The study of happiness has advanced beyond the self-help books of the 1970s (remember "I'm OK, You're OK"?) into the realm of a new field known as positive psychology. Social scientists, in recent attempts to understand the illusive phenomenon of happiness, have uncovered some fascinating and surprising information. It turns out that cartoonist Charles Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, was wrong. Happiness isn't quite as simple as a warm puppy.

Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, may have said it all, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." But if true and enduring happiness can only be generated from within, why do Americans stubbornly continue to pursue happiness from external sources? Why do we continually fall into the "I'd be happy - if only" trap? If only I had more money … If only my high school boyfriend hadn't dumped me … If only I looked like Angelina Jolie … If only I lived in California … . Well, you get the idea. Would a warm climate, great wealth, stunning good looks and true love bring us enduring happiness? In a word, no. Positive psychologists tell us that happiness won't be found in an external solution and those who look externally for happiness will constantly find it just out of reach.

California dreamin'

North Dakota has a higher net outmigration of people ages 18 to 25 than any other state in the nation. Why are young adults leaving? A 2007 study of North Dakota college seniors found that more than half of those who grew up in North Dakota believe that North Dakota lacks opportunity and excitement, and that by leaving the state, they will be happier. David Schkade and Daniel Kahneman surveyed 1,993 college students in the Midwest and Southern California. The researchers asked the students to rate their overall satisfaction with life. Both groups were nearly identical in their self-reported life satisfaction; however, the students from both locations predicted that Californians would be far happier than Midwesterners.

Is it possible, then, that people move to places such as California in an attempt to find happiness? The answer is yes, according to Schkade and Kahneman. People erroneously fall into what they termed a "focusing illusion." Focusing on only one or two obvious and observable aspects, such as weather, can lead to overrating their capacity to make one happy, or conversely, unhappy. The notion of moving to California, in the abstract, allows us to imagine ourselves lounging beside a swimming pool sipping a cool drink. The issue of climate, the researchers note, looms large when comparing places like North Dakota to Beverly Hills. Other issues such as traffic, pollution and high cost of living are, by contrast, often not considered at all.

Does money buy happiness?

Money does make a difference to the very poor by increasing their happiness level significantly. However, once people achieve a middle-class income, more money doesn't mean more happiness. Real incomes (adjusted for inflation) have more than doubled in America since 1950, but happiness levels have not increased at all. Yet, we still strive for wealth in the pursuit of happiness. Polls reveal that those who make $10,000 a year say that $50,000 a year would make them happy. Those who make $50,000 say they would require $200,000. Those making $200,000 cite $1 million as the threshold for happiness.

Researchers give three reasons for this phenomenon. The first is habituation. We get used to having more money quickly, just as we get used to having a bigger house, a better job or higher status. Second is social comparison. The more we have, the more likely we are to compare ourselves to others. The third reason is known as unobserved choice. Those who have high incomes often earn that income by working longer hours in more stressful jobs, thereby effectively lowering their happiness levels.

What if you didn't have to work for your wealth? In the 1970s, the Journal of Personality and Psychology published research by Philip Brinkman and his colleagues that compared people who had won the lottery with individuals who had been in terrible accidents and became paraplegics or quadriplegics. Brinkman's intent was to determine which group was happier. After one year, the study revealed that members of both groups had returned to the same level of happiness that they were at before the seemingly life-changing event.

It doesn't seem possible, does it? For a moment, imagine holding a $5 million lottery ticket in your hand. Your view of the future at that moment would be extremely optimistic. You might well assume that all of your problems were going to magically disappear and that everything from now on would be perfect. After all, you're rich. However, over time, you would realize that although some of your problems were gone, many more were still in your life, and new problems would have emerged.

Keeping up with

the Joneses

That new BMW in your driveway made you happy for a while, at least until your neighbor pulled up in his new Rolls Royce Phantom. Your pay raise thrilled you until you found out that the guy in the next cubicle got $2,000 more. Comparing ourselves to others tends to decrease our happiness quotient. An interesting experiment on the power of comparison asked this question: In the Olympics, after the gold medal winners, which athletes are the happiest? The second happiest group, by far, were the bronze medal winners. Why not those in second place? Objectively, they should have been the second happiest, and the bronze medal winners the third happiest. The answer here is to whom did each individual compare himself or herself? As it turns out, the silver medal winners compared themselves to the gold medal winners and felt like losers. Those who had won the bronze medal compared themselves to everyone else who had not won any medals at all, and thereby, in comparison, they felt like winners.

The lessons that positive psychology has to teach us about happiness include the following:

1) Happiness can be best achieved by those who think of happiness in terms of living a meaningful life.

2) Don't think in terms of "if only." Focus on the positive, the things you have that have gone right rather than those things that went wrong.

3) Spikes in happiness are fleeting. Don't pin your hopes on the lottery, a new car or a bigger paycheck.

4) Avoid comparing yourself to others because there will always be someone wealthier, better looking or with kids who got straight A's.

5) Appreciate what you have and be generous to others. Buddha said, "If we understood the power of generosity to create happiness, we would never sit down to a meal by ourselves."

(Debora Dragseth teaches in the Department of Business and Management, Dickinson State University.)