The Science of Happiness and Finding Joy with Laurie Santos

23/02/2026

The Wise Effort Show

0:00

52:36

Are you doing “all the right things” and still feeling like happiness keeps slipping through your fingers? In this episode, Dr. Diana Hill talks with Yale psychology professor and The Happiness Lab host Dr. Laurie Santos about the biggest mind traps that block joy—and the small, research-backed shifts that help you feel better in real life. Together, Diana and Laurie unpack why mind-wandering, hedonic adaptation (getting used to the good), and comparison quietly drain wellbeing—and how practices like mindfulness/savoring, treating negative emotions as helpful signals, radical acceptance, and “time affluence” can bring you back to what matters most.

Key takeaways you’ll learn in this episode:

The three biggest “happiness traps” (mind-wandering, adaptation, and comparison) and how to work with them.
Why chasing “good vibes only” can backfire—and how to redefine happiness as flourishing.
How to use negative emotions as signals (like a dashboard light) instead of problems to eliminate.
Why more money and achievement often don’t move happiness much—and what tends to help more (sleep, friends, free time, and presence).

Press play, then share this episode with a high-achiever friend (or anyone feeling stuck in the comparison spiral) who could use a science-backed reset on what actually creates joy.