Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Study Of Happiness, Rachel Mills

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In the fall of 2012, I undertook a two-week study to test the impact friendships have on my happiness. My overall intention for this experiment was to change how I approached and treated my friendships. The experiment consisted of focusing my attention on my friend’s happiness before my own and to track my behavioral changes towards others. Throughout the two weeks, I tested multiple theories to see if, in fact, they affected my happiness. The most interesting finding in this study was that a variety of social groups are the most influential and important aspect to increasing my own happiness. …