This text is translated from Norwegian to English by UiOGPT
Which research project are you preoccupied with at the moment?
I work on the ‘Modelling Human Happiness’ project and two other RCN projects, ‘Homo Sociabilis’ and ‘Motherhood and Quality of Life’. Common denominators are a good life, happiness, and wellbeing. The projects range from studies of twins and molecular genetic factors to humans as fundamentally social and an expanded neo-eudaimonic perspective on happiness, inspired by ancient philosophy. We are also interested in the relationship between wellbeing and illbeing.
What do you hope to discover?
I want to solve the puzzle of happiness. What constitutes a good life? Why are some people satisfied with life, and others not? Why has life satisfaction in Norway declined, especially among the young? Which aspects of our social relationships are especially important for our life quality? What are the most significant thieves of happiness? And how do genes and environmental factors interplay to affect mental health and wellbeing?
While many studies focus on genetic vulnerability to mental disorders, we are concerned with how genetic factors constitute resources and potentials that can flourish in good environmental conditions. We are also interested in wellbeing as a social and collective phenomenon. Most studies of wellbeing have an individual focus, on the individual's happiness, but most people place greater value on their family's happiness than their own happiness.
To study psychological phenomena, we need good measurements, and I work on development and validation of scales and measurement methods. This is an exciting intersection between statistical models and fundamental human phenomena.
Why is this important?
Most people wish for a long life and a good life. I study good lives. This is a universal human value and one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Norwegian government and the Ministry of Health are currently working on a National Strategy for Quality of Life, which is exciting. At the societal level, there is an increased focus on Gross National Wellbeing, Wellbeing-Adjusted Life Years, and Wellbeing Economy.
Wellbeing can be sustainable and local and has seen increased research focus in recent years. But wellbeing is more than personal life satisfaction and positive emotions, and we work with an expanded perspective that includes meaning and richness of life, social and collective happiness, as well as a moral value dimension.
Who do you collaborate with?
I have fantastic colleagues in our Happiness Lab, and generally at Promenta and at PSI. My colleague Ragnhild Bang Nes, who is one of the country's best wellbeing researchers, and is a co-PI on several of our main projects, is an important collaborator. Furthermore, I work a lot with researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and international partners. Good research is generated in collaboration with good people, and I have been privileged.
In recent years, I’ve had the honor of being director of the Promenta research center. During five years, the center has grown from being an idea and a grant proposal to a center with 60 staff, and with research projects ranging from brain development and genetics to families, local communities, and societal reforms. We have worked with dedication to develop a collaborative culture, and it's impressive to see how good research environments are built when talented people come together, and also recruit new talents.
In my new role as Head of research, I'm looking forward to getting even better acquainted with all the exciting projects being conducted at PSI, and I think that an important leadership function is to create meeting spaces and facilitate new collaborative research expeditions.
What do you look for when choosing collaborators?
Good people. Individuals with enthusiasm, generosity, warmth, and trustworthiness – who contribute positively to groups and relationships. And it’s only an advantage if they have different strengths than me. Myself, I'm not a world champion of structured planning, so it’s helpful to have collaborators who possess more of this trait. A combination of similarity in values and interests, but complementarity in competence, often leads to something good.
What other research projects are you involved in?
Among others, the Five Ways to Wellbeing project at PSI and NIPH that tests a wellbeing promoting intervention, psychology's five-a-day, with positive results. We show that wellbeing can be trained. Another project, HeaLS (ERC, NFR), examines the effects of ‘Health and Life Skills’ in schools, and a third project, the Dynamics of Family Conflict Study (at NIPH) follows children and families during conflict.
I am also involved in exciting projects about music, genes and personality, mental health among unaccompanied minor refugees, development of depression among youth, and resilience and life events among twins. Right now, we are working on developing an app to record happiness, emotions, and activities throughout the day.
What do you find most interesting about being a researcher?
The ideas! The creativity and richness of ideas, the curiosity and learning, and working with amazing people. As an activity, good research shares features with art, and requires innovative thinking and creativity. Several studies also show that learning something new is an important source of wellbeing, and in this sense, research life can be a paradise. And when the ideas are explored together with wonderful colleagues, and eventually become new and important knowledge, work life isn’t too bad.
What is the most common question you get about your job when you are with others?
"How can I become happier?" Happiness research often sparks interest, and many are curious about the latest news on happiness. For me, the latest news is often an R script that works, a new dataset, or a simulation model that reveals unknown effects. But the goal is new knowledge about good lives, and it feels very meaningful to contribute to and communicate this. Generating knowledge about happiness is a source of happiness.