I think it is because religious people tend to rationalize inequalities as a result of a fair process (the god's divine plan), while non-religious people find it unjust and therefore troubling. A little dose of cognitive dissonance goes a long way.

I'm game. Happiness workshops for the irreligious. Or we could join a Quaker group or something, they do something similar (but with a bit of Jesus, natch.)

Hello Again Sonja,

I have come to a place where I am similarly religious to you. And I've been thinking along the same lines you've outlined above.

The benefits of close-knit and (in the broadest sense) spiritual community should not be reserved only for those who can believe things without good reason. We need new contexts in which people can gather to connect, to celebrate the highest things in life, and to nurture one another's growth. "Happiness groups," well designed and comprised of people committed to personal growth and mutual aid, could fill the positive functions of religious groups for the nonreligious.

I would love to find or even help start such a community of happiness seekers in my area (Salt Lake City). This would fill some voids in my own life, provide social support for all involved as they pursue their paths, and no doubt bring together quite an interesting set of people.

And, hey, we've already got our Bible! :-)

Don

Book groups could serve a similar function and they're a form that most people find familiar. I'm thinking along the lines of Oprah's Book Club. It is a comfortable format that is time-tested and workable. Plus, I think Book Club is an easier sell than Happiness Quasi-Religious Group for Secularists. Even though the process could be identical, it helps to have an easily understood and safe-sounding name.

that 's very intersting!

"They need to be able to justify and defend their actions – why they should forgive, what they have to be grateful for..."

Regarding gratitude, I can highly recommend Thanks by Robbert A. Emmons.

According to Emmons, practicing gratitude has a lasting effect on happiness and thus might explain a large part of the happiness resulting from religous beliefs, since most religions stress the importance of being grateful for everything.

Thank you for this great post!

One more reason that accounts for the strength that religious people might or do have, beyond the reasons listed above, I think that one major and important feature is the macro-social role of the Church. At least for Christianity. The Church was and is an powerful Institution, the more lasting one.

I find your confession of "not having a spiritual bone in your body" fascinating. I, on the other had, am entirely imbued with spirit and am also religious. I am a minister in an academic environment and the member of a very progressive Christian church that is led by two incredible women who preach this stuff all the time (yes, using the Bible!). From the very beginning of the book I have said that all of the research and the exercises are really at the heart of the spiritually journey. Your book is a wonderful compliment to another book I am currently reading -- A New Earth by Ekhart Tolle. If I master the art of how to be happy, I believe I will be in line with my highest, best self. This is my prayer, the mantra for my meditation and my daily practice -- which I try to live out at work, at home, in my community and with those I am blessed to worship with. Thank you for your book and your work.

"Religion" and "spirituality" may be defined without the limitations of references to a god. What you are describing is Humanism. Look for it in smany Unitarian-Universalist congregations, Humanist societies, Ethical Culture Societies,the Center for Inquiry, and many other places.

"What Is Humanism," by Frederick Edwords
Executive Director, American Humanist Association, may be found at: http://www.jcn.com/humanism.html.

This style of dialog is twenty to forty people coming together to talk, using improvised subjects - everyone's status leveled - to see if they can think together and perhaps go somewhere new. The group ends up working out their micro-cultural differences as everyone learns to communicate, beyond needing to convince. The group usually evolves ways to encourage those with divergent speaking styles to contribute. When an objection comes up to what someone else is saying - these often point to assumptions (of the objector) about their core values. Divergent beliefs and opposing core values highlight each other. The experience of Dialogue, over time, feels similar to the impersonal fellowship of following an established religion. It tends to attract "original thinkers." Purposefully, there are no group goals, beyond communication - but many outside events, goals and relationships tend to happen from Dialogue conversations.
More about this style of Dialogue at www.david-bohm.net

I also "do not have a spiritual bone in my body." However, as an adolescent, I was actually jealous of my religious friends who had such a natural sense of purpose and duty.
For a vast variety of reasons, I fully agree that it is best for religion to be kept out of public schools. However, I think it is unfair that children are not taught any sort of applied philosophy as part of their mandatory education (eg: how to most efficiently achieve their goals; treating people right makes you feel good; how to successfully establish/maintain fulfilling inter-personal relationships; etc). In fact, my career goals (after earning my PhD) involve the implementation of this type of applied philosophy into the US education system.

Are you accepting any new graduate students next year?

Thank you, Sonja, for your passion and research on happiness! I'm rather new to your work, thanks to the Heath brothers at FastCompany.

In the same spirit of self-disclosure, I would be categorized as an evangelical Christian by most people's definition. This discussion is particularly intriguing because of my worldview that is based on the existence of a transcendent Being that is interested and involved in our lives.

The social support you speak of is undoubtedly part of the perceived happiness difference. I have some endearing friendships with people from my church. Though I don't call this favor often, there are people I could contact any time of day or night and they would be willing to listen, pray, or lend a helping hand, depending on what the need is. We recently went from a family of 5 to 7 by bringing on two foster kids. We are surrounded by help as we try to pour into these two kids who have gone through some pretty tough stuff in their short lives. The availability of all this support is increasingly rare in our society today.

Yet the Bible doesn't call us to be the religious equivalent of the Kiwanis club! (No offense intended to any members of the Kiwanis!)

