Ellie Wright is a current University of Bristol student, taking an MSc conversion course in Experimental Psychology. She partook in the Science of Happiness pilot in 2018 and has found it informative and transformative.
Originally interested from the perspective of supporting her patients as a Health Care Assistant and future psychologist, Ellie was surprised that as she learned through practice in the happiness hubs, she also enjoyed some of the benefits these behaviours had on her own thinking.
‘My motivation for taking the Science of Happiness course was to learn the evidence base behind what does and does not make us happy. I enjoyed looking at how positive early interventions in clinical and nonclinical populations can promote happiness and perhaps even prevent the onset of mental health conditions. An equally important part of this was understanding what we don’t yet know. The content has informed a critical approach I can take forward and that will hopefully benefit what I can offer to future research and clinical practice.
The course covers Philosophy, Economics, Politics, Neuroscience, Psychology – it’s varied and fun. The course uses data from studies to challenge our thinking around what makes us happy. In the lectures, Professor Hood really enjoys myth busting. For example, he explained the evidence behind why we may perceive that we’re happier sitting on our own plugged into our earphones on the daily commute, but how data suggests we are happier connecting with someone else. We learned about critical thinking, such as how to ascertain if a study needs to be repeated to be more robust. I gained insight into gathering and assessing data, looking at the size of the study, the methods used and who funded it. This is exciting! It nudges us to discover research problems and think about what more we might find out in the future with different study designs. It’s been easy to apply the skills learned to other courses. They’re skills for life and they’re transferrable.
This course has reminded me how to make time for fun in my life and how to have fun learning.
We looked at why the Happiness Hacks are important. Take sleep, for example. There’s a study in Nature magazine1 that shows how people deprived of enough sleep for just a week change their body language because their tiredness makes them hypersensitive. In turn this body language makes other people less likely to trust them, a perception whose impact can facilitate social isolation and loneliness for people with poor sleep. But this finding needs to be repeated!
The Happiness Hacks are about noticing automatic behaviours and disrupting these by building healthy habits. Accountability and peer support are what make those good habits stick, which is what happens in the weekly support hubs and are a key part of the Science of Happiness course.
This course promotes a love of learning – or what Professor Hood might describe as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s ‘Flow’. Not worrying about conventional exams, I feel, has a big role to play in this.’
Your University continues to support its staff and students in their health and wellbeing. A full list of services available to students is available at bristol.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/.
References
1. Simon, E. & Walker, M. (2018). Sleep loss causes social withdrawal and loneliness. Nature.
How Professor Bruce Hood is tackling the growing issues in mental health and wellbeing among students at Bristol.
Bruce Hood, Professor of Developmental Psychology in Society, tells us about his Science of Happiness course, which looks at rethinking the way we think, combined with practical applications to think more positively. This applied research project will include contacting participants at regular intervals over three years, to map changes in attitudes and behaviours. Following a successful pilot in 2018, from October 2019 this course will be available to all incoming students at Bristol as an accredited module.
The course is structured to run for 12 weeks as a weekly hour-long lecture by Professor Hood and an additional weekly hour-long peer support hub hosted by a trained mentor. Around 300 students are expected to sign up to the course each term. Rather than focus on assignments or exams, students are expected to do project work, attend their hubs and participate in Happiness Hacks to try them out. Other universities have already expressed interest in working with Bristol and Professor Hood to replicate this programme and a pilot in Bristol schools is happening this autumn.
‘From my own experience in recent years it’s become noticeable that students are no longer coming to me as their tutor to discuss ideas and what interests them in the field of psychology. Rather they are showing up in a state of stress and anxiety about how to get good grades, how to pass their exams, what they need to do to excel. While assessment is of course important it appears it’s taken over and a lot of the joy has disappeared from learning. Stress and anxiety among university students is not new. I wrote a paper over 30 years ago 1 on homesickness in students going to university and how there’s a spike in depression at this time. But it’s becoming a burgeoning problem and people are much more vocal about it now. So why is that?
