There are no experiments referenced in this article, but the theme of it likely strikes many of us as true.

The superconnected may develop a dual-dependency, says Robert Bornstein, a psychologist at Adelphi University in Long Island. They're not only counting on other people too much; they're also hooked on the devices themselves, sometimes to the point where they feel utterly disconnected, isolated, and detached without them.

Some of us may be quite aware of the pie chart on the front of Sonja Lyubomirsky's book, the How of Happiness, which shows that genetics control most of our happiness.  However, genetics are not destiny and this article, by Emiliya Zhivotovskaya,  is a nice concise explanation of how our genetics and our experiences interact to produce our "happiness".

How does happiness work in the body? Here is where the mystery starts: if DNA is the powerhouse of the cell, then is it true that your happiness is set at birth?  Not exactly. Yes, the genes in your DNA have a role. For example, there are genetic differences among people that affect the production and transportation of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that modulates anger, aggression, and mood. Thus you may be more genetically prone to depression and experiencing less happiness than some other people because of the genes that control your serotonin system. But believing this is the whole story is a recipe for learned helplessness. Truly believing you are doomed by genetics may prevent you from ever taking steps to make positive changes in your life. Happiness and life-satisfaction levels are only partially pre-programmed. Making yourself happier is not as futile as trying to make yourself taller.

Psychology Today has a brief article on one of the most obvious yet least acted upon methods to improve our happiness.  Getting more sunlight.

Patients in recovery rooms full of natural light take less pain medication, and, days after surgery, they report lower stress levels. Their hastened healing may be due to sunlight's ability to stimulate serotonin production, which helps regulate mood, sleep, and sex drive.

Scientists have pinpointed seasonal changes in brain chemistry which may cause some people to get the winter blues.

Residents in Powys explain why the county is the happiest place in the UK to live. "Powys has some of the lowest crimes rates in the UK and that gives us peace of mind." Mrs Dunsford, 62, said: "Everybody knows each other and it's such a friendly place. A five-minute trip to the shops can turn into 20 minutes when you stop and chat."

"Emotional intelligence is often mistakenly thought of as gut instinct. But emotional intelligence may actually be a skill you can learn.

 To see whether EI is intuitive or learnable, Daus asked 102 students to take Mayer and Salovey's EI survey and to take a computer test in which they had to define a word shown on screen. All students in the study, presented at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, were asked whether they had used intuition to determine their answers. The more subjects reported using their intuition, the worse they performed on the EI tests. "Emotional intelligence is inversely related with use of intuition," writes Daus."

"Watching tragedy on the news has a psychological impact undreamed of by media executives. The video image is processed directly by the right hemisphere of the brain, bypassing language, reason, and logic. Unable to cope with the barrage of elemental emotions that get aroused, we emotionally turn off, numbing ourselves to pain and death."

The author does a nice job reconciling seemingly diverse findings about happiness trends and identifying the underlying reasons for differing conclusions.

Over the past decade or so there have been many Positive Psychology articles exploring the relationship between money and happiness. Myers (2000), Diener and Oishi (2000), Blanchflower and Oswald (2004), and Layard (2005) amongst others have presented research which suggests that increasing wealth does not buy happiness (this graph illustrates this point for the USA).Happiness is on the up… The good news is that according to a new study by Inglehart, Foa, Peterson and Welzel (2008), happiness is actually increasing: in this longitudinal study between 1981 and 2007, happiness levels went up in 45 out of 52 countries. And contrary to what you might conclude from Myers’ graph (mentioned above) the US is one of those countries which shows an upward trend in happiness (p276). So how do we explain the apparent inconsistency between Myers and Inglehart et al?

Women who have a positive outlook may decrease their chances of developing breast cancer, say Israeli researchers.

A government study finds Scots are happier with their lives than researchers had previously thought.