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What is happinessand who gets to be happy? Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has measured and compared data from 167 countries. The United States currently ranks 24th, between the U.K. and Belizeits lowest position since the report was first issued. But the 2025 edition, released on March 20, the U.N.s annual International Day of Happiness, starts off not with numbers, but with Shakespeare. In this years issue, we focus on the impact of caring and sharing on peoples happiness, the authors explain. Like mercy in Shakespeares Merchant of Venice, caring is twice-blessedit blesses those who give and those who receive. Shakespeares plays offer many reflections on happiness itself. They are a record of how people in early modern England experienced and thought about joy and satisfaction, and they offer a complex look at just how happiness, like mercy, lives in relationships and the caring exchanges between people. Contrary to how we might think about happiness in our everyday lives, it is more than the surge of positive feelings after a great meal, or a workout, or even a great date. The experience of emotions is grounded in both the body and the mind, influenced by human physiology and culture in ways that change depending on time and place. What makes a person happy, therefore, depends on who that person is, as well as where and when they belongor dont belong. Happiness has a history. I study emotions and early modern literature, so I spend a lot of my time thinking about what Shakespeare has to say about what makes people happy, in his own time and in our own. And also, of course, what makes people unhappy. From fortune to joy Shakespeares birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, England [Photo: Tony Hisgett/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons] Happiness derives from the Old Norse word hap, which meant fortune or luck, as historians Phil Withington and Darrin McMahon explain. This earlier sense is found throughout Shakespeares works. Today, it survives in the modern word happenstance and the expression that something is a happy accident. But in modern English usage, happy as fortunate has been almost entirely replaced by a notion of happiness as joy, or the more long-term sense of life satisfaction called well-being. The term well-being, in fact, was introduced into English from the Italian benessere around the time of Shakespeares birth. The word and the concept of happiness were transforming during Shakespeares lifetime, and his use of the word in his plays mingles both senses: fortunate and joyful. That transitional ambiguity emphasizes happinesss origins in ideas about luck and fate, and it reminds readers and playgoers that happiness is a contingent, fragile thingsomething not just individuals but societies need to carefully cultivate and support. Joanna Vanderham as Desdemona and Hugh Quarshie as Othello in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Othello directed by Iqbal Khan at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon [Photo: robbie jack/Corbis via Getty Images] For instance, early in Othello, the Venetian senator Brabantio describes his daughter Desdemona as tender, fair, and happy / So opposite to marriage that she shunned / The wealthy, curled darlings of our nation. Before she elopes with Othello she is happy in the sense of fortunate, due to her privileged position on the marriage market. Later in the same play, though, Othello reunites with his new wife in Cyprus and describes his feelings of joy using this same term: . . . If it were now to die,Twere now to be most happy, for I fearMy soul hath her content so absoluteThat not another comfort like to thisSucceeds in unknown fate. Desdemona responds, The heavens forbidBut that our loves and comforts should increaseEven as our days do grow! They both understand happy to mean not just lucky, but content and comfortable, a more modern understanding. But they also recognize that their comforts depend on the heavens, and that happiness is enabled by being fortunate. Othello is a tragedy, so in the end, the couple will not prove happy in either sense. The foreign general is tricked into believing his young wife has been unfaithful. He murders her, then takes his own life. The seeds of jealousy are planted and expertly exploited by Othellos subordinate, Iago, who catalyzes the racial prejudice and misogyny underlying Venetian values to enact his sinister and cruel revenge. James Earl Jones playing the title role and Jill Clayburgh as Desdemona in a 1971 production of Othello [Photo: Kathleen Ballard/Los Angeles Times/UCLA Library via Wikimedia Commons] Happy insiders and outsiders Othello sheds light on happinesss history, but also on its politics. While happiness is often upheld as a common good, it is also dependent on cultural forces that make it harder for some individuals to experience. Shared cultural fantasies about happiness tend to create what theorist Sara Ahmed calls affect aliens: individuals who, by nature of who they are and how they are treated, experience a disconnect between what their culture conditions them to think should make them happy and their disappointment or exclusion from those positive feelings. Othello, for example, rightly worries that he is somehow foreign to the domestic happiness Desdemona describes, excluded from the joy of Venetian marriage. It turns out he is right. Because Othello is foreign and Black and Desdemona is Venetian and white, their marriage does not conform to their societys expectations for happiness, and that makes them vulnerable to Iagos deceit. Similarly, The Merchant of Venice examines the potential for happiness to include or exclude, to build or break communities. Take