Fifty-three per cent of students arriving at university have self-reported mental health issues before even getting there
Reasons are multiple. There’s a big shift in what students expect. In the UK school system they’re given such tight direction that they can then struggle when faced with the challenges of independent thinking at university. Uncertainty also leads to stress and we are in a time of peak uncertainty, with factors such as geopolitical instability, climate change and the transition to a digital world. Fifty-three per cent of students arriving at university have self-reported mental health issues before even getting there2 and the latest ONS statistics show that rates of mental health issues are rapidly on the increase.3
So what, if anything, can be done? There’s a belief that people with issues regarding mental health and unhappiness are genetically predisposed to it, but that’s not the full picture. Fifty per cent of what influences happiness is genetic factors, 10 per cent is circumstantial – for example winning the lottery or being the victim of a traffic accident– and 40 per cent is intentional activities such as exercising and getting enough sleep.4 My aim with the Science of Happiness course is to look at misconceptions around happiness, to examine how and why we think the way we do, to get the students to really think long and hard about the true meaning of happiness and how we define it, and then to put the Happiness Hacks into practice.
The intention is that it will make the students taking it more resilient and better able to deal with life
I must stress that this course is not a therapeutic one, although students may benefit by self-reflecting and by participating in the Happiness Hacks. The intention is that it will make the students taking it more resilient and better able to deal with life, understanding that success is not necessarily the same as happiness and that having different moods is important. That said, one interesting factor that emerged from the pilot programme was that the biggest fans of the course were our international students, particularly those from Asia. They often can’t talk about anxiety and stress at home in their culture. But because the Science of Happiness is a science course and looks at data and statistics, they felt ‘allowed’ to attend it and they felt liberated by what they learned.
So what is happiness, how do we define it and how do we achieve it? There are three components to wellbeing and happiness, which are: positive emotions, engagement and living a meaningful life. Psychological science shows that we have misconceptions about happiness, that our expectations around it can be detrimental to us and that certain factors can positively influence our happiness.
This is what I examine with the students taking my course, to overcome biases and put strategies into place to become happier. There are proven benefits to being happy, which have a positive effect on society. Happy people are more productive, more creative, more generous and have better relationships.5 Happiness can even predict health. For instance, a 2017 study showed that if you infect test subjects with the flu virus, the happier people fight it off better.6
Since the end of World War II, GDP has been a country’s measurement of success and one which I believe is possibly the worst way of measuring. We need to think about what’s more valuable to society, because we’re very individualistic in the Western world. We could do well to look at Bhutan, which since 1971 has rejected GDP as the only way to measure progress. In 1972 King Jigme Singye Wangchuck declared that ‘Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product’, giving equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing. We’ve lost track of the real values in life, we have a warped notion of self and we’re not asking ourselves if we feel purposeful and valued. At a time when anxiety and stress are on the increase globally and transecting age brackets and socio-economic backgrounds, refocusing on what Aristotle called Eudaimonia – translated as wellbeing – can only be a good thing.’
Happiness Hacks
Practical ways to feel more positive7.
1. Savouring – taking time to savour the things you enjoy.
2. Gratitude – expressing gratitude for people and things.
3. Social Connection – making real-life connections with strangers.
4. Kindness – increasing your acts of kindness.
5. Exercise – increasing your physical activity.
6. Attention – combat mind wandering.
7. Sleep – ensure at least seven hours per night.
1 Fisher, S. & Hood, B. (1987). The transition to university: a longitudinal study of psychological disturbance, absent-mindedness and vulnerability to homesickness. British Journal of Psychology, 78, 425-441.
2 Afterline (2018). Union Futures: Being Well, Doing Well [online]. Available at bristolsu.org.uk/articles/being-well-doing-well-results-released [Accessed 10.07.19].
3 Office of National Statistics UK (ONS), 2018. Counts and percentages of adults with a mental illness, by occupation, age, sex and ethnicity, between May and July 2012 to 2017. ONS.
4 Brickman P., Coates D., Janoff-Bulman R. Lottery winners and accident victims – is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (1978). 36, 917-927.
5 O’Malley, M. N., & Andrews, L. (1983). The effect of mood and incentives on helping: Are there somethings money can’t buy? Motivation and Emotion, 7(2), 179-189.
