, 2023a), though it should be noted that the bulk of work was conducted at a time when such practices were not common (Folk & Dunn, 2023b). We agree that there needs to be rigorous methodological approaches when evaluating positive psychology.…”

Mechanisms of Change in a Digital Five Ways to Wellbeing Intervention: A Network Intervention Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Health promo�on and posi�ve mental health should therefore be par�cularly emphasized in all policies. While structural measures (e.g., health promo�ve schools, labor policy, high quality maternity care) play a pivotal role in promo�on of wellbeing and mental health, it is indeed promising that many years of research have shown that specific interven�ons and ac�vi�es also at the individual level may improve wellbeing and posi�ve mental health (Carr et al, 2020;Folk & Dunn, 2023;Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013;van Agteren et al, 2021). Researchers and stakeholders should endeavor to facilitate access to these kinds of effec�ve wellbeing and mental health promo�ve interven�ons, especially through the use of digital solu�ons with broad outreach.…”