Running head: WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

What Makes People Smile

Maryanna Sarkissian
Health, Happiness, and Human Rights
Dr. Neiworth
Portland State University
May 14, 2016

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

Abstract
What is happiness? People all over the world have endlessly agonized over this question
for centuries, but only recently has science begun to weigh in on the debate. We tend to associate
good feelings with happiness although many times, that is not the case. The majority part of
society is brainwashed to believe that we need to have money and expensive things in order to be
happy. While living below the poverty line certainly makes it more difficult to be happy than the
average person, beyond that, money does not appear to buy any true happiness. Aside from the
continuous debate about whether or not its actually possible to become happier in the long run,
resent research has actually reached the long awaited conclusion that yes, it is possible. Unless
you are one of the few people that just happen to win the lottery while being naturally happy in
live, it can actually be pretty difficult to maintain happiness. Even then, there are plenty of habits
an individual can develop to help keep them happy.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

What Makes People Smile

What is happiness? People all over the world have endlessly agonized over this question
for centuries, but only recently has science begun to weigh in on the debate. Before I get into
what the science has determined, let me start by giving some answers to a somewhat easier
question: what isnt happiness?
One thing that I believe all individuals should realize and understand is the fact that
happiness does not necessarily mean feeling good all of the time. We tend to associate good
feelings with happiness although many times, that is not the case. There is research concluding
that although drug users may seem happy during or after use simply because it feels good,
research suggests that an even-keeled mood is more psychologically healthy than a mood in
which you achieve great heights of happiness regularlyafter all, what goes up must come
down. (Parks, 2016).
Simply said, when asking individuals what sincerely makes their life worth living, rarely
will they mention or say anything about their mood. More likely, individuals will cite things that
they find meaningful, such as their relationships with loved and close ones or their careers.
Another research recently conducted by Parks states that if you focus too much on trying to feel
good all the time, youll actually undermine your ability to feel good at allin other words, no
amount of feeling good will be satisfying to you, since what you expect (all the time) isnt
physically possible for most people. For this reason, it is important to remember that while it is
easy to associate happiness with feeling good in certain moments, at the end of the day, it is so
much more than that.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

The majority part of society is brainwashed to believe that we need to have money and
expensive things in order to be happy. The nice cars, houses, and clothes that are portrayed to us
in the media make it seem as though it brings endless amounts of happiness. Everything that is
exposed to us through celebrities and the media isnt happiness- its marketing. While living
below the poverty line certainly makes it more difficult to be happy than the average person,
beyond that, money does not appear to buy any true happiness.
Imagine that an individual suddenly receives a promotion that increases their salary by
$15,000 a year. Although you would most definitely be happy in the short term, it will not be
long until that individuals standards and expectations rise in order to fit their new salary. Once
again, they will find themselves searching for either more money or another promotion in order
to find happiness. Before they know it, theyre just as happy as they were before the raise. This
holds true for new houses, new cars, new gadgets, and all of the other material goods that people
spend so much time looking for. One way to beat this cycle of happiness is spending the money
you have received on experiences with other individuals. Taking the $15,000 and spending it on
things like a weekend getaway at a new place with friends or family will create new memories
that you will be able to look back on for the rest of your life. The issue with this method of
spending money to gain happiness is he fact that individuals rarely choose to spend their money
in ways as such. Large majorities of people believe that spending their money on tangible items
versus on making memories will make them happier, even in the long run.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

Above is a graph that shows exactly how happy or unhappy an individual is when it
comes to how much money they possess. The research suggests that happiness is a combination
of how satisfied an individual is with their life (for example, finding meaning in work) and how
good they feel on a day-to-day basis. Both of these are relatively stablethat is, our life changes,
and our mood fluctuates, but our general happiness is more genetically determined than anything
else. In essence, although an individual may make an endless amount of money a year, it wont
make them any happier than what would, for example, an ice cream cone or seeing their friend
for the first time in a long time. With money, it wont be long until an individual becomes
accustomed with their new lifestyle and then begin to seek happiness in other forms.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

The good news about all of this is, with consistent effort, this can definitely be balanced.
As Alicia Parks has stated, Think of it like you think about weight: if you eat how you want to
and are as active as you want to be, your body will settle at a certain weight. But if you eat less
than you'd like or exercise more, your weight will adjust accordingly. If that new diet or exercise
regimen becomes part of your everyday life, then you'll stay at this new weight. If you go back to
eating and exercising the way you used to, your weight will return to where it started. So it goes,
too, with happiness. In other words, you have the ability to control how you feeland with
consistent practice, you can form life-long habits for a more satisfying and fulfilling life.
(Acacia, 2013).