6 Ayling K., Fairclough L., Tighe P., Todd I., Halliday V., Garibaldi J., Royal S., Hamed A., Buchanan H., Vedhara K., (2017). Positive mood on the day of influenza vaccination predicts vaccine effectiveness: A prospective observational cohort study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
7 Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect – Does Happiness Lead to Success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.
Become part of Bristol’s bright, collective and strong community of experts by volunteering your time and expertise. We work with departments across the University to match our alumni volunteers with relevant and rewarding opportunities.
Explore some of our ongoing volunteering opportunities below.
Offer your time as a mentor We are looking for engaged professionals to share their expertise with our students. There are several mentoring schemes you could get involved with across the University – current mentoring opportunities are listed below:
Bristol Mentors
Bristol Mentors is a programme that matches students with an alumni mentor, who can help them explore ideas and share advice on how to break into industry. With a focus on supporting students from under-represented backgrounds, eligible students will be matched with a mentor to provide support throughout the academic year. For more information about our Bristol Mentors programme, get in touch with the Bristol Volunteers team at alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.
Social Sciences Mentoring Are you a Social Sciences and Law graduate and using your degree in your current role? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Use your expertise and experience to help guide our students through their studies and help them realise their future in social sciences field.
Professional Law Mentoring Scheme Our alumni are very successful in a broad range of legal careers and are an excellent source of guidance and inspiration for students. The Professional Law Mentoring Scheme aims to bring together these alumni to inspire current second year LLB and MA students and influence their career journeys. If you work in a commercial legal role and would like to be involved as a mentor for the scheme, please get in touch with the School of Law Employability team at law-employability@bristol.ac.uk.
Bristol Career Insights events
We are looking for alumni who can share their career stories, give exclusive insights into their industries and share their experience at our upcoming Bristol & London Career Insights events: Bristol, Tuesday 15 October 2019 London, Tuesday 5 November 2019
If you could support current students and recent graduates looking to take the next steps in their careers please get in touch with the Bristol Volunteers team at alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.
Distinguished Alumni Law Lecture Series
Each year the School of Law invites senior judges, barristers and partners in leading law firms to give guest lectures through the Distinguished Alumni Law Lecture Series. The School are looking to involve new speakers in the programme – if you are keen to give something back and share an inspiring story with our students, we would love to hear from you.
Would you like to help the Churchill Hall Association Committee?
Churchill Hall Association (CHA) comprises all those who have lived at Churchill Hall. The CHA Committee organises activities designed to support the Hall and to engage all members of the CHA community.
The CHA Committee is looking for assistance and to diversify its membership. They would particularly welcome recent Churchillians to help better represent the ideas of the entirety of the CHA community. Churchillians based in and around Bristol would also be very valuable.
Clifton Hill House Association
Anthony Duncalf, current Physics students (2018-), is starting an Association of Clifton Hill House. Anthony is looking for local Clifton Hill House alumni to participate in initial meetings, spread the word and possibly join the Committee.
Build our global alumni networks Working in partnership with the University, we have alumni networks, professional groups, Halls Associations, sports groups and networks in many locations all over the world. These networks help members to gain new social and professional contacts, benefit from advice and expertise, connect with other like-minded alumni, and gain access to exclusive activities.
To find out how you can connect with our groups, or for more information about starting a new network, please contact the Bristol Volunteers team at alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.
Alumni gave a warm welcome to our incoming international students at a new welcome event this September. Enjoying a traditional afternoon tea and relaxed conversation, alumni helped welcome students to Bristol as they navigate their first few weeks of life in the UK.
With conversations flowing, the event was a wonderful opportunity for new students to get to know the city and each other. Conversations ranged from which societies to join, to the best of Bristol’s many eateries. Alumni shared their top tips, Bristol favourites and their own experiences of starting fresh in an unknown city.
The event was part of a programme of Welcome Lounge events, a calendar of social events designed to give new international students a taste of Bristol life.
University staff, students and alumni mentors at the ‘Meet your Mentor’ event in Kuala Lumpur
A huge thank you to all our international alumni who are volunteering their time, experience and expertise as professional mentors to our Social Sciences and Law students this year.
This September, students met their mentors for the first time in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. All three events were a huge success due to the wide range of fantastic alumni who attended and the invaluable advice and guidance they shared with their mentees.
