Human Cells Respond in Healthy,
Unhealthy Ways to Different Kinds of Happiness
Human bodies recognize at the
molecular level that not all happiness is created equal, responding in ways
that can help or hinder physical health, according to new research led by
Barbara L. Fredrickson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of psychology in the
College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.
The
sense of well-being derived from "a noble purpose" may provide
cellular health benefits, whereas "simple self-gratification" may
have negative effects, despite an overall perceived sense of happiness,
researchers found. "A functional genomic
perspective on human well-being" was published July 29 in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Philosophers have long distinguished two basic forms of well-being: a 'hedonic' form representing an individual's pleasurable experiences, and a deeper 'eudaimonic,' form that results from striving toward meaning and a noble purpose beyond simple self-gratification," wrote Fredrickson and her colleagues.
It's the difference, for example,
between enjoying a good meal and feeling connected to a larger community
through a service project, she said. Both give us a sense of happiness, but
each is experienced very differently in the body's cells.
"We know from many studies that
both forms of well-being are associated with improved physical and mental
health, beyond the effects of reduced stress and depression," Fredrickson
said. "But we have had less information on the biological bases for these
relationships."
Collaborating with a team from the
University of California at Los Angeles led by Steven W. Cole, professor of
medicine, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Fredrickson and her colleagues
looked at the biological influence of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being through
the human genome. They were interested in the pattern of gene expression within
people's immune cells.
Past work by Cole and colleagues had
discovered a systematic shift in gene expression associated with chronic
stress, a shift "characterized by increased expression of genes involved
in inflammation" that are implicated in a wide variety of human ills,
including arthritis and heart disease, and "decreased expression of genes
involved in … antiviral responses," the study noted. Cole and colleagues
coined the phrase "conserved transcriptional response to adversity"
or CTRA to describe this shift. In short, the functional genomic fingerprint of
chronic stress sets us up for illness, Fredrickson said.
But if all happiness is created
equal, and equally opposite to ill-being, then patterns of gene expression
should be the same regardless of hedonic or eudaimonic well-being. Not so,
found the researchers.
Eudaimonic well-being was, indeed,
associated with a significant decrease in the stress-related CTRA gene
expression profile. In contrast, hedonic well-being was associated with a
significant increase in the CTRA profile. Their genomics-based analyses, the
authors reported, reveal the hidden costs of purely hedonic well-being.
Fredrickson found the results
initially surprising, because study participants themselves reported overall
feelings of well-being. One possibility, she suggested, is that people who
experience more hedonic than eudaimonic well-being consume the emotional
equivalent of empty calories. "Their daily activities provide short-term
happiness yet result in negative physical consequences long-term," she
said.
"We can make ourselves happy
through simple pleasures, but those 'empty calories' don't help us broaden our
awareness or build our capacity in ways that benefit us physically," she
said. "At the cellular level, our bodies appear to respond better to a different
kind of well-being, one based on a sense of connectedness and purpose."
The results bolster Fredrickson's
previous work on the effects of positive emotions, as well as research linking
a sense of connectedness with longevity. "Understanding the cascade to
gene expression will help inform further work in these areas," she added.
Fredrickson collaborated with Karen
M. Grewen, associate professor of psychiatry in UNC's School of Medicine; and
Kimberly A. Coffey, research assistant professor, and Sara B. Algoe, assistant
professor, both of psychology, in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences.
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Journal Reference:
1.
Barbara L. Fredrickson, Karen M.
Grewen, Kimberly A. Coffey, Sara B. Algoe, Ann M. Firestine, Jesusa M. G.
Arevalo, Jeffrey Ma, and Steven W. Cole. A functional genomic
perspective on human well-being. PNAS, July 29, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1305419110
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of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2013, July 29). Human cells respond in
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Retrieved July 30, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130729161952.htm
