Is Happiness Changing? The Surprising Science Behind Joy in 2025

Coveted and endlessly pursued, contentment is as evasive as virtually any human state. The problem, experts in the field tell Harper’s Bazaar, is that most of us are going about the search all wrong

Too few of us commit daily to a goal of sustained happiness. And yet… if we could grasp how transformative this elusive state is, we would pursue it like nothing else matters. Need proof?Press play on Happy, Pharrell Williams’ 2013 neo-soul hit, the chorus of which captured music fans around the world.

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
(Because I’m happy)
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
(Because I’m happy)
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
(Because I’m happy)
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do.

Happy – written and performed by the man who, in February 2023, would become creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear – topped the US’s Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

Twenty-five years earlier, in 1988, Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy won a Grammy in 1989 for Song of the Year. One critic hailed it as a “formula for facing life’s trials”.

Moving to another media platform, TV’s Happy Days, which starred a boyish Ron Howard and recreated an idealised version of teenage life in ‘50s Upper Midwest America, was one of the most-watched programs of the ‘70s and became iconic.

Nowadays, even the dismal science of economics is exploring happiness. Believe it or not, there are specialist economists who seek to show us how important happiness is to a country’s productivity and the wellbeing of its people.

Since the ‘70s, the small, landlocked Asian country of Bhutan has pursued the philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is built on four pillars: sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, environmental conservation, preservation and promotion of culture, and good governance. Inspired by Bhutan, the United Nations General Assembly, in 2012, established the International Day of Happiness (IDH), which is celebrated globally on March 20.

Before the IDH was a thing, Luis Gallardo, president of the World Happiness Foundation, and Jayme Illien, father of the IDH, founded the concept of “Happytalism”. The pair ran a campaign at the UN from 2006-12 to encourage and advance the primacy of happiness, wellbeing and democracy. Jayme has become famous as a global activist, macroscopic economist, sociopolitical philosopher and influencer. His commitment to happiness was inspired by his experiences working to save the lives of orphaned and abandoned children. As a child, he was rescued from the streets of Calcutta by missionaries of an orphanage founded by Mother Teresa. That good fortune resulted in Jayme eventually living with nurse Anna Belle in the US, and for him, the rest is happiness history.

But can we make too much of the need for happiness? Philosophers and psychologists have been debating that question for centuries. American naturalist Henry David Thoreau, who died in 1862 aged 44, opined: “Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.”

More recently, Martin Seligman, widely regarded as the founder of positive psychology, has argued there’s more to life than happiness. In 2011, in a column in The New York Times, journalist John Tierney wrote that “Seligman has come to believe that the term ‘happiness’ is too often confused with just feeling good”. Instead, leading a good, truly happy life requires more than positive emotions. To maximise our wellbeing, we need five crucial elements, which Seligman summarises in an acronym he created, PERMA: positive emotions, engagement (the feeling of being lost in a task), relationships, meaning and accomplishment.

Cardiologist and author Dr Ross Walker believes that happiness is a key to good health. While acknowledging that his colleagues in the medical profession have at their disposal advanced therapies that have altered the course of many diseases, he believes their purely medical approach misses the mark. “Unfortunately, the concept is that if you can’t fix it with a pill or a procedure, then there’s nothing further that can be done to help the [patient],” Dr Ross says. “Practising the five keys to good health is four times more powerful than any therapies offered by a doctor, with the major and most powerful key being happiness. I consider happiness both external and internal. We all need to put our major efforts into both.”

Dr Ross says that external happiness involves “cultivating good coping mechanisms: dealing with acute stress, time management, decluttering your life, positivity and humour and self-development.” He cites Harvard University’s Grant Study, a longitudinal study initiated in 1938 that has followed two groups of men with the goal of identifying the main psychosocial predictors of healthy ageing. It has found the key to health and happiness is to have a person in your life you love and care for – and who loves and cares for you.

In terms of internal happiness, Dr Ross says the keys to this align with universal spiritual laws. “Having compassion for all living beings is vital. For those of us who are fortunate enough to enjoy a good quality of life, there are many more not so fortunate. It’s extremely important we show compassion to these individuals.

“There’s no one living who hasn’t been harmed by someone at some stage in their life. Showing forgiveness is extremely healing. There’s a wonderful Buddhist saying: ‘When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves.’”

Dr Ross continues: “Even the simple practice of writing down five aspects of your life you’re grateful for each day increases your happiness index by 25 per cent over a week’s period. We’re all challenged by life. At times, wonderful things happen, but tragedies also occur. See your life symbolically and learn from the experience, good or bad. Put all your emphasis into living in the moment and your life will be markedly enhanced.”