The events were well received by both mentors and mentees. Second-year Law mentee, Angus Yuen, said:
The Meet your Mentor event consolidated a fine connection between the University, alumni and current students. As the inaugural meeting in Hong Kong, the event provided the opportunity to gain an insightful view of my aspired career, and undoubtedly helped create a better framework to further my current studies!
University staff , students and alumni mentors at the ‘Meet your Mentor’ event in Hong Kong
Nina Sharil Khan (BSc 1998), Chief Unicorn Officer of Popcon, Economics and Accounting graduate and mentor in Malaysia said:
I felt that the event was amazing and such a great platform for students to connect with their alumni in a more structured way so, it’s not just a one-off meet and greet or networking thing, but is a fantastic platform to build a relationship with someone from the industry who they can go to for advice and coaching whenever the need arises.
These are such precious relationships that will be able to guide new graduates and hopefully pave the way for a new tradition where they in turn give back.
Students and alumni mentors meet in Singapore
This year’s International Mentoring Scheme will run until March 2020. The team will be looking for more engaged Social Sciences and Law graduates from Singapore, Hong Kong or Malaysia to participate in next year’s scheme. If you are interested, please email fssl-pln@bristol.ac.uk.
The International Mentoring Scheme is run by the Professional Liaison Network in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law. Find out more on their website: www.bristol.ac.uk/pln
The Malaysia alumni network and the Malaysian and Singaporean Student Association (MSSA) joined forces this August to give some of Bristol’s newest students the best send-off to Bristol.
Our alumni have a lot of insight, practical advice and plenty of stories to share with the next generation of students, and we’re delighted to see this in action in Malaysia.
Kindly hosted at Radiant Retreats in the highlands outside the city by Hanis Harun (LLB 1994, MBA 1995), CEO of Radiant Group in Kuala Lumpur, the weekend of events introduced the incoming 2019-20 cohort with current students and alumni over a series of orientation activities.
The meet-up aims to support new students with their adjustment to life in a new city and unfamiliar country and help build a network of familiar faces and connections that will no doubt grow over the years ahead.
Alumni were also on hand to share how their time at Bristol shaped their careers and pass on useful tips on making the most out of the opportunities Bristol can offer.
The event also united MSSA Committee members past and present, sharing the latest news and best practice from over the years of one of Bristol’s largest student societies (pictured from L – R: Farah, current VP, Zaki, VP 1991-92 and Brian, VP 2015-16).
“The Bristol alumni is a close and strong network in Malaysia, and we wanted the new students to know we would be there for them now and into the future” – Ahmad Zaki Zahid, LLB 1994.
The Bristol PLUS Awards lunched in 2009 to reward students for developing skills through extracurricular activity and articulate their value to employers. Although these original principles are unchanged, activity and engagement has evolved, with just 165 completers in the first year, to over 1000 more recently.
2019-20 marks the 10 year anniversary of the Bristol PLUS and Outstanding Awards and we are inviting all past award alumni to celebrate with us! Each cohort of our Award alumni are part of this growing success, as we evaluate student feedback to make continuous improvements to the credibility and value of the Awards. We are proud of the inclusive and accessible nature of the Awards and the variety of projects students get recognition for – from volunteering at Oxfam to completing an internship at a city firm, leading a sports club or learning a language.
While employability has been at the heart of the Awards, the personal benefits are vast. Students report improved confidence, feeling empowered to make decisions about their future and realising their potential.
The Bristol PLUS Award has become an effective way to build up confidence. It encouraged me to enrich my life experiences while at university. It is not only about improving employability, but also about truly maximising wellbeing. – 2nd year Mechanical Engineering (PhD)
Students completing this fully extracurricular Award now make up around 4% of the university population, but we have ambitions to reach more. If you completed the Award in the past 10 years we would love to hear about what you are doing now. Wherever you are in the world, your story could inspire the next generation. Or perhaps you work in a business that could benefit from engaging with the University and like-minded proactive students like you once were. To find out more, please email career-plusaward@bristol.ac.uk for more info, or read this recent blog.
Many thanks to alumni Harri Davies (LLB 2013) and Tom Rowland (BSc 2012) were able to join us for the University of Bristol undergraduate open day in June, to speak to, and inspire our prospective students.
