--- title: Simple Secret to Happiness Most People Get Wrong, Backed by Research description: When it comes to happiness, quantity beats quality canonical: https://time.com/3690621/simple-secret-happiness/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-02T05:01:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:09:52.073Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Simple Secret to Happiness Most People Get Wrong, Backed by Research og:description: When it comes to happiness, quantity beats quality. og:url: https://time.com/3690621/simple-secret-happiness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12e3bfc5bfa7e86e/69877cfd3c16391b4245183f/490951157-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5200 og:image:height: 2925 og:image:alt: excited-people og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Simple Secret to Happiness Most People Get Wrong, Backed by Research twitter:description: When it comes to happiness, quantity beats quality. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12e3bfc5bfa7e86e/69877cfd3c16391b4245183f/490951157-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Simple Secret to Happiness Most People Get Wrong, Backed by Research > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=102c8b4a-ce10-40d6-a23c-cf147a3c31e5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Feb 2, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Excited friends. Excited friends. Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Feb 2, 2015 5:01 AM UTC Focus on increasing the amount of good stuff in your life vs. reducing the amount of bad stuff. Studies show that it really is [the little things in life](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-the-big-things-or-little-things-in-life) that make us happy. Researchers often tout the happiness-increasing powers of both religion and exercise. One of the lesser known reasons why they’re so effective is because [both provide regular, frequent boosts](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-are-both-exercise-and-religion-so-good-at). You may be focused on a big goal, something that you’re sure will make you super-happy for a long time… but [you’re probably misguided](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-many-small-pleasures-beat-fewer-larger-one). When it comes to happiness, [frequency beats intensity](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/8-ways-that-money-can-buy-happiness). Why? One reason is that [it’s harder to take for granted a lot of little things](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/8-ways-that-money-can-buy-happiness) vs one, big rare event. Another reason is that “[in everyday life, bad events have stronger and more lasting consequences than comparable good events](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-bad-truly-stronger-than-good)” — so we need more good to make up for unexpected misfortunes. This “more good beats less bad” theory works across many domains: **With friends:** The best way to maximize happiness when having meals with friends is for [one person to take a turn each time paying for everyone’s dinner](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-do-you-split-a-dinner-bill-with-friends-s). It’s a big hit but it results in many more “free” meals for everyone, boosting happiness. **At work:** The best work teams had a [five to one ratio of positive vs negative interactions together](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-5-to-1-the-golden-ratio-for-both-work-and). **In relationships:** Divorce may have less to do with an increase in conflict and [more to do with a decrease in positive feelings](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-determines-whether-a-marriage-succeeds-o). Wanna [stay together](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-simple-thing-kills-many-relationships)? Do [exciting stuff](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-to-quickly-and-easily-improve-your-marria) to keep things [fun](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-an-easy-way-to-improve-your-marriage). But what if creating more good things in your life is difficult due to constraints of time or money? Just [savoring the good moments](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-you-seize-the-day-and-enjoy-life-more) you do have (even little ones) is the [single most proven method](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/the-most-proven-technique-for-increasing-long) for increasing happiness. It’s effectively treated people with[mild/moderate depression](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-improve-depression-and-anxiety-with-a). [Reliving fun moments with your partner](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/another-quick-and-easy-way-to-increase-relati) can improve a relationship. Savoring the good things in life is one of the [secrets of the happiest people](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-happiest-people). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/to-be-happier-should-you-increase-the-good-th/)**_._** **Join over 150,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/) [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/) [4 Lifehacks From Ancient Philosophers That Will Make You Happier](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/01/ancient-philosophers/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3690621/simple-secret-happiness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3690621/simple-secret-happiness/"},"headline":"The Simple Secret to Happiness Most People Get Wrong, Backed by Research","datePublished":"2015-02-02T05:01:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:09:52.073Z","description":"When it comes to happiness, quantity beats quality","url":"https://time.com/3690621/simple-secret-happiness/","keywords":["Psychology","Happiness","Research"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12e3bfc5bfa7e86e/69877cfd3c16391b4245183f/490951157-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12e3bfc5bfa7e86e/69877cfd3c16391b4245183f/490951157-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"excited-people","caption":"excited-people","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3690621/simple-secret-happiness/","name":"The Simple Secret to Happiness Most People Get Wrong, Backed by Research"}}]}] ```