NON-CONFIDENTIAL AND NON-PROPRIETARY, ENTIRELY SHAREABLE Purpose+, Amstel 95, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Science of HappinessInternal research project, P+

At the moment, just ~17% of our European population meets the criteria for flourishing: living a positive, engaged and meaningful life

Source: Huppert & So (Cambridge, 2007) in the European Social Survey

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Portugal Russian Federation

Slovakia Bulgaria Ukraine Poland

Slovenia France Estonia

Spain Belgium

Germany Netherlands

UK Cyprus

Sweden Ireland

Norway Finland Austria

Switzerland Denmark

Percentage flourishing

Percentage of people flourishing in top-20 countries, average (global) percentage is 17%

17% average

Situation as is

Happier people significantly outperform less happy people in many different areas of life…

Proven benefits of being happier… Area ▪  Higher individual employee output ▪  Higher levels of creativity ▪  More effective leadership ▪  Better job performance ▪  Higher salary per employees

▪  Better evaluations by supervisor ▪  Less burnouts ▪  Less sick days ▪  More time focused on actual work ▪  Perceived as more helpful/friendly

▪  Better resilience during tough periods ▪  Better performance on average ▪  Less likely to choke ▪  More enthusiastic ▪  More inspiration

▪  Higher levels of resilience ▪  Less PTSS ▪  More Post Traumatic Growth ▪  Lower suicide rates ▪  Improved social ‘fitness’

▪  Higher grades ▪  Better conduct ▪  Less anxiety to perform ▪  More sociable behavior

▪  Longer life ▪  Higher levels of energy ▪  Lower chances of depression ▪  Lower anxiety levels ▪  Better (and longer) marriage

▪  Higher quality network of friends ▪  More altruism ▪  Lower levels of jealousy ▪  More positive emotions

Source: Jessica Pryce-Jones, Happiness at Work: Maximizing your Psychological Capital for Success, 2010; HBR What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs, 2010; Oxford Handbook of Happiness, 2013; Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, 2011; The Energy Strategy case studies. iOpener Institute case studies.

▪  Better team bonding ▪  Significantly better team performance

Companies

Sports

US Army

Schools

General public

Performance link

Our level of happiness are not fixed, and is partly within our own control...

DNA: 50%*

Circumstances: 10%

Intentional activity: 40%

Amount of variance in happiness explained by the three most important factors

Source: Sonja Lubyomirski, University of California

Influence

...since psychological traits are never fully inheritable

Source: Bouchard et al., 1990, Sources of Human Psychological Differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart.

Psychological trait Estimated heritability

Extraversion 0.54

Agreeableness (linked to aggression) 0.42

Conscientiousness 0.49

Neuroticism 0.48

Openness 0.57

Intelligence (age 5) 0.22

Intelligence (age 10) 0.54

intelligence (age 18) 0.82

Intelligence (age 50) 0.85

Schizophrenia 0.80

Major depression 0.37

Panic disorder 0.30-0.40

Generalized anxiety disorder 0.30

Phobias 0.20-0.40

Alcoholism 0.50-0.60

Antisocial behavior (children) 0.46

Antisocial behavior (adults) 0.41

Conservatism (under age 20) 0.00

Conservatism (over age 20) 0.45-0.65

Religiousness (16-year olds) 0.11-0.22

Religiousness (adults) 0.30-0.45

A score of 0,0 indicates that genes do not contribute to observed individual differences; a score of 1,0 would mean genes are the only reason

Personality traits

Intelligence

Psychiatric illnesses

Social attitudes

Influence

People are notoriously bad at predicting their own happiness in the future – which tends to normalize after most events (1/2)

6.8

6.9

7

7.1

7.2

7.3

7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

T-4 T-3 T-2 T-1 T T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Men

Women

Life satifaction (1-10)

Time

Source: Clark, Diener, Georgellis, Lucas (2003) – Lag and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis

Marriage

Influence

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8

8.2

8.4

T-4 T-3 T-2 T-1 T T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Men

Women

Life satifaction (1-10)

Time

Source: Clark, Diener, Georgellis, Lucas (2003) – Lag and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis

Child birth

People are notoriously bad at predicting their own happiness in the future – which tends to normalize after most events (2/2)

Influence

...and can therefore specifically be improved per sub-dimension through a toolbox of interventions

•  Reflect on Peak Experiences

•  Anticipate Good Things

•  Capitalize on the Good

•  Be Present in Good Times

•  Three Good Things Diary

•  Three Funny Moments Diary

•  Random Act of Kindness

•  Gift of Time •  Secret Good Deed •  Reflect on Play

History

•  Discover Your Unique Strengths

•  Ask for Strengths-Based Feedback

•  Use Your Strengths in New Ways

•  Map your Flow triggers

•  Mindfulness Meditation

•  Mindful Consumption

•  Body Scan •  Walking Meditation

•  Build Love Maps •  Active Constructive

Responding •  Find Energisers •  Deepening key

relations •  Gratitude Letter •  Gratitude Call •  Gratitude Visit •  Daily Appreciation •  Say Thanks •  Loving Kindness

Meditation •  Compassion

Meditation

•  Write Your Meaning maker Story: Three Questions

•  Forgiveness Letter •  Death bed

visualization •  Lifelines Exercise

•  Presentations of ‘three circles’

•  Set Self-Concordant Goals

•  SMART Goals with Rituals

•  Best Reflected Self •  Learning from

Challenges •  Measure and Build

GRIT

•  Eat Well •  Design a healthy

Week •  Design an exercise

Ritual •  Design a

Relaxation Ritual

Positive emotions Engagement Relationships Meaning Accomplishment Vitality

Source: Purpose+, Building Positive Organisations (Ter Weijde, 2015)

Influence

PERMA dimensions of well-being with the underlying toolkit to improve each dimension

Well-being can be assessed relatively easily on a personal level...

Source: Example questions taken from the Flourish Inventory; Tayyab Rashid, University of Toronto

I feel joyful. _______ Others say I look happy. ________ I laugh heartily. ________

I know my strengths. _______ I pursue activities which use my strengths.________ I use my strengths to solve my problems. ________

I feel connected to people with whom I interact regularly._______ I feel close to my loved ones.________ During though times, there is always someone I can turn to for support________

I feel that my life has a purpose._______ I do things that contribute to a larger cause.________ I use my strengths to help others.________

I have done many things well in life._______ When I set a goal, I’m able to accomplish it.________ I am an ambitious person.________

8,8*

9,2*

9,9*

8,5*

9,1*

0 = Never, 1 = Rarely, 2 = Sometimes, 3 = Frequently, 4 = Almost Always

* Note: Dutch averages taken from a sample (N = 400); norm for flourishing would be 9,6

Example questions below each category PERMA dimension Average NL*

Engagement

Positive emotions

Relationships

Meaning

Accomplishment

Assessment

...although more complex composite measurements also exist for systems, like countries or organisations...

Well-Being*

‘Objective’

GDP

Health

Employment

Literacy

Poverty

‘Subjective’

Evaluative

Life Satisfaction survey

Subjective Happiness survey

PERMA Profiler

Personal Well-being Index

Flourish survey

Fordyce survey

Real time

Happiness tracker (app)

Keyboard strokes analysis

EEG headbands

Sociometer

Fitbit step-o-meter

Heart variability tool

Source: Purpose+ team * Optional: factor well-being scores with life expectancy to get the ‘amount of happy years lived’

Assessment

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