The Synergy Lab

Last month, we joined Sreeja Nair, Aaron Maniam, and Celia Lee to discuss the “politics of policy experimentation” (at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s “Festival of Ideas”).

Check out Sreeja Nair’s write up of the panel discussion here: https://lnkd.in/gfAy2xYB

📷: Official photos from LKYSPP

Want a cheatsheet on the science of happiness? Check out this infographic we created for our 'Pursuit of Happiness' module at Yale-NUS.

During the semester, the module covered 33 literature summaries (meta-analyses) to identify factors associated with happiness. Here's a summary documenting both (i) the direction and (ii) magnitude of effects for each factor.

The key takeaways:
1. Many many things have a small effect on happiness (represented as a single :) or :( in the chart). Fewer things make a larger dent (represented as :) :) or :( :( ).

2. Often, we think that a major life event will have a long-lasting impact on our happiness (e.g., marriage, bereavement). However, research suggests that the impact of this event typically fades over time.

In short, don't chase a major milestone to improve your happiness. Conversely, if you're going through a tough time, the science tells us that time will often heal the broken heart.

3. Although we're affected by the cards that life deals us, it's often our subjective perception of the situation that matters more (e.g., how financially satisfied we are, whether we feel life is meaningful, how lonely we feel).

4. Encouragingly, there are many modifiable factors associated with happiness (as highlighted in the green text). You can actively choose to engage in happiness-boosting activities and mindsets.

5. Finally, this list is not at all exhaustive! I haven't covered every meta-analysis, and some happiness-boosting activities haven't made their way into meta-analyses. (For example, the practice of gratitude seems to exert long-lasting effects on happiness.)

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Looking for more resources?
• Here's a detailed spreadsheet summarizing the 33 meta-analyses:
https://lnkd.in/gWJVkgyU
• If you're looking for practical activities to improve your happiness, visit this website from UC Berkeley: https://lnkd.in/gyaXGkt3

Fun photo from last Monday :) Stay tuned for the video! https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj-Tm-6pERB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

WE MET. WE CHAT. It feels nice to be around smart yet very humble people. Like "fragrance" to the mind. We exchange thoughts not boxing gloves. I love it. Thank you Minister Chan Chun Sing, Associate Prof Jean Liu at Yale-NUS & of course, Hossan Leong from Planet Earth. I really enjoyed the company and let's have durian together next time.🤪 #LifeLessonSuhaimiYusof

Through the EdukCircle International Convention on Psychology, I got to meet many amazing psychology educators and students from the Philippines. We had a thoughtful discussion on 'digital minimalism', and I hope to work closer with the community in the future!

​Dr. Jean Liu
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Yale University - NUS College
22nd EdukCircle International Convention on Psychology

News coverage from yesterday's event. Our favourite write-up is this one: https://lnkd.in/gZ6U8ZXZ

The Straits Times has a feature today on the dating scene. Here’s our contribution on the science of love!

Today, we have the privilege of meeting psychology educators and students across the Philippines! 🇵🇭

Today's panel session shared insights, learnings, and strategies for equipping our delegates with skills to improve wellbeing. Thank you to Jodieann Dawe, Prof Jean Liu, Dr Mel Norris and Sarah Lisle for presenting such a great session!

Today, our lab spent a lovely hour discussing workplace and individual well-being at the Australasian Research Management Society conference.

Read more about our thoughts here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6973184323231375360/

Just finished a practice session for the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) Conference! Join us on 7 Sept (2.10pm AEST) for our panel discussion on 'improving personal well-being'.

Details here: https://arms.eventsair.com/arms-virtual-conference---september-2022/program