Secret of happiness found — just don’t get your hopes up

Want to be ja[[u? Just set your expectations low
Want to be ja[[u? Just set your expectations low
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Self-help books have obsessed over it. Psychologists have spent endless hours talking about it. Yet few people truly achieve it. Now scientists believe that they have solved the problem that has vexed life coaches across the western world: how to achieve happiness. Their answer is more prosaic than you might imagine — set your expectations low.

Rock-bottom expectations are likely to boost the satisfaction you derive from receiving a gift, watching a film or going on holiday, a study suggests.

Scientists found that the momentary surge in happiness in response to a cash reward depends on how it matches up to a person’s expectations as much as the value of money received.

Robb Rutledge, a neuroscientist who led the work at University College London,