What if I told you that just one of these pills a day, every day, for the rest of your life, would ensure that you were never unhappy again? Only three dollars a pill, to never be sad. Would you do it? No? Well, we’re not as famous as Gwyneth Paltrow, but at least what we’re selling you is to be taken orally… And we were careful not to frame our claims in ways that would run afoul of advertising laws in the United States.

There is a massive market for happiness. This isn’t surprising, as happiness is something many of us lack and crave in equal measure. A common means by which people attempt to resolve this craving is through consumption: buying our way to happiness. Of course, there is just one small problem with the commodification of happiness, which is that, for some reason, the process of acquiring consumer goods for oneself does not seem to actually make (or keep) people happy. So if making a huge amount of money is in fact what makes you happy, perhaps get into this market! Of course, making a huge amount of money is also not a good way of becoming or staying happy. Having some money rather than none does make a difference for those who were initially very poor, but materialistic people (who gain the most satisfaction from having more money) tend to be less happy than the rest of us.

Another problem facing the consumer, in pursuit of happiness, is known in the literature as hedonic adaptation (or, the hedonic treadmill). This idea claims that, while we may get short term boosts in happiness from changes in our circumstances, our happiness will quickly return to the status quo as we become accustomed to our new condition. We adapt to our new environment, and our happiness returns to baseline. Now, if you run a business selling happiness (well, ‘wellness’) to people, hedonic adaptation seems like a feature rather than a bug. Your customers will keep coming back to get a fresh hit of happiness every time their happiness levels return to baseline. If you are pursuing happiness, however, this seems more like a problem.

So, can we really improve our happiness, and if so, how?

Outside of the wellness industry and its $$$-scented promises, the broader field of happiness interventions offers us some hope. Positive Psychological Interventions constitute a significant research programme within Positive Psychology, and proponents of Positive Psychological Interventions have argued that, while consumerism is unlikely to result in lasting changes to your base levels of happiness, some other things might. What sort of things? Well, it isn’t the vagina-scented candles or happiness enhancing essential oils. Rather, the kinds of happiness interventions that work are things such as expressing gratitude for the good things that have …

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