Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy... especially if I’m less intelligent: how sunlight and intelligence affect happiness in modern society.Satoshi Kanazawa,Norman P. Li &Jose C. Yong -2022 -Cognition and Emotion 36 (4):722-730.detailsThe savanna theory of happiness proposes that, due to evolutionary constraints on the human brain, situations and circumstances that would have increased our ancestors’ happiness may still increase our happiness today, and those that would have decreased their happiness then may still decrease ours today. It further proposes that, because general intelligence evolved to solve evolutionarily novel problems, this tendency may be stronger among less intelligent individuals. Because humans are a diurnal species that cannot see in the dark, darkness always (...) represented danger to our ancestors and may still decrease our happiness today. Consistent with this prediction, the analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) data shows that exposure to sunlight was associated with happiness but the association was significantly weaker among more intelligent individuals. (shrink)
Emotional expression of capacity and trustworthiness in humor and in social dilemmas.Norman P. Li &Daniel Balliet -2009 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32 (5):396-397.detailsHumor and social dilemmas are two disparate areas that have been linked to emotions. However, they tend to have been studied apart from considerations of emotion and emotional expression. We provide an overview of how such areas might be illuminated by Vigil's socio-relational framework, and how capacity and trustworthiness are communicated in humor and social dilemmas.