There is a formula to lead a happier life? While scrolling through the internet after I finished my finals, I came across a very interesting article. It talked about a study by Robb Rutledge and his colleagues in Max Planck University College conducting a study looking at the relationship of rewards and happiness.
Beforehand, researchers had already determined that happiness depends on expectation (whether things are better or worse than was expected). In this study, this data was quantified into a mathematical equation, as seen below.
Since this is a very complicated topic, here is a brief summary explaining the equation:
“Happiness depends on safe choices (certain rewards, CR), expectations associated with risky choices (expected value, EV), and whether the outcomes of risky choices were better or worse than expected. This final variable is called a reward prediction error (RPE), the difference between the experienced outcome and the expectation.”
This may be better illustrated by an example:
If you are planning to meet a friend that you have not met in a long time, then your happiness should increase, as a result of the pleasure of the want to meet your friend. However, if your reservations get cancelled last-minute at the restaurant that you meant to meet your friends at, your happiness should theoretically decrease. But, if you have a great time with your friend, then your happiness shall increase again.
Basically, this takes the expectation of what you expect something to give you, and calculates the outcome (whether it will be better or worse than expected), to give you a prediction of how happy you shall be. It is important to note that although this equation takes expectation into a big account, low expectations are not necessarily the way to be happy.
I know while it may not be entirely true our happiness can be quantified or predicted in the real world (and happiness may necessarily not be based upon expectation), it is still a very interesting way to look at a physiological aspect such as happiness in a more analytical manner. This just shows how far our understanding of mathematics has gone, and how many aspects of our world can be literally and figuratively calculated.
