Australian behavioral scientists on Tuesday ruled out the theory that happiness is linked solely to genetics, in a study viewed as a breakthrough in psychological research.
The results of a 25-year study on 60,000 Germans showed long-term happiness is determined by lifestyle decisions including choice of partner, employment and religion.
According to ABC News, study leader and Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne of Australia, Bruce Headey, said the study turns the long-term notion of happiness being linked to personality on its head.
"Happiness isn't just a matter of heredity, it isn't just in the genes," he said.
"Genes might be about 50 percent of the story but the rest depends on lifestyle choices - choices relating to your partner and also relating to your work life."
The study will be published in the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences, and is based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, conducted by scientists partly from Australia.
It analyzed responses from a national representative sample of people aged 16 and over who answered questions every year from 1984 to 2008.
On relationships, the findings reveal that individuals with neurotic partners are significantly less happy than those with more emotionally stable partners.
"People who select or happen to be selected by partners with relatively benign personalities, with low levels of neuroticism, and who are reasonably extroverted and outgoing, they tend to be happier than average, and happier than they would just on the basis of their own personality traits," Professor Headey told ABC News.
The study discovered people who prioritized their relationship with their partner and children were happier than those were interested in career or material success, as were those with altruistic goals such as helping people or being involved in social or political activities.
Working shorter hours did not necessarily lead to happiness, but working a lot more or less than they wanted made people very unhappy.
"Other things that matter are social activities, getting involved in social and community things with friends in an active kind of way," Professor Headey said.
He said a link between religion and happiness is also evident.
"Religion seems to work for people - people who regularly attended church or mosque were a bit happier on average than people who were non-religious or non-attenders," he said.
"So having some kind of belief system that gives you a sense of meaning or purpose is important for happiness."
Professor Headey said the findings are the first of their kind on such a large scale.
"In terms of what we research in terms of this empirical work on the determinants of life's satisfaction it is I think something of a breakthrough," he said.
"People want to be happy, they want to know what they can do to make a difference and this gives some indication of the kinds of choices that matter.
"So we don't have to be stuck with the idea that happiness is set, like disease or height or genes." (PNA/Xinhua)
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Topic: Basis of Happiness (Read 5389 times)