the quote about mercy that opens the World Happiness Report. The phrase appears in a famous courtroom scene, as Portia attempts to persuade a Jewish lender, Shylock, to take pity on Antonio, a Christian man who cannot pay his debts. In their contract, Shylock has stipulated that if Antonio defaults on the loan, the fee will be a pound of flesh. The quality of mercy is not strained, Portia lectures him; it is twice-blessed, benefiting both giver and receiver. Its a powerful attempt to save Antonios life. But it is also hypocritical: Those cultural norms of caring and mercy seem to apply only to other Christians in the play, and not the Jewish people living alongside them in Venice. In that same scene, Shylock reminds his audience that Antonio and the other Venetians in the room have spit on him and called him a dog. He famously asks why Jewish Venetians are not treated as equal human beings: If you prick us, do we not bleed? Shakespeares plays repeatedly make the point that the unjust distribution of rights and care among various social groupsChristians and Jews, men and women, citizens and foreignerschallenges the happy effects of benevolence. Those social factors are sometimes overlooked in cultures like the U.S., where contemporary notions of happiness are marketed by wellness gurus, influencers and cosmetic companies. Shakespeares plays reveal both how happiness is built through communities of care and how it can be weaponized to destroy individuals and the fabric of the community. There are obvious victims of prejudice and abuse in Shakespeares plays, but he does not just emphasize their individual tragedies. Instead, the plays record how certain values that promote inequality poison relationships that could otherwise support happy networks of family and friends. Henry Irving as Shylock in a late 19th-century performance of The Merchant of Venice [Photo: Lock & Whitfield/Folger Shakespeare Library vi Wikimedia Commons] Systems of support Pretty much all objective research points to the fact that long-term happiness depends on community, connections and social support: having systems in place to weather what life throws at us. And according to both the World Happiness Report and Shakespeare, contentment isnt just about the actual support you receive but your expectations about peoples willingness to help you. Societies with high levels of trust, like Finland and the Netherlands, tend to be happierand to have more evenly distributed levels of happiness in their populations. Shakespeares plays offer blueprints for trust in happy communities. They also offer warnings about the costs of cultural fantasies about happiness that make it more possible for some, but not for all. Cora Fox is an associate professor of English and health humanities at Arizona State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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A lot has been written about gratitude over the past two decades and how we ought to be feeling it. There is advice for journaling and a plethora of purchasing options for gratitude notebooks and diaries. And research has consistently pointed to the health and relationship benefits of the fairly simple and cost-effective practice of cultivating gratitude. Yet, Americans are living in a very stressful time, worried about their financial situation and the current political upheaval. How then do we practice gratitude during such times? I am a social psychologist who runs the Positive Emotion and Social Behavior Lab at Gonzaga University. I teach courses focused on resilience and human flourishing. I have researched and taught about gratitude for 18 years. At the best of times, awareness of the positive may require more effort than noticing the negative, let alone in times of heightened distress. There are, however, two simple ways to work on this. Gratitude doesnt always come easily Generally, negative information captures attention more readily than the positive. This disparity is so potent that its called the negativity bias. Researchers argue that this is an evolutionary adaptation: Being vigilant for lifes harms was essential for survival. Yet, this means that noticing the kindnesses of others or the beauty the world has to offer may go unnoticed or forgotten by the end of the day. That is to our detriment. Gratitude is experienced as a positive emotion. It results from noticing that othersincluding friends and family certainly, but also strangers, a higher power or the planethave provided assistance or given something of value such as friendship or financial support. By definition, gratitude is focused on others care or on entities outside of oneself. It is not about ones own accomplishments or luck. When we feel gratitude toward something or someone, it can increase well-being and happiness and relationship satisfaction, as well as lower depression. Thus, it may assist in counteracting the negativity bias by helping us find and remember the good that others are doing for us every daythe good that we may lose sight of in the best of times, let alone in times when Americans are deeply stressed. How to practice gratitude Research has shown that some people are naturally more grateful than others. But its also clear that gratitude can be cultivated through practice. People can improve their ability to notice and feel this positive emotion. One way to do this is to try a gratitude journal. Or, if the idea of journaling is daunting or annoying, perhaps call it a daily list instead. If you have given this a try and dislike it, skip to the second method below. Gratitude lists are designed to create a habit in which you scan your day looking for the positive outcomes that others have brought into your life, no matter how small. Writing down several experiences