Is this the secret to happiness?
TURNS out just squeezing your eyes closed, scrunching up your face and wishing for happiness isn’t the secret to finding it.
While intention to become happier certainly aids the notion, researchers argue simply clicking your heels together and hoping for an improvement is ultimately ineffective.
But what is surprising is the effect music has on one’s emotions and mood in the long-term.
Sure, we know it makes us feel good while we’re listening to it, but it’s the ‘why’ that’s interesting.
Psychology academics Yuna L Ferguson and Kennon M Sheldon conducted a study that assessed the correlation between positive music and positive moods.
The results indicated that the simple task of listening to ‘happy music’ had a positive influence on a person’s well-being immediately and over a period of time.
Their research showed the music sparked a physiological reaction in the test subjects when they listened to the music, typically with a fast tempo.
This is because our brains love music. Listening to enjoyable music activates neurons inside the body to release the neurotransmitter dopamine – the pleasure hormone.
The more of this stuff you’ve got cruising around your body, the better you feel. The better you feel, the happier you are.
So, is listening to positive music really the secret to happiness? It’s certainly not doing the opposite…
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