A bright blue sky on a sunny day, looking at old pictures and cute kittens and puppies are among the little things which make Brits feel happy.
A poll of 2,000 Brits found the everyday things responsible for boosting the nation’s mood with relationships, friends and family featuring heavily in the top 40.
These include having a cuddle with a loved one, catching up with a friend you’ve not seen for ages and your child saying ‘I love you’.
Looking at a beautiful picture or piece of art, seeing a stunning landscape and finding some money in a coat pocket which you haven’t worn for a while are other feel good factors.
Artist Doug Hyde, who commissioned the research to mark his ‘I LOVE U’ tour with www.whitewallgalleries.com, in King Street, Manchester said:
With so much going on in the world which is anything but good at the moment, it’s important to try and get a mood boost from the people and things which are close to you.
Whether it’s seeing something cute or heart-warming, spending time with your loved ones or a stroke of good luck, it doesn’t need to be something big or extravagant to make you feel good.
Sometimes, something which is simply nice to look at is all that’s needed to put a smile on your face.
Looking at pictures can bring back a host of great memories and that little bit of nostalgia can make you feel really happy.
The study also found sitting down to relax in your home after you’ve just cleaned it, being given a compliment and talking about old memories are also among the top 40 things that make Brits feel good.
Watching a sunset, being surrounded by pictures of loved ones in your home and waking up and realising it’s a Saturday are other mood boosters.
It also emerged the average adult reckons they feel happy for around four hours and 25 minutes a day, smiling 15 times.
But while Saturdays (21%) and Fridays (19%) are when Brits are most likely to feel good, Tuesday (2%) is the ‘worst’ day of the week for happiness levels.
Worryingly, just over one in 10 say they don’t have enough things in their life which make them happy, while 60 per cent feel they need to make more of an effort to boost their mood more often.
Almost four in 10 say a lack of money stops them from feeling happier more often, while 24 per cent blame it on being too busy.
Others put the struggle down to their job (22%), their lack of work/ life balance (22%) and a lack of hobbies (13%).
The study also found that 85 per cent of those polled think there are health benefits to smiling and feeling happy.
And 82 per cent say love, friendship and family are mostly likely to make them feel good.
As a result, more than a third say looking at pictures of loved ones cheers them up, with half of all adults admitting they couldn’t live in a home without photos of their friends and relatives on the walls.
Just 13 per cent of those polled, via OnePoll, live in a home with no photos on display.
Two thirds also agreed that a picture is worth 1,000 words, with 47 per cent saying that receiving a text, email or social media post with an emoji makes them feel better than if it’s just a text message.
The smiley face emoji is most likely to make you feel good, followed by a heart, the blowing a kiss face and the crying with laughter symbol.
Doug Hyde added:
I love creating artwork that moves people – whether that’s a smile, laughter or even tears – but above all I hope its uplifting. I’m looking forward to sharing this new collection, and making more emotional connections with the audience.
Doug’s newly created Heart Emoji for his tour: ILOVEU
Top 40 things that make you feel good
- Blue sky on a sunny day
- Seeing a beautiful landscape
- Dogs/puppies/cats/kittens
- Sitting in a clean home after you’ve given it a tidy up
- Going out for nice food
- A compliment
- Someone smiling at you/ seeing a smiling face
- Booking a holiday
- Having a cuddle with a loved one
- Memories
- Unexpectedly finding money in a coat you haven’t worn in ages
- A random act of kindness either by you, or watching someone else
- Seeing a friend you haven’t seen in a while
- A good song coming on the radio
- Comfort food
- Watching the sunset
- Finally buying something you’ve been saving up for
- Having a nice interaction with a stranger
- Having a lie in
- Your child saying ‘I love you’
- Looking at old pictures
- Having pictures up of loved ones in your home
- When your kids do something that makes you proud
- Losing something and having it returned to you
- Free food
- Seeing live music
- Seeing old people holding hands
- A full English breakfast
- Watching a film from your childhood
- Your partner doing something you find cute
- Waking up and realising it’s Saturday
- Looking at art/paintings in your home
- Getting through all the green lights
- A massage
- Having a bubble bath after a long day
- Having a child draw a picture for you
- A flirty glance with a stranger
- Meeting someone new
- When there is cake in the office
- When someone brings a baby into work
Survey conducted by OnePoll on 30th January 2020, with 2,000 UK Adults (Nationally Representative)