So be honest: did you actually stick to it? I couldn’t help but notice that Dan Roberts cleverly avoids answering the question.
On Monday, I sent an email to my aunt. It had been a fair while, so I dug some old email addresses out of a Christmas email years ago and used them. One bounced, but the other went through.
Did it make me feel happier? Actually it dredged up some pretty painful memories, so I’m not so sure. I did feel more connected I suppose, but then it’s been a week and she hasn’t replied.
On Tuesday, I forgot all about it. It got to 10.45pm, I was getting ready to go to bed, and suddenly realised. I shouted at my girlfriend in the next room that she looked nice in some photos someone had recently put up on Facebook. Needless to say, she roundly rejected the compliment.
On Wednesday, I told a friend that I liked his photography. I’m not sure it really counts – he’s an amazing photographer, so it’s not like the compliment was doing him a favour or anything. And I’d been meaning to say it for ages, having spent hours poring over his online stuff. So it wasn’t like participating in the study made a difference.
The same thing happened on Thursday – I lent a friend some sports kit against my better judgment, because I need it back soon and fear that I won’t get it. But I did this without actually thinking of the study (in fact I forgot all about it).
As for Friday – sitting here now, I can’t actually remember what I did on Friday. Let alone whether I was nice to anyone.
So was it worth participating? I decided over the course of the week that I’d rate myself as 1 point happier on the 1 to 10 scale the study used, just because it was fun to have a project to focus on and a reason to be consciously nice to people. It’s a habit I hope to keep up, for the same reason.
But in the end I never received the exit survey. And apparently the results are due out this Wednesday. If Professor Wiseman wants to spread a little happiness, maybe he could get in touch.
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