Above

is a graph that displays the

level of clinical depression across the world, retrieved from the Washington Post. As shown, the
United States is a fairly blue color, meaning that the level of depression is at 4-4.5%. Compared
to the Eastern side, the difference in depression is very significant.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

According to a new report from the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions
Network, the happiest country in the world is Denmark and the least happy is Burundi. The
central African country does indeed score low on the U.N. survey's criteria for happiness.
Although it seems increasingly strange to be able to measure the happiness of an entire country,
looking at the gross domestic product per capita, social support, health and longevity, personal
freedom, charitable giving, and perception of corruption, it is definitely possible. Burundi is one
of the poorest countries in the world, and sadly, one of the hungriest. The entire country and the
people living within suffer with having to live through things such as civil war, genocide, and
political strife including a failed coup attempt just last year. So today, the one thing that we all
desperately want to know: What do Burundians have to be happy about?
As you

may see in the

graph
above
(Freeworldmaps,
2014), Burundi is an
extremely small country.
It is takes upon a very
dark red color, meaning
level
of depression is extremely high and very critical.

that its

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

"Burundian society is grounded in family and community," Ndura says. "A major source
of happiness for the Burundian people is time spent with and around neighbors. That's when you
can see them come out of their shells, socializing with family and sharing whatever food they
have. They visit one another even when it takes many, many hours of walking across the hills, so
that they can spend time together. They're sitting down and having conversations even though
their stories these days may be told around difficult experiences due to the country's conflicts.
The point is that they are together among relatives and neighbors and commiserating, listening
and cheering one another up. It's the loud laughter that always rings in my mind when I think
about how the Burundian people like to spend their time." (Zackowitz, 2016)
Pretty large majorities of the people living in Burundi tend to work as farmers. Although
it may not see like it, farming is actually a great source of joy for the people. When we think of
farming, most people will think of hard work. When Burundians th8ink of farming, they think of
laughter and working close to their friends on their small farms. Even though they work
extremely hard for their earnings and food, Burundians will never hesitate to share with their
neighbors.
Even though the country of Burundi has been constantly victimized and thrown into
conflicts, if you look at the people living there, you will still see the kindness, generosity, and
humanity that the people keep in their hearts. Communities are willing to give up and share what
little they have. They find satisfaction in what little they have, never asking for much in return.
In a sense, these people are actually the happiest.
Aside from the continuous debate about whether or not its actually possible to become
happier in the long run, resent research has actually reached the long awaited conclusion that yes,

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

it is possible. The majority of research around changing our happiness levels revolves around a
concept called hedonic adaptation. It sounds like a mouthful, its actually fairly simple: Hedonic
adaptation is when something good or bad happens to you and, with the passage of time, you get
used to it (Parks, 2016).
Above is the difference in happiness that an individual possesses throughout different
ages on average. (The Mentaculus, 2010).

Unless you are one of the few people that just happen to win the lottery while being naturally

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SMILE

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happy in live, it can actually be pretty difficult to maintain happiness. There are plenty of habits
an individual can develop to help keep them happy, such as maintaining a gratitude journal, but
other events, such as getting married or getting a promotion, will actually fade over time as we
adapt to them.
Many have argued that the body and the level of happiness will eventually go back to
normal, so how, then, is it possible to lastingly increase your own happiness? Recent research
has come up with several important habits that can help to make happiness last.
1. Aim for calm and contentment. It is actually possible to transform initial activated
feelings (like joy and enthusiasm) into more deactivated emotions (like calm and
contentment) that are easier and healthier to sustain.
2. Mix it up, constantly. When you find a happiness-boosting technique that works for you,
try and change up how you do it each time. After a certain amount of time, the body and
mind will begin to get used to its surroundings.
3. Focus you attention on people and experiences, not physical possessions. A classic study
concluded that no matter what an individual may do to find happiness, every one of those
things actually involves other people. People are different almost every time you interact
with them, so its a lot harder to adapt to them. So, if you're going to pick one area to
focus on, make it on people!
In other words, any individual has the complete ability to control how they feeland
with consistent practice, they can form life-long habits for a more satisfying and fulfilling life.

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Bibliography
Buchanan, E. (2016, March 18). Is Burundi really the most unhappy nation in the world?
Retrieved April 27, 2016, from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/burundi-really-most-unhappy
nation-world-1550073

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Burundi and its people staying strong even through all of the hardships. Lives are broken
by the political crisis. Because of the economic conditions which have become worse due to
the crisis many people have lost their advantages in the government.

Burundi. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from http://www.everyculture.com/Bo

Co/Burundi.html
Provides absolute coverage over the Burundian people and their culture. Covers a great
deal of the countrys history, food, economy, and other major keys that lead to the countrys
current state of depression; a great source to really identify where the problem lies.

Couch, R. (n.d.). Everything You Need To Know About The Science Behind Happiness In One
Infographic. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
Allows you to understand the science behind happiness. There are actually some amazing
benefits that happy people are able to have access to. Some of these benefits include healing
faster after injuries, having deeper friendships, and feeling the need to help others more often.

Parks, A., PhD. (n.d.). What is Happiness, Anyway? Retrieved April 26, 2016, from
http://my.happify.com/hd/what-is-happiness-anyway/

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Parks article provides a new insight and point of view on what happiness truly means.
This article doesnt only portray what happiness is, but it goes beyond in order to describe what
happiness is not.

Parks, A., PhD. (n.d.). Can We Really Change How Happy We Are-for Good?
Answers the question is everyone born in these conditions predestined to be unhappy?
Teaches you how to find happiness and then continue to maintain it throughout the rest of your
life.

Zackowitz, M. (n.d.). What Makes People Smile In The Saddest Country In The World?
Provides great insight to the Burundian people and their culture. Describes the people and
what personally makes them happy. Goes deep into the subject of neighbors and the love that
they share for each other.

Pike, J. (2016, March 04). Burundi Civil War. Retrieved April 27, 2016, from
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/burundi.htm
This article gives a deep explanation and description of the war that has been active for
the past 14 years in Burundi. Allows you to connect the relationship between the level of
depression in the country, the residents, and the war. Will be using this to further progress my
research topic and the idea that war causes massive destruction of country and self.

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