Research proves the existence of the 'happiness paradox' in which the more you pursue happiness, the further away it becomes
Many of us have tried to improve our lives by starting something new or breaking a bad habit, only to find that it was too hard and we gave up. This is because a new study has found that the pursuit of happiness itself can drain our mental energy, putting us at risk for making poor life choices and falling into bad habits that undermine our happiness and health.
Happiness depletes me: Seeking happiness impairs limited resources and self-regulation - Kim - 2025 - Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being - Wiley Online Library
Unraveling the happiness paradox: The mental exhaustion of chasing joy
https://www.psypost.org/unraveling-the-happiness-paradox-the-mental-exhaustion-of-chasing-joy/
In a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being on January 30, 2025, Kim Ae-kyung of Chonbuk National University in South Korea and Sam J. Mario of the University of Toronto Scarborough in Canada conducted four experiments on the theme of happiness. As a result, in all of the series of experiments, a tendency emerged that the aim to become happier itself is mentally draining and reduces the ability to deal with life's challenges and temptations.
The first experiment involved 532 people recruited online, who were asked to fill out two questionnaires: the Happiness Value Scale, which estimates the strength of their tendency to pursue happiness, and the Simple Self-Control Scale, which measures their self-control.
The second experiment involved 369 online applicants and university students. Instead of completing the self-control questionnaire, participants were presented with 12 scenarios in which they had to purchase items of various price ranges, such as fashion items and travel packages, and were asked to prioritize what they would spend their money on. The purpose of this experiment was to see whether the relationship between the pursuit of happiness and self-control applied not only to questionnaires but also to actual behavior.
The results of the first and second experiments showed that people with higher happiness-seeking scores had lower self-control and spent less time making decisions. This suggests that the tendency to pursue happiness is associated with fewer mental resources for self-control. The experiment also included a test to measure the participants' overall mood, but the results did not change even when the mood test scores were taken into account, indicating that the relationship between the tendency to seek happiness and self-control is not a matter of whether the person is already happy or not.
The third experiment focused on behavior, and asked 36 people to eat as much chocolate as they wanted while passing by a university library. The participants were divided into two groups, one of which was shown an advertisement containing the word 'happiness' and the other a neutral advertisement unrelated to 'happiness,' and were told as a cover story that this was an experiment about sweets advertising. The number of chocolates eaten by the participants was used as an indicator of self-control.
The experiment found that people who were shown ads that subtly stimulated feelings of happiness ate more chocolate than those who were shown ads that did not, suggesting that even a small awareness of happiness can weaken our self-control and make us more likely to give in to the temptation to eat sweets.
In the fourth and final experiment, 188 participants recruited online were shown 25 pairs of everyday items, such as iced latte and green tea, and asked to choose one or the other. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups, with the 'happiness-seeking group' being asked to make the judgment that would most improve their happiness, and the other 'accuracy-seeking group' being asked to make the choice that most accurately matched their preferences. This was intended to compare the effects of 'pursuing happiness' and 'pursuing other goals.'
After making their choice, all participants were asked to complete a puzzle and the time it took them to solve it was measured as a measure of how much of the mental resources needed to exercise self-control the participants in both groups had been depleted. The results showed that people who were instructed to make the choice that would increase their happiness took less time to solve the puzzle.
In the experiment, participants solved anagram puzzles in which they had to rearrange letters to create new words, and the longer they tried to complete the more difficult anagrams, the more mentally demanding it became. The 'happiness-seeking' group spent less time on the puzzles, suggesting that being forced to make choices about happiness uses up more mental resources than a similar task.
'The pursuit of happiness is a snowball effect,' said Mario, one of the study's authors. 'When we resolve to make ourselves happier, the effort can actually drain our ability to make ourselves happy.'
The study has some limitations. For example, while the 'happiness paradox' effect seems to exist, its effect may be relatively small and subtle. There are also issues that need to be clarified in future research, such as longer-term effects and the influence of cultural background.
With these points in mind, Mario commented, 'Instead of always trying to be happy or get what you want, it may be more beneficial to focus on what you already have and embrace life's natural ups and downs.'
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