Latest news with #BigJoyProject
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists reveal foolproof formula for a lifetime of happiness - and it takes just five minutes to perform
It's often said that happiness is about finding joy in the little things in life - and now scientists appear to have found proof in that. Just five minutes a day performing 'micro-acts of joy' that foster positive emotions is enough to banish stress, boost health, and improve sleep quality, experts found. According to stress expert Dr Elissa Epel, listening to laughter, admiring a flower on a local walk or doing something nice for a friend can measurably improve people's emotional well-being and attitudes toward life. Epel, an expert on stress and ageing who oversaw the new research, said: 'We were quite taken aback by the size of the improvements to people's emotional well-being.' Epel's team at the University of California San Francisco studied almost 18,000 people, mainly from the U.S., UK, and Canada, for the web-based 'Big Joy Project' over a two-year period to 2024. It was the first study to look at whether small, easy-to-do acts that take minimal time could have measurable and lasting effects on people. Participants were asked to perform five-ten minute acts of joy for a week. Prof Epel said the thousands of people who took part in her project matched the positive results achieved by programs that required months of classes, for hours at a time. The study, published in the Journal Of Medical Internet Research, asked participants to perform seven acts over seven days, such as sharing a moment of celebration with someone else, doing something kind for another person, making a gratitude list or watching an awe-inspiring video about nature. Prof Epel said her team picked tasks that were focused on promoting feelings of hope and optimism, wonder and awe, or fun and silliness. Each task took under ten minutes, including answering short questions. Participants were quizzed about their emotional and physical health at the start and end of the week-long project, providing a measure of their emotional well-being, positive emotions, and 'happiness agency', along with their stress and sleep quality. The psychologists explained that emotional well-being includes how satisfied people are with their lives and whether they have purpose and meaning. Happiness agency is how much control they feel they have over their emotions. The team found improvements in all areas, and the benefits increased depending on how fully people participated in the program, meaning those who completed all seven days saw greater benefits than those who only managed two or three. While further research was needed, according to Epel, it's clear that a daily dose of joy could help people in trying times: 'All of this well-being stuff, it's not a luxury. 'We often say that we'll let ourselves be happy once we've reached some point or finished some task. Well, we want to flip that – we need the energy of joy to get through the hard parts. These are really necessary skills.'
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Health
- Extra.ie
Could micro-acts of joy be the key to happiness?
It's often said that happiness is finding joy in the little things in life – now, scientists appear to have found the proof. Just five minutes a day performing 'micro-acts of joy' that foster positive emotions is enough to banish stress, boost health and improve sleep quality, psychologists discovered. Listening to laughter, admiring a flower or doing a nice thing for a friend can measurably improve people's emotional well-being and attitudes toward life, according to Dr Elissa Epel. It's often said that happiness is finding joy in the little things in life – now, scientists appear to have found the proof. Pic: Getty Images The professor, an expert on stress and ageing who oversaw the new research, said: 'We were quite taken aback by the size of the improvements to people's emotional wellbeing.' Her team at the University of California, San Francisco, studied nearly 18,000 people, mainly from the US, Britain, and Canada, for the web-based Big Joy Project over a two-year period, up to 2024. The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, asked participants to perform seven brief acts of joy over a seven-day period. Professor Epel said the thousands of people who took part matched the positive results achieved by programmes that required months of classes for hours at a time. Ethnic minority participants saw even greater benefits than white participants, while younger people reported more benefits than older people.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists find PROOF of a formula for happiness: Find joy in the small things
It's often said that happiness is finding joy in the little things in life – now scientists appear to have found the proof. Just five minutes a day performing 'micro-acts of joy' that foster positive emotions is enough to banish stress, boost health and improve sleep quality, psychologists discovered. Listening to laughter, admiring a flower on a neighbourhood walk or doing a nice thing for a friend can measurably improve people's emotional wellbeing and attitudes toward life, according to Dr Elissa Epel. 'We were quite taken aback by the size of the improvements to people's emotional well-being,' said Prof Epel, an expert on stress and ageing who oversaw the new research. Her team at the University of California San Francisco studied nearly 18,000 people, mainly from the US, Britain and Canada, for the web-based 'Big Joy Project' over a two-year period to 2024. It was the first study to look at whether small, easy-to-do acts that take minimal time could have measurable and lasting effects on people. Participants were asked to perform five- to 10-minute acts of joy for a week. Prof Epel said the thousands of people who took part in her project for a single week matched the positive results achieved by programmes that required months of classes for hours at a time. The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, asked participants to perform seven acts over seven days. The acts included sharing a moment of celebration with someone else, doing something kind for another person, making a gratitude list and watching an awe-inspiring video about nature. Prof Epel said her team picked tasks that were focused on promoting feelings of hope and optimism, wonder and awe, or fun and silliness. Each task took under 10 minutes, including answering short questions before and after. Participants were quizzed about their emotional and physical health at the start and end of the week-long project, providing a measure of their emotional well-being, positive emotions and 'happiness agency', along with their stress and sleep quality. The psychologists explained that emotional well-being includes how satisfied people are with their lives and whether they have purpose and meaning. Happiness agency is how much control they feel they have over their emotions. The team found improvements in all areas, and the benefits increased depending on how fully people participated in the programme, meaning those who completed all seven days saw greater benefits than those who only managed two or three. Ethnic minority participants saw even greater benefits than white participants, while younger people reported more benefits than older people. Prof Epel said it was not clear yet why these micro-acts appear to have such a profound mood-boosting impact. She suggested it may be that these small acts break up 'negative thought cycles' – such as excessive worrying or self-criticism – and redirect mental energy in a more positive way. While further research was needed, said Prof Epel, it's clear that a daily dose of joy could help people in these trying times. 'All of this well-being stuff, it's not a luxury,' she said. 'We often say that we'll let ourselves be happy once we've reached some point or finished some task. Well, we want to flip that – we need the energy of joy to get through the hard parts. These are really necessary skills.'
