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 "Psychology and the Good Life" is such a hit that one in four
undergraduate students at the Ivy League university is enrolled in
the spring semester course, said Laurie Santos, the psychology
professor who teaches the class. It is the largest class enrollment
size in the history of Yale, founded in 1701.
What is the draw? Santos says it is the hope that science can help
students find blissful relief from the misery that has reached at
all-time high at colleges.
"Students report being more depressed than they have ever been in
history at college, more anxious," she said.
Social science has generated many new insights into what makes
people happy and how they can achieve that, Santos said.
"They really want to learn those insights in an empirical,
science-driven way," she said, referring to students enrolled in the
course.
The third-oldest university in the United States, Yale boasts many
famous alumni, including presidents George H.W. Bush and George W.
Bush, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and actors Paul Newman and
Meryl Streep.
Santos said feelings of happiness are fostered through
socialization, exercise, meditation and plenty of sleep. Money and
possessions are often seen as goals in the game of life, but the
route to happiness heads in a different direction, she said.
"Very happy people spend time with others, they prioritize time with
their friends, time with their family, they even take time to talk
to the barista," Santos said.
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She points to the psychological phenomenon of "mis-wanting," which
leads people to pursue the wrong goals in life.
"We work really hard to get a great salary or to buy this huge
house," she said. "Those things are not going to make us as happy as
we think."
Homework assignments for the class, also known as Psyc 157, include
showing more gratitude, performing acts of kindness and bumping up
social connections.
Due to overwhelming demand, the course is now being offered free to
the public, through Coursera.org.
On campus, the class is already paying off for Yale senior Rebekah
Siliezar, who described her previous mindset.
"What's most pressing on our minds is grades, it's the next job,
it's a potential salary after graduation," said Siliezar, whose
family lives in suburban Chicago.
Now, she said, "I really try to focus on the present moment and the
people around me."
(Writing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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