each day that went well because of others may make these positive events more visible to you and more memorable by the end of the daythus, boosting gratitude and its accompanying benefits. While the negative newsThe stock market is down again! How are tariffs going to affect my financial security?is clearly drawing attention, a gratitude list is meant to help highlight the positive so that it doesnt go overlooked. The negative doesnt need help gaining attention, but the positive might. A second method for practicing gratitude is expressing that gratitude to others. This can look like writing a letter of gratitude and delivering it to someone who has made a positive impact in your life. When my students do this exercise, it often results in touching interactions. For instance, my college students often write to high school mentors, and those adults are regularly moved to tears to learn of the positive impact they had. Expressing gratitude in work settings can boost employees sense of social worth. In a world that may currently feel bleak, a letter of gratitude may not only help the writer recognize the good of others but also let others know that they are making a beautiful difference in the world. Monica Y. Bartlett is a professor of psychology at Gonzaga University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Greg Walton, PhD, is the co-director of the Dweck-Walton Lab and a professor of psychology at Stanford University. Dr. Waltons research is supported by many foundations, including Character Lab, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He has been covered in major media outlets including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times. Whats the big idea? Stanford psychologist Greg Walton reveals how small psychological shiftsknown as wise interventionscan create profound change in our lives. Through vivid storytelling and cutting-edge research, he shows how simple reframes can build trust, strengthen relationships, and unlock potential. From a teachers encouraging words to a brief moment of self-reflection before conflict, these subtle shifts can shape our futures in powerful ways. Ordinary Magic is a compelling guide to harnessing everyday moments for extraordinary impact. Below, Greg shares five key insights from his new book, Ordinary Magic: The Science of How We Can Achieve Big Change with Small Acts. Listen to the audio versionread by Greg himselfin the Next Big Idea App. 1. Little things can make a big difference. Ordinary Magic is about change, and how to create it. Sometimes, problems in our lives can seem fixed, like theres nothing you could do to make things better. Persistent struggles in school. Conflict in a relationship. Self-doubt. But we dont just have to wish things were better. It starts with noticing our little thoughts and feelingswhat I call surfacingand then creating the right space to address them. Say youre married. Its a happy marriage, but you and your partner have a persistent conflict. Will you have the right space to think through your conflict? One study found that seven minutes answering three reflection questions every four months for a year made conflict less distressing for couples, and helped stabilize marriages. Twenty-one minutes to save a marriage. Or say youre a teacher. You work hard for your students, giving them feedback so they can improve. But many of your students dont take up that opportunity. Why? Another study found that just 17 words increased the rate at which 7th graders took up their teachers feedback to improve their work for a higher gradeand increased their trust in teachers over the rest of the school year. Change like this can feel magical. But thisthis is ordinary magic. These solutions require no special degree. Theyre the kind of thing all of us can learn from, and put to work in our own lives. Everyone can be an ordinary magician. And all of us benefit from ordinary magicians around us. What this magic requires is a deeper understanding of ourselvesunderstanding the icky questions that pop up as we travel through life. And learning how, individually and together, we can answer these questions well. 2. Big problems can start small. A little thought, a shadow of doubt. Often, it starts with a question. But then things spiral out of control. Suppose you wonder, Does my partner disrespect me? Left to their devices, questions like this drive us down. If you think a fight means your partner doesnt love you, then you might hold back and be less forgiving next time. If theyre late, again, you might feel confirmed in their lack of respect. Then you withdraw or lash out. That undermines a relationship. Left to their devices, questions like this drive us down. Or say youre the first in your family to go to college. You wonder, Do people like me belong in college? Then youre excluded from a social outing. A professor says something unkind. You think, Maybe its truemaybe people like me dont belong here. You stop going to office hours, stop asking questions in class, skip that welcome event for a student group. Fast-forward and, six months later, you dont have close friends on campus. No mentor to guide your growth. Youre thinking about dropping out. Negative questions make us spiral down. They make themselves true. Then, they put our relationships, our achievements, and our health at risk. 3. Change starts when we understand the questions we face, or another person faces. Let me share an example: When our kids were little, we took them to and from a campus daycare by bike. So, at the end of a long day, wed bike home, the kids on tiny 12-inch wheels. Sometimes, theyd stop two blocks from home and 20 minutes past dinner time. Theyd sit on the curb and wail, Im tired! I thought of research by my good friend Veronika Job. Veronika