San Francisco Chronicle
14-06-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
These daily habits can bring outsize happiness — and it only takes 5 minutes, UCSF study finds
The simplest tasks of joy and awe — listening to laughter, admiring a flower on a neighborhood walk, doing a nice thing for a friend — can measurably improve people's emotional well-being and attitudes toward life, according to a new UCSF study. So-called micro-acts of joy can have remarkably outsize effects on people's moods, and in particular on their belief that they can control their own happiness, said Elissa Epel, a UCSF professor who has long studied the effects of stress on aging and overall health. Epel is lead author of a paper published last week on the (ironically named) Big Joy Project, a program run out of UC Berkeley that has participants practice five- to 10-minute acts of joy every day for a week. Epel's team at UCSF studied nearly 18,000 participants in the Big Joy Project over a two-year period, from 2022 to 2024. Their study was the first to look at whether small, easily accessible interventions — the Big Joy Project is a web-based program — that don't take much time could have measurable and lasting effects on people's attitudes. The results were surprisingly robust, Epel said, though she noted that the study needs to be repeated under more controlled conditions to prove that it works, and to demonstrate whether the effects are long-lasting. Still, she said, 'we were quite taken aback by the size of the improvements to people's emotional well being. She said that participating in the Big Joy Project for a week provided positive results equivalent to programs that require months of classes for hours at a time. 'And it wasn't just people who were already well off' whose moods improved, Epel said. 'We actually saw greater benefits in people who came into the study with challenges, either they felt financially strained or they felt in a low social status,' she said. 'This is not just an intervention for the privileged.' The UCSF study, published in the Journal for Medical Internet Research on June 4, had participants practice seven acts over seven days. The acts included sharing a moment of celebration with someone else, doing something kind for another person, making a gratitude list and watching an awe-inspiring video about Yosemite. Epel said her team picked tasks that were focused on promoting feelings of hope and optimism, wonder and awe, or fun and silliness. Each task took less than 10 minutes, including answering short questions before and after. At the start and end of the seven-day program, participants completed a series of questions on their emotional and physical health. The scientists measured participants' emotional well being, positive emotions and happiness agency, along with their stress and sleep quality, and compared their answers from the start to those at the finish. Emotional well being includes how satisfied people are with their life and whether they have purpose and meaning; happiness agency is how much control they feel they have over their emotion. The team found improvements in all areas, and the benefits increased depending on how much people participated in the program — meaning, those who participated in all seven days saw greater benefits than those who only did two or three days. Black and Latino participants saw greater benefits than white participants, and younger people saw more benefits than older people. Epel said she wants to be careful to not overstate the benefits of the intervention, which isn't going to solve people's greater mental health issues or the uncertainty and anxiety blanketing much of western society at this time. 'We don't want to deny what's going on or act like everything's fine,' Epel said. And it's not clear yet why these micro-acts appear to be having such a profound impact, she said. On a biological level, there may be complicated hormonal activations at play. Or it's possible that even these small acts are able to break up negative thought cycles — excessive worrying, for example, or self-criticism — and redirect mental energy in a more positive way. One important takeaway from the study is that people probably have more agency over their own happiness than they think, Epel said. And even in these trying times, a daily dose of joy could have intense impacts. In fact, she said, these micro-acts may be more powerful now, in the current political and social climate, than ever. 'All of this well being stuff, it's not a luxury,' Epel said. 'We often say that we'll let ourselves be happy once we've reached some point or finished some task. Well, we want to flip that — we need the energy of joy to get through the hard parts. When we can focus on well being and connecting with others, that's the fuel that will help us cope with adversity. So these are really necessary skills.'
