By Lena Sin , Canwest News Service
In Canada.com
Chances are they're looking to a higher power
Four years ago, two American psychologists asked a simple question: What do you want for your children? More than 10,000 adults in 48 countries across six continents responded overwhelmingly with one answer: for their children to be happy.
While hardly a surprising answer, it underscored the fact that academics knew virtually nothing about what makes children happy.
Psychologist Mark Holder decided to take up the challenge, and a new study by the University of British Columbia professor is having some surprising results.
Spirituality -- defined as an inner belief system--accounted for 8% to 17% of the average child's sense of happiness, the study showed.
By contrast, money, the marital status of parents and the child's gender didn't even register 1%.
"It's a whopping big effect," said Holder, especially since spirituality accounts for 4% to 5% of an adult's happiness.
The study was carried out in Kelowna, B.C., where Holder and graduate student Judi Wallace tested 315 children aged nine to 12 at both public and private schools.
The children were asked to rate the importance of statements such as "I believe a higher power watches over me" and "developing meaning in my life." Parents and teachers were also asked to describe each child's happiness.
Spirituality could be playing a larger role for several reasons. It produces a sense of hope and meaning and often involves socializing, which is important to children's happiness.
Spirituality is not the same thing as religion, Holder and Wallace were clear to point out.
Leisure activity such as sports and a child's temperament also figure significantly in children's happiness.
"This is significant because if we can start to find these [happiness] predictors, then we can give kids a coping mechanism when they're going through difficult times," said Wallace.
The study of happiness --or positive psychology -- is gaining momentum worldwide.
Positive psychology is currently the most popular course at Harvard University and in the U.K. teachers have been sent to the University of Pittsburgh to learn about strategies on making children happier that can be incorporated into the education system.
Wallace and Holder hope British Columbia will take a similar interest in applying their findings to the real world.
But the biggest predictor of children's happiness could lie well outside of our control.
Holder believes genetics is a major factor in kids' happiness and his next phase of research will focus on this biological connection.
According to research done on adults, as much as 50% of their happiness is accounted for by genetics, suggesting that happiness is inherited to a certain extent.
While hardly a surprising answer, it underscored the fact that academics knew virtually nothing about what makes children happy.
Psychologist Mark Holder decided to take up the challenge, and a new study by the University of British Columbia professor is having some surprising results.
Spirituality -- defined as an inner belief system--accounted for 8% to 17% of the average child's sense of happiness, the study showed.
By contrast, money, the marital status of parents and the child's gender didn't even register 1%.
"It's a whopping big effect," said Holder, especially since spirituality accounts for 4% to 5% of an adult's happiness.
The study was carried out in Kelowna, B.C., where Holder and graduate student Judi Wallace tested 315 children aged nine to 12 at both public and private schools.
The children were asked to rate the importance of statements such as "I believe a higher power watches over me" and "developing meaning in my life." Parents and teachers were also asked to describe each child's happiness.
Spirituality could be playing a larger role for several reasons. It produces a sense of hope and meaning and often involves socializing, which is important to children's happiness.
Spirituality is not the same thing as religion, Holder and Wallace were clear to point out.
Leisure activity such as sports and a child's temperament also figure significantly in children's happiness.
"This is significant because if we can start to find these [happiness] predictors, then we can give kids a coping mechanism when they're going through difficult times," said Wallace.
The study of happiness --or positive psychology -- is gaining momentum worldwide.
Positive psychology is currently the most popular course at Harvard University and in the U.K. teachers have been sent to the University of Pittsburgh to learn about strategies on making children happier that can be incorporated into the education system.
Wallace and Holder hope British Columbia will take a similar interest in applying their findings to the real world.
But the biggest predictor of children's happiness could lie well outside of our control.
Holder believes genetics is a major factor in kids' happiness and his next phase of research will focus on this biological connection.
According to research done on adults, as much as 50% of their happiness is accounted for by genetics, suggesting that happiness is inherited to a certain extent.
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