--- title: Science Studies Don't Actually Support Happiness Strategies description: An in-depth look at the evidence behind the most popular happiness hacks isn’t very reassuring, saying studies lack good data. canonical: https://time.com/6296357/happiness-strategies-lack-data/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-07-21T15:23:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:03.876Z article:section: Health og:title: Science Studies Don't Actually Support Happiness Strategies og:description: An in-depth look at the evidence behind the most popular happiness hacks isn’t very reassuring, saying studies lack good data. og:url: https://time.com/6296357/happiness-strategies-lack-data/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4f199f6501bd6f6/698a3ee222fb850db7e2edff/happiness-smiley-faces.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1899 og:image:height: 1068 og:image:alt: Feedback form, conceptual illustration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Science Studies Don't Actually Support Happiness Strategies twitter:description: An in-depth look at the evidence behind the most popular happiness hacks isn’t very reassuring, saying studies lack good data. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4f199f6501bd6f6/698a3ee222fb850db7e2edff/happiness-smiley-faces.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Data Don't Really Support the Most Popular Happiness Strategies > Sponsored content. 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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=d979c0db-0a22-47a5-9dd9-257b203fe793&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet the People Orienteering to Improve Their Mind-Body Health [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the People Orienteering to Improve Their Mind-Body Health](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5hrQlp7s.m3u8) (3:51)  _Published 2023-05-09. Generations ago, we used our brains to hunt, gather and find our way home. Today, GPS has eroded many of those skills, but science says using the navigational part of your brain is actually pretty important, and good for you. Enter orienteering, the sport of finding your way while getting a workout._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 21, 2023 3:23 PM UTC  Feedback form, conceptual illustration. Feedback form, conceptual illustration. Getty Images/Science Photo Library  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 21, 2023 3:23 PM UTC When it comes to life hacks, the secret to happiness is among the things people seek the most (along with how to get rich), at least according to internet searches. And there’s no dearth of [advice on how to get happier](https://time.com/collection/happiness-revival-guide/), from expressing more gratitude to practicing mindfulness and meditation to exercising. Some of these strategies are so entrenched in the modern consciousness that you’d be excused for thinking there’s a lot of scientific evidence behind them. All those people on the internet and running wellness centers can’t be wrong. Or can they? In a [study published July 20 in ](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01651-4)[_Nature Human Behavior_](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01651-4), happiness researchers at the University of British Columbia report that for the most popular happiness strategies there is at best little solid, scientifically sound evidence—and in some cases, there is none. --- ### More from TIME --- Like many in the happiness field, Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Dunigan Folk, a PhD student in Dunn’s lab, took for granted that the strategies many people turn to in order to boost happiness came to prominence because the data documenting their effect justified the connection. But a recent push among experts in the psychology field to apply more stringent measures to research studies and the interpretation of data made the pair question how strong the historical happiness-research data really was. **_Read more_**_:_ [_The Daily Habits of Happiness Experts_](https://time.com/6241099/daily-habits-happiness-experts/) In 2010, after a major psychology journal agreed to publish a paper purporting to find [evidence for extra sensory perception](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/12/study-looks-brains-ability-see-future), many researchers in the field [questioned](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110518080059.htm) how data supporting what they felt was an impossible conclusion could be included in a reputable scientific publication. That criticism led to a reassessment in the field of how data are collected, how they are analyzed, and how much adjustment of the data occurs in the interpretation phase to fit pre-specified hypotheses. The problem wasn’t unique to psychology research, but, says Dunn, “we were the most proactive in combating the problem and making it central to reforming our field. The little techniques that people used to massage the data and thought was like jay walking, was really more like robbing the bank in terms of how big an impact they have.” Some of these strategies included selective reporting of only certain segments of data collected during a trial, or excluding certain participants, or controlling for certain criteria such as age—all of which can cumulatively affect the outcome. Researchers may have good reasons for these practices, including the fact that there may not be sufficient data on specific age groups, for example, to make an analysis statistically relevant. But while “there may be justifiable reasons for making these decisions, they could lead to findings that are not as reliable,” says Folk. “It’s like throwing a dart on the wall and drawing the bullseye afterward.” **_Read more_**_:_ [_6 Surprising Things You Think Are Making You Happy—But Are Doing the Opposite_](https://time.com/collection/happiness-revival-guide/6240219/things-that-wont-make-you-happy/) After 2011, those in the psychology field informally agreed to apply more rigorous standards to their research, by creating a system where scientists could pre-register studies and their planned methods for collecting and analyzing data in different online databanks (a popular one, Open Science Framework, is operated by the Center for Open Science, a non-profit group of scientists