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Bates and his Edinburgh colleagues drew their conclusions after looking at survey data of 973 pairs of adult twins. They found that, on average, a pair of identical twins shared more personality traits than a pair of non-identical twins. And when asked how happy they were, the identical twin pairs responded much more similarly than other twins, suggesting that both happiness and personality have a strong genetic component. The study, published in Psychological Science, went one step further: it suggested that personality and happiness do not merely coexist, but that in fact innate personality traits cause happiness. Twins...
Charles thinks that feelings like angst, disgust and anger may fade because as we get older we learn to care less about what others think of us, or perhaps because we become more adept at avoiding situations we don't like. (The Edinburgh researchers, too, found that older study participants scored lower than younger ones on scales of neuroticism - worry and nervousness - and higher on scales of agreeableness.) Oswald chalks up the midlife dip in happiness shown in his study to people "letting go of impossible aspirations" - first, there's the pain of fading youth and the realization that...
Still, lack of control doesn't necessarily mean lack of joy. "The research also shows that most people consider themselves happy most of the time," says University of Edinburgh's Bates. "We're wired to be optimistic. Most people think they're happier than most [other] people." And even if you aren't part of that lucky majority, Bates says, there's always that other 50% of overall life satisfaction that, according to his research, is not genetically predetermined. To feel happier, he recommends mimicking the personality traits of those who are: Be social, even if it's only with...
...parents. The other was Precious Ramotswe, whose everyday adventures as boss of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botswana provided a reassuring escape for millions of adults, and not a few children. Sales of both novel series soared into the tens of millions, making Edinburgh, where J.K. Rowling and Alexander McCall Smith both write, a cradle of superstar authors...
McCall Smith, a polymathic professor of medical law at Edinburgh University with more than 60 books to his name, originally wrote his African stories in his spare time as Christmas gifts for friends. Born in Zimbabwe, he portrays Africa not as a cauldron of war, disease and children with flies in their eyes, but as a proud, tranquil and hopeful place, where people lead full, ordinary lives and savor redbush tea amid rising prosperity. Often they manage all this without ever meeting a white man. "The books don't ask, 'What's wrong with Africa? What can we fix?'" says...