Being happy is beautiful and perhaps the whole purpose in life is to be so. However, researches indicate that happiness has side effects too. Here are the interesting facts that show how being too happy can have its disadvantages.
1. Pay less attention to details
An experiment conducted on kids ages 6 to 7 and 10 to 11 found that extreme happiness may have negative effects on a child’s performance, specifically with detail-oriented tasks. (Schnall, Jaswal, & Rowe, 2008).
Happier kids took more time to locate embedded figures based on images that were shown to them. Happier kids also found less embedded figures as compared to those that were induced into a neutral or sad mood.
Schnall and colleagues explained that their results may likely be due to the fact that happiness tells us that things are good. When things are good, we are more likely to process global information first instead of local information. This means that we see the whole picture first before paying attention to the details in the picture.
When we are in a neutral or sad state, it tells us that something might be missing or be wrong. This triggers to go through a more analytical process and pay more attention to details.
Their results were consistent with that of another study done with adults, wherein participants either classified geometric figures or replicated a drawing from memory (Gasper & Clore, 2002). This study found that happier participants tended to pay more attention to the global features of a drawing or of the geometric figures present to them.
2. Less creative
Studies have shown that positive emotions are likely to promote creative and innovative ideas (Fredrickson, 2004). There is also evidence that shows how happiness and creativity positively correlate with each other (Adobe Systems Incorporated, 2016). However, these may only hold true for moderate levels of happiness.
Davis (2009) found that while happiness can boost creativity, we no longer experience that same boost when we experience intense happiness. Scientists found that creativity builds on 14 different components (Jordanous & Keller, 2016) which seem to be related to problem-solving.
When we are extremely happy, our brains zone in on the physical manifestations of happiness and on enjoying that happy moment instead of problem-solving (O’Faolan, 2016). It is possible that when we are too happy, our brains cannot go into problem-solving mode, thus making us less creative.
3. Take more risks
Gruber (2012) explains that when we experience positive emotions, we are likely to focus on things that will sustain that happiness. We become more adventurous and more likely to take risks to find ways that sustain these good feelings.
Cyders & Smith (2008) found that extreme positive emotions can increase our likelihood to engage in risky behaviors like binging on food and alcohol, using drugs and other substances, as well as engaging in risky sexual behavior.
Research and Studies
The Pursuit and Assessment of Happiness can be Self-Defeating (Schooler, Ariely, Loewenstein (2003)
According to the researchers, the more we try to make ourselves happy, the less happy we feel. Some of the participants in this study were asked to make themselves feel as happy as possible while they listened to a certain type of music. Those who did not receive this instruction reported feeling more positive emotions than those who were told to make themselves as happy as possible.
Can Seeking Happiness Make People Unhappy? Paradoxical Effects of Valuing Happiness (Mauss, Tamir, Anderson, & Savino, 2011)
Mauss and colleagues found that the more participants valued happiness, the less likely they reported to feel happy after a specific task. Participants who highly valued happiness, when exposed to low stressful conditions, reported feeling lower levels of happiness. Similarly, participants who were induced to value happiness responded less positively when exposed to a stimulus that induces happy emotions.
Discussion about this post