Positive Psychology Exercise Study - 1 Exercise

We have created a plethora of exercises, each of which is designed to increase happiness in peoples' lives. The goal of this study is to subject these exercises to rigorous empirical testing in order to determine which are effective and which are not.

If you choose to participate in this study, you will be asked to try one of many of our Authentic Happiness exercises over the next week. By answering our brief questionnaires immediately before and after using your assigned exercise, you will provide us with valuable data about how doing the exercise affected you. Furthermore, you can help us determine if these exercises have long-lasting effects by completing subsequent follow-ups one month, three months, six months and one year after your initial post-intervention assessment.

The results of this study will be a big step toward providing the general public with happiness-increasing exercises that really work!

Help us achieve our goal by signing up to participate today!

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a variety of exercises that we have designed with the aim of increasing happiness. Should you choose to participate, you will be asked to continue doing so for the next year. While the majority of the time you would spend on this study is compressed into the first week, we would also like to track you for the next year using brief, web-based surveys.

If you click on the "agree" button below, you will immediately begin the first phase of the study by completing a baseline set of questionnaires. This should take you no longer than 20 minutes. Following your completion of these initial surveys, you will be randomly assigned to one of many exercises and asked to practice that exercise over the next week. At that time, you will receive detailed instructions on how to use the exercise, and you will be able to access those instructions at any time during the following week by returning to the site and logging in. You will also receive an email reminder during the week containing the instructions for your exercise in case you would like to review them.

After the end of the week, you will receive an email asking you to return to the site and complete the same brief set of questionnaires you completed the week before. You will also be asked to answer some questions about your experience with the exercise to which you were assigned. After your completion of these questionnaires, you will have completed the first phase of the study.

In the second phase of the study, we will ask you to return four times over the next year and complete brief follow-up questionnaires. These follow-ups should only take 20 minutes of your time, and will occur one month, three months, six months and one year after you complete the first phase of the study. Your completion of the final one-year follow-up will conclude your participation in our research.

As the study progresses, we will hold numerous raffles in which participants will have the chance to win $100 prizes. For each assessment that you complete after the initial baseline assessment, you will be entered in one of these raffles. While it is important for you to complete as many follow-ups as possible in order to give us an accurate assessment of how the exercise has worked for you, failing to complete one follow-up questionnaire does not preclude you from completing later follow-ups and subsequently being entered in later raffles.

Lastly, the data we receive from you will be used only for research purposes, and will be stored on a secure server that only our research team can access. If you become uncomfortable with any aspect of the study at any time, you may withdraw by emailing the project coordinator, Acacia Parks (acparks@psych.upenn.edu) or by viewing your profile and making this selection.

If you understand the above information and would like to participate in this study, click on the button below.