52 AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER 1 2008
P S Y C H O OL G Y
put the theory to the test.Almostall of them
requirewhat’sknown inpositive-psychology
parlance as a “gratitude visit” or a “grati-
tude letter.” It involves writing a thank-you
note— to a former teacher, a grandparent,
a coach, or anyone you haven’t properly
thanked for something— andpresenting it
to the recipient inperson.Theactofwriting
(and delivering) that letter single-handedly
makes thesenderhappier.Andstudiesshow
theeffect lasts for a fullmonth.
Easy, right? So easy a child could do
it? Well, not necessarily. Children might
be able to do it, but the effect might not
be as pronounced as it is in adults who’ve
been harboring overdue thank-yous for
years. Researchers have actually tested one
positive-psychology exercise on kids and
adults. It did a bang-up job on the grown-
ups but affected thekidsmore like awhim-
per. The truth is, positive psychology is so
new, there hasn’t been time for multiyear
studies of childrenwho’ve learned the drill
versus thosewho’venever heardof it. Com-
mon sense says that focusing on older kids
isprobably the surest bet.
“Mygut feeling is thatyoucan teacha few
specific techniques tokids in juniorhighbut
that in general, kids would be muchmore
able to profit from these lessons beginning
aroundage 16or 17,” saysJonathanHaidt, a
University of Virginia professorwhose spe-
cialty is studyingmorality and its relation-
ship tohappiness.
Haidt wrote
The Happiness Hypothesis:
FindingModernTruth inAncientWisdom
,
which while optimistic that the rapidly
unfolding knowledge about happiness can
help people, is pointedly skeptical of over-
night success. The danger of positive psy-
chology is that the exercises are simple —
not simplistic—but in aThoreauviankind
of way. Like many difficult things in life,
theysoundeasy.AndHaidtmakes thepoint
that soundingeasyandbeingeasyareas far
apart asLosAngelesandCairo.Thehuman
mind is amysterious thing, the product of
thousands of years of evolution, amarriage
of hunter-gatherer spear-carryingman and
contemporary iPod/cell phone man. We’re
not entirely in control of our own impulses.
Yet by dint of hard work and much grati-
tude, you, too, can be happier. It’s just not
as instant aspotatoflakes.
TRACYsTAToN
is a contributing editor for
AmericanWay
.