The relationship with God that you mention, and the foundation it can provide as a source of comfort and meaning is true. Contrary to how me and my brethren can unfortunately come off at times, our worldview doesn't say we have to be better than someone else. We don't have to strive for perfection. In fact, the essence of the Christian message is we can't do it on our own. That's where the whole Saviour part comes in.

Interestingly, the word "happy" is used rather sparingly in the Bible (21 times in the New International Version). The Bible speaks much more about joy (as in over 200 times). It might seem like semantics but the context would show that we can experience a deep contentment despite what would appear to be quite unhappy circumstances.

In my experience, this deep contentment cannot be tied to a regular ritual of a weekend service (a true relationship with God is moment-by-moment, not once a week). I would never discourage a happiness workshop or book club (or joining the Kiwanis!) or any other catalyst to bring people together to invest in each other. I regularly hang with friends who do not share my worldview and find it a meaningful part of my life.

Yet it's not the ritual. It's being plugged into the ultimate source. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Philippians (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%204:11-13&versio...).

I realize this worldview can seem ridiculous to those who don't currently share it. It did to me for decades. But I can assure you that if one is interested in a life of meaning, marked by love, joy, peace, (and dare I say happiness!) it's worth investigating a bit deeper. Maybe the researchers are onto something....

Thanks again for your work on this subject, Sonja! I look forward to learning more from you in the coming weeks!

Andy

P.S. Please forgive the shameless self-promotion: My book "Shining the Light on The Secret" compares and contrasts a Biblical worldview to that described by Rhonda Byrne in The Secret. Regardless of whether or not you buy into a Biblical worldview (or The Secret), you might find the discussion enlightening.

Very interesting thoughts! Thanks for your comments; I will have to digest.

--Sonja

At the risk of seeming mischievous ... :-) might I suggest that there are already groups of people who meet regularly to give support to each other and to directly pursue happiness/joy, through time-tested techniques, for themselves and others without requiring or teaching any ideas about an 'ultimate being' or 'the meaning of the universe'?

They're called Buddhists, and they've been 'meeting' for about 2500 years! LOL.

Let me declare my bias too, (in case you haven't guessed) I'm a NON-evangelical Buddhist.

Buddhism doesn't require belief in a God. In fact, if you really follow the philosophy, it actually requires that you relinquish the belief in yourself.

The central focus on Buddhism is on why we suffer/are unhappy/feel tension etc. and how to move beyond this and feel joy in our lives, and to help others to be happy and loving too.

A good start is "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path" by Henepola Gunaratana, but there are a ton of books out there.

I'd also really strongly suggest that anyone interested in this sort of thing check out Unitarian Universalism. Yes, you're likely to hear the 'G' word, but what you WON'T hear is anyone defining specifically what that means, or telling you that your understanding of 'G' is wrong. My wife is Unitarian, and I found them to be a really great bunch of people.

They smile a lot.
I like that.

I belong to a faith, or really a group of faiths, that come under the heading of "paganism". There are many, many people who consider themselves pagans but who do not have any contact with other pagans; they're generally referred to as "solitary practitioners". They might be a group to investigate in order to tease out the effects of socializing and community from the effects of faith itself.

I am a practising atheist who doesn't believe in reincarnation (being brought up as a Hindu) or in eternal life. I have friends who suffer from the God Delusion who are happier. And I have seen how religion and a belief in God contribute to unhappiness around the world.

When I die, I will be cremeated. I have no soul and I will simply cease to exist. The elements in my body will return to where they came from: nonsentient molecules and atom. I feel serene about this thought.

Since I have only one life to live, I want to live it as meaningful and fulfilling and playful way as possible. I have the community of fellow free thinkers and I interact with them by reading their books and blogs.

Another reason why nonbelievers are less than happy compared to delusional people is that when people find out that you are an atheist, they ostracize you and punish you.

Thanks for having the courage to come out.

I have always been suspicious that religious people are happier because they believe they will live for ever.(And not in an eternal state of torment, usually). You sort of allude to this, but I would have put this as the one explanation.

Also, you neglect to mention that liberal religious groups such as reform Judaism and Unitarians do not get most of the benefits that the fundementalists have, which is why I don't think it relates to social connections.

I just came across this article today, and a few questions that are unanswered from your article, Sonja:

1. Since you don't identify with any form of orientation, I am curious to know why? And, do you consider yourself to be "happy" without the key elements that you spelled out to those who have such affiliations?

2. While you do write about the dominant number of people who significantly benefit with a religious or spiritual space, there are also groups that strive to interpret in many forms their dogma, and incite violence. Curious to know your thoughts on this matter.

I think what you are looking for is a Unitarian church. It's a organised collection of individuals who come together to consider morality and spirituality but don't have a fixed creed, just strong principles of reason, equality and tolerance.

Here's the BBC description...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/unitarianism/

And the Unitarians of Great Britain Home Page

http://www.unitarian.org.uk/

Happiness and religion correlate in the US, but it does not in Europe. In Europe countries which are more religious are less happy, (like countries in the South). ANd people in the Northern countries like scandinavian countries are happier. It might be unpleasant to live as an atheist minority in a religious country. Also in a country with weak social ties religion can replace this.

A lot of the difference may have to do with how people of faith relate and move in relationships. Check out THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JESUS by David Jones.