The secret to happiness is helping others – and setting yourself concrete goals to do so, say researchers.
They claim that achieving goals give us a far greater sense of satisfaction than abstract concepts of helping others.
The team even admit that chasing happiness without clearly defined goals could make us unhappy, resulting in ‘helper burnout’.
Givers are likely to experience greater happiness if they frame acts of benevolence in concrete rather than abstract terms, according to the new study.
‘Although the desire for personal happiness may be clear, the path to achieving it is indefinite,’ said Jennifer Aaker at Stanford University, who led the research.
‘One reason for this hazy route to happiness is that although people often think they know what leads to happiness, their predictions about what will make them happy are often inaccurate.’
The team say one path to happiness is through concrete, specific goals of benevolence – like making someone smile or increasing recycling – instead of following similar but more abstract goals – like making someone happy or saving the environment.
The reason is that when you pursue concretely framed goals, your expectations of success are more likely to be met in reality.
On the other hand, broad and abstract goals may bring about happiness’ dark side – unrealistic expectations.
The results also have implications for the world of business, the team say.
For instance, marketing or products that claim to help consumers achieve abstractly framed goals – like making someone else happy – might not be the best business decision.
Instead, it might be wiser to reframe these promised goals in more specific, concrete terms – such as Tom’s Shoes, which promises that if a customer buys a pair of shoes, they will deliver another pair to a child in need.
‘Concrete initiatives such as this may be a more realistic way to accurately set consumers’ expectations from the outset and leave them happier in the end,’ Aaker said.
Ultimately, people seek to be happy, and one clear path toward happiness is through prosocial behaviors.
Aaker explained, ‘A prosocial act can not only boost the happiness of the recipient, but it can boost the happiness of the giver as well.’
