A Search for Practical Ways to Foster Happiness in Law School

-- By MichelleXiao - 10 Mar 2022

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: this is what is promised to us by the founders of this nation. What they meant, I’m not quite sure, but I have made and continue to make my personal pursuit of happiness a constant goal I work towards each day. Like with all goals, sometimes you hit obstacles. My most recent obstacle to daily happiness: law school. Life is too short to squander, so I’ve decided to look into and apply scientifically supported principles on increasing happiness in daily life.

The Methods

Inculcating Gratitude: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective happiness in daily life

In this article, Arya & Khandewal (2014) support the general connection between gratitude and happiness. They hypothesized that gratitude may increase the experience of positive emotions and therefore happiness. Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two groups (control and experimental) and asked to complete The Subjective Happiness Scale, which was used to gauge long-term happiness; The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, which was used to gauge more current emotional states; and The Gratitude Questionnaire-Six-Item Form, which was used to determine how much individuals easily access gratitude in everyday life. These measures were again completed after the two week experimental period. Each day, those in the experimental group were asked to list five things within the past day that they were grateful for, while those in the control group were asked to simply list five things they had done in the past day. The results showed that while initial happiness, positive affect, and gratitude scores were comparable between the two groups, the experimental group showed significantly higher happiness, positive affect, and gratitude scores after the intervention. The results supported the hypothesis that gratitude would increase happiness, clearly establishing a link between the two.

Becoming Happier Takes Both A Will and A Proper Way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being

This study supports the positive relationship between optimism and well-being. Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Bohem, and Sheldon (2011) predicted that practicing optimism would lead to improved well-being. 355 undergraduate students who had signed up through experiment advertisements about a “happiness intervention” (high motivation) or “cognitive exercises” (low motivation group) were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group. All participants completed baseline assessments of well-being, which included measurements of happiness and life satisfaction, and completed the same tests at the end of the experimental peirod. For eight weeks in the expressing optimism experimental group, participants were asked to spend 15 minutes once a week visualizing an idealized version of themselves in the future (borrowing from the “best possible selves” activity). Each week varied, prompting participants to think about their romantic life, interests, family, careers, social life, community, and health. In the control group, participants simply spent 15 minutes a week listing what they had done in that week. The results showed that those in the high motivation group who practiced optimism increased in well-being more than those in the control group and those with low motivation. Additionally, those in the optimism group had higher reports of well-being after the intervention but not to statistical significance. These results support the hypothesis that optimism correlates positively with well-being, particularly if the individual wants to be happier.

Applying Gratitude and Optimism to my Own Life

Experiment

I am applying a modified version of both experiments to my own life. I will use the Oxford Happiness Test for baseline and final measurements to gauge happiness. For one week, I will 1) think about and write down 5 things from the past day for which I am grateful for and 2) think about one to three things for each category (one per day: in order 1) romantic life, 2) interests, 3) family, 4) careers, 5) social life, 6) community, and 7) health) that I visualize my ideal self in the future would have. I hypothesize that my Oxford Happiness Test score will increase; method one’s exercise will bring gratitude to the front of my mind, and method two’s modified “best possible selves” exercise will harvest optimism in my life, both of which will increase my happiness.

Results

I began my week with an Oxford Happiness Test score of 4.59 and ended my week with a score of 5.16. For reference, a score of 3.5 indicates an individual has both an equal number of happy and unhappy thoughts, and the average person scores around a 4.0.

Reflection

This experiment put a lot of things into perspective for me and helped me feel more motivated to do what I’m doing.

Gratitude Exercise:

Thinking about specific things I was grateful for the day before really helped me center my thoughts around those things. Mid-way through the experiment, I began writing down things I was grateful for right after they happened and found that this helped amplify those feelings of gratitude even more throughout my day. I also began recognizing the little things in life that I’m grateful for but had become acclimated to.

Optimism Exercise:

This was particularly helpful in amplifying my motivation. Sometimes you are in a cycle of working so your life is “better” in the future but forget or don’t even know what you’re working towards. This exercise helped me flesh out what “better” meant for me.

Conclusion

My hypothesis was supported: exercises in gratitude and optimism increased my happiness score, even while being in law school. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I sure am glad I did this. One thing these exercises brought into my life was perspective, both perspective within each day and perspective for the future. It’s incredible how many things we have to be grateful for and how many of them we can find when we are consciously looking for them. It’s also incredible how much optimism, both defining your goals and making conscious decisions to work towards them, creates hope and motivation for the future.

I don't see why it is "incredible" that whistling a happy tune makes us feel happier. Because the research is conducted in such a way as not even to ask "why" questions, you don't either. A little Putnam makes that possible, and interpretation adds what cognitive behavior therapy does not, namely insight.

Hi Michelle, This is really interesting! I think I've been focusing on logistical changes I can make to be more happy in law school, but I think these reframes may be worth trying! Best, Nereese

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