Monday, July 28, 2025
ADVT 
Tech

App to gauge happiness

Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Aug, 2014 07:43 AM
    Using a smartphone app, researchers have unlocked what triggers happiness in people's lives -- and the key is to keep your expectations low.
     
    Researchers predicted the happiness of over 18,000 people worldwide in a smartphone game.
     
    The results showed that moment-to-moment happiness reflects not just how well things are going, but whether things are going better than expected.
     
    "The data shows that the happiness equation applies to thousands of people worldwide playing our game," said Robb Rutledge from University College London's Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging.
     
    For the study, 26 participants completed a decision-making task in which their choices led to monetary gains and losses.
     
    Using the data, scientists built a computational model in which self-reported happiness was related to recent rewards and expectations.
     
    The model was then tested on 18,420 participants in the game titled "What makes me happy?" in a smartphone app called "The Great Brain Experiment".
     
    Scientists were surprised to find that the same equation could be used to predict how happy participants would be while they played the smartphone game, even though the people could win only points and not money.
     
    They found that overall wealth accumulated during the experiment was not a good predictor of happiness.
     
    Instead, moment-to-moment happiness depended on the recent history of rewards and expectations.
     
    "It is often said that you will be happier if your expectations are lower. We find that there is some truth to this: lower expectations make it more likely that an outcome will exceed those expectations and have a positive impact on happiness," Rutledge maintained.
     
    The new equation captures different effects of expectations and allows happiness to be predicted based on the combined effects of many past events, concluded the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Self-cooling solar cells to last longer

    Self-cooling solar cells to last longer
    By adding a specially patterned layer of silica glass to the surface of ordinary solar cells, a team of researchers has found a way to let solar cells cool themselves...

    Self-cooling solar cells to last longer

    NASA probe to reveal Pluto in historic fly-by

    NASA probe to reveal Pluto in historic fly-by
    Pluto is almost largely unknown to us and it is so far away that even the powerful Hubble Space Telescope strains itself to see it...

    NASA probe to reveal Pluto in historic fly-by

    Bacteria use their entire body to swim

    Bacteria use their entire body to swim
    Bacteria just do not swim with propellers but use the entire body, a new study shows....

    Bacteria use their entire body to swim

    Bird droppings can be mosquito busters!

    Bird droppings can be mosquito busters!
    Don't get upset if birds mess up your courtyard or your home garden with their dropppings. These winged creatures may actually be helping to protect...

    Bird droppings can be mosquito busters!

    Smartphones to drive future cars

    Smartphones to drive future cars
    Hold on to that steering. Cars of the future are set to get rid of traditional controls like buttons and switches and have a touchscreen smartphone...

    Smartphones to drive future cars

    Apps that monitor your financial health

    Apps that monitor your financial health
    You have read about fitness apps offering better health monitoring and overall happiness. But have you ever tried downloading apps that keep your financial health in...

    Apps that monitor your financial health