Full title

A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind

DOI

Authors

Affiliation

Subjects

Abstract

Key ideas

This research explored the relationship between people’s thoughts, their attention to the present moment, and their levels of happiness.

Study Design

Killingsworth and Gilbert developed an iPhone app that contacted participants at random times during the day to ask them three questions:

  1. What are you doing right now? (from a list of 22 activities)
  2. Are you thinking about something other than what you’re currently doing? (whether their mind was wandering)
  3. How happy are you right now? (on a scale from 0 to 100)

This method allowed them to gather real-time data on participants’ activities, mind states, and happiness levels.

Key Findings:

• People spent 47% of their waking time thinking about something other than what they were doing. This mind-wandering occurred in almost every activity except sex.
• When people’s minds wandered, they were less happy, regardless of the activity they were engaged in. This held true even when they were thinking about pleasant things.
• The study concluded that mind-wandering is a strong predictor of unhappiness, even more so than the actual activity a person is doing.
Why is this important?
The study suggests that being present and focused on what you’re doing, rather than letting your mind drift, is key to happiness. Mind-wandering, often linked to daydreaming or overthinking, tends to lower people’s sense of well-being.

Reference

Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439

Studies have consistently shown that a wandering mind is associated with increased levels of stress, anxiety, and unhappiness. According to a review of 40 years of research on mind-wandering, published in the journal Science in 2012, the majority of studies found that mind-wandering is linked to negative emotions, decreased cognitive performance, and reduced overall well-being .

For a mind that is constantly drifting from one thought to another, it can be challenging to find focus and clarity. The constant stream of thoughts can lead to feelings of restlessness, anxiety, and even depression.

Default mode network and mind-wandering

Overviews

@Daniel Gilbert

More than 2k people. Didn't matter what people were doing, wanderin mind is less happy

+1: A Wandering Mind | Is an Unhappy Mind (#1234) - YouTube

Resilience needs focus: you shield youself from extra stress.
We are training our minds to be constantly distracted → training to be unhappy.

Survivors of New Zeland earthquake that allowed mind to wander suffered more, than people who didn't.

From ~The Stress Test, a book by @Ian Robertson

See also

#stub