As self-help books line store shelves suggesting that the general public should strive to be happier, Ed Diener, University psychology professor, suggests that good grades, money and status may not be the keys to happiness.

Using World Values Survey data and data collected from 193 university students over a 51-day period, Diener looked to challenge the commonly held notion that all measures of well-being are set higher for the happiest percentage of the population.

“It’s counter-intuitive because it says you don’t need to be super happy,” Diener said of the findings he co-authored with former students, now professors at the University of Virginia and Michigan State University. “People may not have thought about how happy you should really be.”

In the worldwide study that included 60 countries, the highest level of income, education and political participation were not reported by the happiest individuals, who ranked themselves as a 10 on a 10-point scale. Instead, it was people who rated themselves as an eight or a nine who were most successful in these categories.

The analysis of the University data revealed differences in the social lives and study habits of individuals who rated themselves as eights and 10s.

The individuals in the 10 category were more likely to have a romantic partner and all had many friends.

Tens had more positive emotions but were less focused than the individuals who rated themselves as eights.

Diener said the eights won in the achievement realm and were more contentious, skipped class less and got better grades. He attributes the lower level of happiness to negative emotions such as stress that came from a stronger dedication to academics. He explained that with positive social interactions and high achievement, but eights should not necessarily strive to be 10s.

“If you’re stuyding all the time, obviously you don’t have as much time to make friends and get to know people,” said Jake Jaffe, sophomore in LAS. “From my own personal experience, I don’t always see the correlation, but it makes sense.”

Diener explained that happier people tend to have pro-peace attitudes, volunteer more, have stronger personal relationships and are well-liked by supervisors among other characteristics.

“The idea is, do we want to say to people who are already happy, ‘You need to be happier?'” he asked.

Darek Wysocki, senior in LAS, agreed that these findings made sense. Wysocki said that he believed people who take the pressure of academics less seriously may be happier despite a lower level of achievement.

“If you’re not that worried about school, and you’re out having fun, you’ll be happier, but your grades won’t be as good,” he said. “If you’re working hard, there’s going to be stress with that, so you’re not doing everything you want to do, and you’ll rate yourself lower.”

In pursuit of happiness, individuals must remember that occasional negative emotions are often functional and occur for a reason, Diener said.

He explained that people who rate themselves as a five or below in the long term should probably seek help. However, it is normal for someone to be unhappy if something bad happens, like a family member’s death or failing a test.

“It may be good to feel guilty when you do something bad because it’s going to make you not do it again,” he said.

Diener added that Hollywood alters our perceptions of happy relationships.

“For some people, unrealistic expectations about relationships get them in trouble,” he said. “If you get into the idea that it should be at the 10 level, you’re going to leave your spouse.”

Diener said he has seen couples divorce, and relationships are not going to be elation all the time.

Diener said it is fine to have a relationship at a 10 just during a honeymoon or anniversary.

“What isn’t fine is you feel like you have to continue with those romantic feelings and intensity,” he said, explaining that people leave relationships because they don’t feel the intensity they used to and seek excitement in a relationship that lacks depth.

As for future study, Diener said that he expects his field to look into the causes and effects of happiness by following people over time to investigate whether people are happy because they have a lot of friends, or if people have a lot of friends because they exhibit a positive attitude.

“When you meet super-extroverts, they just love people and they don’t care that they’re not the president of the company,” he said. “You can be happy with who you are.”