In plain language
Trying hard to be happy sometimes works, and sometimes backfires and makes people less happy. Why? This study tackled the paradox with a new lens: instead of only asking what is true of people on average, the researchers first modelled each person's data separately and then looked for generalizable patterns across people, an approach called idionomic analysis. The data came from 2,251 ecological momentary assessment surveys, in which 167 participants (75.6% female, average age about 24) repeatedly reported on their striving and mood in daily life.
The analyses distinguished two ways of pursuing positive states. Prioritizing positivity means arranging your day to naturally include enjoyable, meaningful activities. Experiential attachment means clinging to enjoyment, needing pleasant feelings to continue. People differed enormously in how striving related to their happiness, far more than chance would predict, and the type of striving mattered: modelling revealed two distinct subgroups with different, nonlinear patterns linking striving and mood.
Across individuals, experiential attachment consistently dampened happiness from moment to moment within a person, even though it showed no association at the between-person level, and even after accounting for stress, positive events, loneliness, and social connection. Prioritizing positivity was linked to higher happiness in one subgroup, but in the other it brought no direct benefit and indirectly reduced happiness through its connection to experiential attachment. The message: no single happiness strategy fits everyone, and clinging to good feelings tends to undermine them.
Key findings
- Individual-level associations between striving for positive states and momentary happiness showed high, non-random heterogeneity: people differed substantially in whether striving helped or hurt.
- The type of striving moderated the overall effect: prioritizing positivity (structuring life around enjoyable activities) versus experiential attachment (clinging to enjoyment) had distinct consequences.
- Experiential attachment consistently dampened happiness within-person, despite showing no between-person association, illustrating how group-level averages can hide within-person dynamics.
- Group-based multivariate trajectory modelling revealed two distinct subgroups with different nonlinear patterns across striving and affect.
- Prioritizing positivity was linked to higher happiness in one subgroup, but in the other it had no direct benefit and indirectly reduced happiness via its connection to experiential attachment.
- The dampening effect of experiential attachment held even when accounting for stress, positive events, loneliness, and social connection.
How to cite
APA
Sahdra, B. K., Shin, A., Fraser, M., Levin, M. E., Klimczak, K. S., Krafft, J., Hayes, S. C., Hernández, C., & Ciarrochi, J. (2025). One size does not make all happy: Idionomic links between striving for positive states and happiness in experience sampling. Journal of Happiness Studies, 26, 101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00933-0
BibTeX
@article{sahdra2025one,
title = {One Size Does Not Make All Happy: Idionomic Links Between Striving for Positive States and Happiness in Experience Sampling},
author = {Sahdra, Baljinder K. and Shin, Areum and Fraser, Madeleine and Levin, Michael E. and Klimczak, Korena S. and Krafft, Jennifer and Hayes, Steven C. and Hern{\'a}ndez, Crist{\'o}bal and Ciarrochi, Joseph},
journal = {Journal of Happiness Studies},
volume = {26},
pages = {101},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1007/s10902-025-00933-0}
}
Related work
- All publications by Joseph Ciarrochi (searchable, with free PDFs)
- Process-Based Therapy & Idionomic Analysis
- Nonattachment research & practices (non-attachment.com)
Author: Joseph Ciarrochi (ORCID 0000-0003-0471-8100). Free copy hosted with permission for scholarly use. Please cite the published version via the DOI above.