showed that sometimes people take little cues of tiredness as a reason to stop, to pull back from their efforts, even on things they care about. Its like we have range anxietyyou feel youre running out when you work hard on something, long before you reach any actual limit. Then you hold back, even on something you care about. So, I decided to reframe the meaning of feeling tired to them. I took to saying, Its when youre tired and you keep going that you get stronger. It didnt always work. But I think it helped. A little later, our daughter Lucy was trying to bike up a steep and winding path on our way home. Wed taken to bringing chalk to mark how far shed gotten. One time, Lucy not only beat her previous record but crushed it. As Oliver and I whooped and cheered, Lucy said, You know how I did it? When I wanted to stop, I kept going. Isnt that lovely? In that story, I offered Lucy a new way to think about her effortsthat tiredness need not be a reason to stop. That she could keep going. That tiredness might even be an opportunityto get stronger. It freed Lucy to succeed. She used that way of thinking to achieve her goal. As I write in the book, Thinking is for becoming. This kind of change is quiet, not loud. But it frees us to spiral up. A small initial insight, a small change in direction, can lead us to vast new lands. 4. The icky questions we ask are reasonable, but they arent necessarily true. The questions come from the context were in. Of course, the first-gen college student wonders if people like her belong in college. Her family literally hasnt belonged in college before. That reasonableness is important. First, it means youre not alone. When youre asking a question like Do I belong?, Can I do it?, or Am I inadequate? theres nothing wrong with you. Youre not irrational or disordered or weird. Youre normal. Youre responding to the world as it is. But even as that question is reasonable, it neednt be true. Its answers youre looking for. Because questions like these are reasonable, we can learn to predict when people will ask them. When we see these questions clearly, we can learn to address them with grace and dignity, which can transform our lives. Thats an hour to change a life. In one study, my colleagues and I developed a 60-minute session early in college to help new students address the question, Do people like me belong in college? Students of color are often underrepresented in college, and sometimes, theyre represented as less able and less deserving. So, that question is most pressing for them. The exercise we developed shared stories from older students, who showed that almost everyone worries at first if they belong in college. Students reflected on their belonging worries, why theyre normal, and how they can improve with time. That improved African American students achievement through the next three years of college. A decade later, they reported being more satisfied in their lives, more successful in their careers, and taking on more leadership roles in their communities. Thats an hour to change a life. That didnt happen because students just remembered that experience. At the end of college, students couldnt even remember it clearly. And they didnt credit any of their success to it. Instead, addressing a persistent question about belonginga reasonable question that comes from the history of exclusion in educationfreed students to build friendships and mentor relationships, and those supports that helped them succeed. 5. This is work we do together. The most toxic questions are about who you are and who you can become. In the most difficult circumstances, when people look at you and all they see is something horrible, there must be space to tell your own story, a chance to tell that story in a way that other people can hear, a way to make that story real together. For more than a decade, Ive worked with leaders in the Oakland Unified School District to support students returning to school from juvenile detention. This circumstance poses terrible questions to both students and teachers. These students have been told, more or less unambiguously, that they do not belong here and are not wanted here. And its easy for teachers to wonder, Will this student care? Will they try? Or will they just cause trouble? The most toxic questions are about who you are and who you can become. So, we created a platform for young people, a way for them to introduce themselves to an educator of their choiceto share their values in school, such as being a good role model for a younger sibling, their goals, and the challenges they face. We find that young people use this platform to express, essentially, Im a good kid, and I want to succeed, but I need help. Can you help me? Then, we present this information to the educator the child selected. We emphasize that all kids need support from adults. This child has chosen you. Heres what they would like you to know about them. Please help. And then we say, Thank you for your work. We find this letter opens the hearts of educators to justice-involved youth. It helps them see that this is a kida kid who wants to succeed. They respond with support. In a first trial, this approach reduced the rate of student recidivism to juvenile detention by 40 percentage points, from 69 percent to 29 percent, in the following school term. Its the most powerful way I know to remedy mistrust in school. This is the change we need to help us achieve what we want to achieve, to do what we want to do, and to become who we want to be. Its a way to help other people in their journeys, too. In the process, we can make our society a little healthier, a little more together, and a little kinder. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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