Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being.
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An 8-month-long experimental study examined the immediate and longer term effects of regularly practicing two assigned positive activities (expressing optimism and gratitude) on well-being. More important, this intervention allowed us to explore the impact of two metafactors that are likely to influence the success of any positive activity: whether one self-selects into the study knowing that it is about increasing happiness and whether one invests effort into the activity over time. Our results indicate that initial self-selection makes a difference, but only in the two positive activity conditions, not the control, and that continued effort also makes a difference, but, again, only in the treatment conditions. We conclude that happiness interventions are more than just placebos, but that they are most successful when participants know about, endorse, and commit to the intervention.
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Information on the psychological content of the intervention before inclusion and tailoring the content and dose of the intervention to individual patients might further improve acceptance of the PP exercises, as suggested by previous research.
“Information on the psychological content of the intervention before inclusion and tailoring the content and dose of the intervention to individual patients might further improve acceptance of the PP exercises, as suggested by previous research [70-72].”
From Benefits, Recruitment, Dropout, and Acceptability of the Strength Back Digital Health Intervention for Patients Undergoing Spinal Surgery: Nonrandomized, Qualitative, and Quantitative Pilot Feasibility Study (2024) · cites this paper as [71]
The Self-Selection section suggests that knowing an intervention’s purpose and choosing to participate may improve its effectiveness. The paper does not show that explaining the exercises’ psychological content before inclusion, or tailoring their content and dose to individual patients, improves acceptance; its outcomes concern well-being rather than acceptance. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPositive psychology interventions as a whole appear more effective among members of individualist cultures.
“Indeed, PPIs as a whole appear more effective among members of individualist cultures320, perhaps because the rationale for such approaches resonates more strongly with individuals from cultures endorsing the pursuit of individual happiness.”
From Psychobiological factors of resilience and depression in late life (2019) · cites this paper as [320]
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- Authors
- Lyubomirsky, S., Dickerhoof, R., Boehm, J. K., & Sheldon, K. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- University of Missouri (US)
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2011-04
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 391-402
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- PMC
- PMC4380267
- OpenAlex
- W2137553736
- Cited by
- 720
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 47 · 2015: 58 · 2014: 62 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 63.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Chapman University Digital Commons (Chapman University) (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (5 R01 MH065937-04)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- happiness interventions, well-being, optimism, gratitude, positive activities, self-selection, effort investment, placebo effect, longitudinal intervention
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Behavior Therapy, Female, Happiness, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Motivation, Personal Satisfaction, Psychological Tests, Surveys and Questionnaires
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