A survey of 800 college alumni found that those who valued a high income, job success and prestige were twice as likely to be fairly or very unhappy as those who valued friends and marriage. Michael Argyle, of Oxford University, found that satisfaction with life increased with professional status, rather than income. A study of the Forbes 100 list of the richest found them just slightly happier than the average American. And a variety of studies has found that even after the death of someone close, most people return to their normal level of happiness within a year. If you were a happy little kid, you're likely to be happy now.
Some researchers believe that as much as half of the tendency to be happy is genetic.
He could determine a particular identical twin's well-being by looking at reports from years earlier by that twin or the twin's brother or sister. He decided there was a predetermined capacity that might fluctuate with good or bad events but would return to a certain level within time. That does not necessarily mean certain people are genetically doomed to misery. Mr. Lykken argues that if you tend to unhappiness you can change that by altering your outlook and by investing in life's simple pleasures. If you like to cook, cook.