Work by Kaylin Ratner, a professor in psychology at the University of Illinois, found that having relationships that bring joy and thwart loneliness is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

“[A] greater [sense of] purpose was also correlated with better outcomes for companies, like growth, market expansion and successful product launches,” Kaylin revealed. Employees perceived an upside in being engaged in what they saw as meaningful, purpose-driven work.

Experts say your purpose needn’t be grand, like saving the world. “Purpose doesn’t have to be accomplished in big things,” writes Dr Tracy Brower, a sociologist and author of The Secrets to Happiness at Work (2021). “Its significance comes in the work you do for your family, your friends, your team or your community, no matter what that work is.”

The bottom line is that purpose can give you focus even when the world around you appears chaotic. Dr Tracy says purpose grounds you and can give you a sense of “awe”, which is experienced as “the feeling that you are in the presence of something greater than yourself”.

“Studies show that people who experience higher levels of happiness tend to make better decisions because they are less prone to cognitive biases like catastrophising,” says Harvard-trained clinical psychologist Dr Jodie Lowinger. “When we’re happy, we’re more likely to engage from the parts of our brain that lead to creative thinking and effective problem solving and are less likely to be reactive, aggressive or avoidant, having an impact on our relationships and effectiveness professionally, personally and academically. For example, research indicates an association between happier employees and greater productivity, creativity and commitment.”

A generalised happiness, Dr Tracy continues, is associated with a heightened ability to manage emotions such as frustration. It is also associated with gratitude and contentment, resulting in a more positive focus and creating a buffer that reduces the impact of challenging life experiences. “Research further highlights the contagion effect of happiness,” Dr Tracy says. “People like to be around happy people, with positivity associated with a deeper connection and more trusting relationships with others. People with higher happiness levels are also more likely to handle conflicts constructively, relying on empathy and compassion rather than attack or defend.

A poignant question remains: does happiness come easily? “A fundamental challenge to happiness is our brain’s negativity bias, a primitive survival mechanism that makes us more likely to focus on threats or perceived threats – on the tigers rather than the butterflies to keep us alive,” Dr Tracy says. “While some factors influencing happiness are beyond our control, a greater sense of happiness can indeed be cultivated through intentional effort. Examples include cultivating gratitude, fostering healthy relationships, seeking therapy or coaching, practising mindfulness and engaging in meaningful activities. This suggests that while happiness might not come easily for everyone, it can be actively nurtured.”

But is a happy frame of mind sustainable when life is so full of stressors? “There are many scientifically supported ways to foster a happy frame of mind despite the many challenges life can bring,” Dr Tracy responds. “An important contributor to happiness is prioritising good sleep, nutrition and exercise. Exercise, in particular, boosts mood through stimulating endorphins and reducing stress hormones.”

Dr Tracy shares Dr Ross’ views on the benefits of gratitude. “Practising gratitude can increase happiness and resilience, even during tough times,” she says. “Keep a gratitude journal or reflect on three things you’re thankful for each day. This can shift your focus towards positivity.

“Many evidence-based psychological tools challenge negative thought patterns, stand up to worry, build self-confidence, overcome anxiety or depression and build effective relationships. View challenges as opportunities to grow rather than insurmountable problems. Ask yourself, What can I learn from this?’Learn ways to approach life more assertively around things in your control and acceptance of things out of your control.

“Embrace small acts of kindness and compassion for yourself and others. See if you can engage in small things that are fun and fulfilling to stimulate positive neurochemicals and boost mood. Constantly striving for happiness can make it feel like a goal that must be achieved, leading to stress and disappointment when it doesn’t materialise. People may think, I should be happier, which can lead to frustration or feelings of failure, compounding unhappiness. “Stand up to perfectionistic expectations on outcome and bring the focus back to effort and values-aligned actions around what’s in your control. Accepting that life is filled with the full range of emotions leads to greater emotional control and resilience.”

Anyone wanting to take a shot at happiness could immerse themselves in TED Talks by authors Shawn Achor (The Happiness Advantage) or Dan Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness), who argues that we have a natural inclination towards happiness and even mentally rearrange reality to end up happier, even when we’re hit by unhappy events.

Exposing yourself to the thoughts of experts like these will almost certainly be more useful than dwelling on your problems in sullen isolation. As Bobby McFerrin sang:

In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy.

Lead Image Credits: Alamy

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia October 2025 Issue.