working to promote transparency and reproducibility of scientific data). That would, in theory, discourage adjusting their methods or analysis in any way once the data were collected. “The only way to cut short the incredible flexibility that’s occurring with data interpretation is to tie our hands ahead of time,” says Dunn. The commitment isn’t binding in the sense that it’s not connected to funding or academic appointments, but reviewers who evaluate papers before publication could consult the database and monitor adherence. She and Folk investigated how many of the studies involving the five most popular happiness strategies promoted in media coverage of the topic included such pre-registered studies. The strategies included: * expressing [gratitude](https://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/4856968/9-easy-ways-to-get-more-grateful/) * increasing [social interactions](https://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/4809325/friends-friendship-health-family/) * practicing [mindfulness or meditation](https://time.com/collection/happiness-revival-guide/6244576/deep-breathing-better-well-being/) * spending more [time in nature](https://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/4881665/green-spaces-nature-happiness/) * [exercising](https://time.com/4474874/exercise-fitness-workouts/) They started with more than 22,000 papers involving these methods, and determined that only 494 properly compared the interventions to a control, as well as excluded specialized groups of people such as those with depression who could confound the results. Of that group of studies, only 57 were pre-registered and constructed in such a way that their results were statistically well-powered. When Dunn and Folk then looked at each specific strategy, they found that studies exploring gratitude and social interaction were the only methods that had pre-registered and well-powered studies supporting them. On the one hand, says Folk, “it’s understandable that people continue to think there is a ton of well-supported evidence behind these strategies.”After all, he says “there is plenty of research prior to 2011 that shows evidence that these strategies can improve happiness,” says Folk. “At the time, it was the highest quality evidence that was available. But there was a problem with the way the research was done, although nobody realized it then.” **_Read more:_** [_Happiness In America Isn’t What It Used to Be_](https://time.com/collection/happiness-revival-guide/6244240/happiness-america-history/) Even with the two methods that had the strongest evidence behind them—[expressing gratitude](https://time.com/6245117/gratitude-how-to-practice/) and becoming more socially engaged—the researchers found that the effects were short-lived. Writing lists of things for which you are grateful or writing letters to people expressing gratitude can both improve mood—but only temporarily. Similarly, becoming more socially engaged by speaking to strangers could also improve positive mood for short periods, but the studies did not include looking at the effect of spending more time with close friends and loved ones. Their findings don’t necessarily mean that the strategies won’t contribute to improving people’s mood and increasing happiness, but the durability and strength of the effect isn’t clear from the existing data. “I think there is good reason to believe that they do work,” says Folk. “But I think it’s important to understand that they might not work for everybody.” ## Transcript Orienteering in a nutshell is the sport of navigating with a map and Compass through unfamiliar Terrain. It's very relaxing with the same time, you have the challenge of reading a map in solving a puzzle and navigating the way from one control to the next control. You basically interpret the map and use what information you can just to find the quickest route, the shortest route is not always the quickest route. It's still a very small unknown sport. It's a much bigger sport in Europe, but most people try the sport. They'll find it is really fun thing to do. Generations ago, we used our brains to hunt gather and find her way home today. GPS has eroded many of those skills. But science says, using the navigational part of your brain is actually pretty important and good-for-you enter orienteering the sport of finding your way while getting a workout on a recent spring day. We met up with a group of orienteers ranging from beginners to experts to learn more about this increasingly popular Pastime is definitely not something that I'm used to doing. You like the different courses or advance and for it beginner to beginner course. It may seem short but it's designed to basically lead you around. So it's basically all on trails and then you step up beyond that to intermediate courses and you basically off-trail a little bit more looking for maybe a single Boulder out in the woods. But you're utilizing features around you to navigate to those features. And then there's usually a range of advanced courses where it's designed to be a technical challenge. Having a perfect Rod. It's a gold a stretch for. But most of us usually make some mistakes on almost to our course and see what we've been doing this for years. The challenge is to figure it out and minimize your mistakes and hopefully beat everybody else back to the Finish. A new study from Canada suggested orienteering could help fight or prevent age-related cognitive decline in spatial navigation and memory. The sports mind, body workout wasn't lost on the folks. We spoke with, on the path. You are thinking one of these and in orienteering, you like, have another dimension. Okay. This is the beauty salon throughout on. We are on trails and not come in a wooded areas so it kind of like on and off running. I wasn't it wasn't quite ready for but it was good, lower. Once when we were trying to look for number seven, we just took the wrong path. That ended up going back to number 6. Before it was an orange here I would go running. I was always counting the minutes or seconds and when I'm only trying it's just pure fun, you know, I'm playing, I'm not trying to hit some targeted number of miles or minutes just to get the exercise. Everyone children adults should do orienteering because they always work with a body and we never mind. 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