We are very grateful to our Bristol Volunteers who offer their time and expertise to support events for those considering Bristol. Students very much value the opportunity and it gives those considering a degree at Bristol a clear picture of how we can support their career aspirations and enables them to see the variety of opportunity open to them after graduation.
Delighted to have been invited to speak to six form applicants at the University of Bristol Open Day. Really impressed with the questions about my epic time at Bristol and during my year abroad in Hong Kong.
Harri Davies (LLB 2013), Opportunities Manager, Aspiring Solicitors
If you would like to share your career story with prospective students and support the University of Bristol in this way, please get in touch- alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk
A big thank you to our Bristol Volunteers for giving their time, experience and expertise to our final year students and recent graduates, at our latest Bristol Career Insights events. Alumni shared their career stories and experiences to help our recent graduates take positive next steps in their careers.
We welcomed alumni from a number of different industries to speak to current students and recent graduates about their next steps – from securing a career in the city to setting up their own business; across the arts, legal, technology, finance and many more!
“I met a range of interesting people, professional alumni in positions/roles that I wouldn’t usually have access to or think about engaging with. But it’s amazing what great advice you can glean when you go along and ask for it.”
Recent graduate: Joel Willcocks (BSc 2018), Service Executive at Appear Here
“I was glad to have the opportunity to give something back to the University of Bristol, which has benefited me greatly in my career. It was also nice to have an opportunity to reflect on my own work philosophy in the hope of having something worthwhile to share with recent Bristol graduates.”
Alumni speaker: Patrick Raleigh (BSc 2003), Director of Country Risk at Bank of America Merrill Lynch
We will be running our next Bristol Career Insights events in Autumn 2019. If you would like to be involved, please contact alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk
Last month our community of Bristol Volunteers joined us for our first evening Bristol Volunteers Reception. The event was an opportunity to celebrate our volunteers and say thank you for their amazing work, as well as share stories of their volunteering experience. Our volunteers give their time and expertise as mentors, advisors, speakers, organisers and much more. The support of our volunteers has a huge impact for our students, the alumni community and the University, and we are incredibly grateful for their contributions. Thank you to all those who attended and everyone who has given their time to support the University this year.
We were delighted to hear from Leslie Stephens (BSc 1975), who volunteers on our US Foundation Board and travelled from New York to join us. John Reeve (BSc 1982), who is a mentor on our Bristol Mentors programme, also attended the evening and shared his experience of taking part and supporting a current student at Bristol. Julia Wathen (BSc 1972), who volunteers on the London Branch Committee, shared her personal involvement with the Bristol community. Julia commented on the strength of the alumni network, thanks to the hard work and commitment of our volunteers, and her sentiments resonated with all in the room.
Below are the winners of our ‘Bristol Volunteers Thank You Draw’. If you’re interested in becoming part of the Bristol Volunteers community, you can find out more about opportunities to get involved here on our webpage.
Why I am a Bristol Volunteer?
“I have been organising or coordinating an annual reunion of Alumni living in Eastern Canada for about 15 years. I enjoy doing this because it has brought me a wonderful group of friends, who have become close because of our shared beginnings. Having those formative years of our lives in common at Bristol gives us endless conversation topics, and several of the group have been back to Bristol and share their visits with us. We are all very grateful for the start in life that Bristol gave us.” Heather Proctor BSc 1964, Eastern Canada Network Leader
“I thought volunteering was about giving back, spending time and listening and helping…But it’s so much more. I think I learn more than the students. I think I’m back in my learning zone. I’m being tested, questioned, put under pressure. The students I meet conduct a panel interview on me. They come to my office. They ask penetrating questions. They don’t accept waffle and excuses. They’re good. They’re strong. This is not for the faint- hearted. The future is bright. And it’s coming from Bristol.” Paul Moran, MSc 2012, Professional Mentor
“My time at Bristol was transformational for every part of my life. I made many friends that I’m sure I’ll have for the rest of my life and learnt many new amazing things.I feel part of a community where we can share life’s experiences and ensure that spark and energy is transferred to current students so they can look back and feel proud of their time at Bristol too.” Andrew Franks, MEng 2010, Manor Hall Association
