What Happy People Do

In a recent article What Happy People Don't Do, The New York Times gives the answer: watch TV. The less TV you watch, the happier you will be conclude researchers trying to find what bahaviors are most often found in happy people.

So what is it that happy people do instead of watching the television? Dr. John Robinson, the University of Maryland sociologist who led the study, told the Times,

We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more — visiting others, going to church, all those things — were more happy. TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less.

There was no cause and effect relationship established to show that turning off the TV would make you happier. But the fact remains that those of us in church today are more likely to be happy than those glued all day to the Boob Tube.