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There are many ways to live a happy life
What makes for a happy life? The answer to this question can look very different for different people. Some people may think that getting rich and owning a large house, several cars, and luxury clothes is the key to a happy life. Others would say that living a life full of adventures and traveling the world to see beautiful places and experience exciting activities is the key to happiness. Another way to find happiness in life could also be having a stable relationship and a cozy little home, shielded from the stressors of the modern world. Yet another option for a happy life could be to live sustainably and look after the planet and its resources for future generations.
While all these options sound meaningful at first glance, psychological research providing hard data and statistics about the question of which of these four types of lives makes people the happiest is currently lacking.
A new study about which type of life is the happiest
A new study, just published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, has now explored which type of life makes people the happiest (Delhey et al., 2026). In the study, entitled “Which Life Makes You Happy? The Satisfaction Dividend of the Prosperous, the Exciting, the Cozy, and the Sustainable Life,” the research team, led by scientist Jan Delhey from the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg in Germany, analyzed data from a large-scale German panel study.
Overall, data from more than 3,900 volunteers were included in the dataset. Each volunteer answered the question about to what extent they were satisfied with their current life on a five-point scale from 0 (extremely dissatisfied) to 4 (extremely satisfied). Moreover, the researchers identified four different types of lives:
- Prosperous life: a life full of prosperity and success
- Exciting life: a life full of beautiful experiences and pleasures
- Cozy life: a life without stress and full of inner balance
- Sustainable life: a life full of respect for nature and the environment
For each of these four types of lives, the volunteers needed to indicate whether they lived such a life on a six-point scale. Moreover, the volunteers filled out some more questionnaires about themselves and to what extent they thought it was important to have a life conception.
Results of the study: There is more than one way to live a happy life
So what did the scientists find out? The results of the study showed that there is more than one way to live a happy life!
In general, the average life satisfaction of the German volunteers was 2.68 out of a maximum of 4, meaning about 67 percent. Statistical analyses showed positive correlations between all four ways of life and life satisfaction. The statistical relations were pretty much equal for a prosperous, exciting, and cozy life. Only for a sustainable life were they markedly lower (but still positive). This means that achieving a prosperous, exciting, and cozy life can equally contribute to happiness and satisfaction.
When different age groups were analyzed, it was shown that age also plays a role. For younger people aged between 18 and 29 years, an exciting life brought the most life satisfaction. However, for older adults 65 years and above, a cozy life brought greater life satisfaction.
Take-Away
Taken together, the findings of the study yield an important insight: There are several life concepts that can lead to a happy and satisfied life. The important thing is to realize one of them. For example, if living a prosperous life is not possible due to financial restrictions (e.g., a job that does not pay well), it may make sense to focus on a cozy life to become happy instead of dreaming of becoming rich one day.
