Hoffman 1

Elena Hoffman
K. Flewelling
Humanities II
23 May 014
Writers Memo + Research Paper Final Draft
Dear Reader,
After a month of brainstorming, researching, drafting, correcting, and perfecting, I finally
feel as though my research paper is ready to be turned in as a final draft. From the moment I
heard what the prompt for the paper was, I knew what I wanted to write about. I love running
and working out because of how great and happy it makes me feel (and how natural and real the
happiness is), and since Id already conducted experiments involving happiness and working out,
I felt I already had a lot of evidence to share on the topic. Writing this paper was fun, because I
had a lot of qualitative research at my disposal that I could refer back to, and I found it neat that I
could connect my thesis with aspects of different philosophies wed studied before sping break.
I faced many road bumps down the way, such as finding credible information to include
in my paper (research done by others). I had difficulty understanding some of the studies written,
as they were so text heavy and written pretty complicatedly. I ended up finding a website that
had summaries of plenty different studies that had been conducted relating to the topic of
physical exercise and happiness, and I ended up using this site as my main research source.
My vocabulary range is not very broad, and when I do attempt to stick advanced
vocabulary words in my writing, I more than often end up using the word incorrectly. I faced this
problem once again while writing this paper. I tried not to drown my paper with these words and
only use them when appropriate and when I believed I knew the meaning.

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I know that my paper still isnt perfect. I could have probably stuck a few more difficult
vocabulary words in there, and I could have found more studies online to include as research.
However, I believe I did a great job with conducting and collecting research/evidence of my
own, and because of all that, I have come to the conclusion that there is in fact a direct
correlation between physical activity and ones happiness and health.
Regards,
Elena Hoffman
(Scroll down to the next page to see the research paper.)

Elena Hoffman
K. Flewelling
Humanities II
23 May 2014

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Exercise: The Unexpected Gate to Happiness
A lot of people cringe when they hear the word exercise. People tend to connect this
word with that of intense pain, agony, and torture. However, is it possible that the actual
activity of exercising brings happiness, and can increase positive emotions? As a track and
cross country athlete, I was faced with the question: how does physical activity impact
happiness? Through studying philosophies, conducting a happiness pursuit experiment,
analyzing the results of two surveys, and researching expert studies on the topic of physical
activity, we can conclude that staying physically active is not only healthy for the body, but for
the mind as well, as it can increase happiness in many different ways.
Before beginning, some of the following definitions may be useful in understanding the
context of some of the points that will be made. An athlete (in the context of this paper) is
someone who engages in a sport and practices this sport at least 4 or more hours a week. They
are constantly staying active. Physical activity is exercise of any sort. It is something that
keeps the body moving, blood flowing, and heart beating. People that would not consider
themselves athletes can still be physically active--just because someone does not run track does
not mean they cannot run for their own pleasure a few times a week. Happiness is any positive
feeling (e.g. satisfaction, pleasure, tranquility).
Plenteous methods were used to make this research paper come together. I conducted an
experiment for my chemistry class in which I tried to pursue happiness by training hard in track
to improve my personal bests/records. I took notes of different emotions this experiment brought
me. We studied different philosophies in Humanities, and I discovered two (John Stuart Mills
and Robert Nozicks) that related to the question posed. I issued out a survey to my track team,
and then sent a nearly identical one to my school teaching team (the only difference is that I

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added a question in the one I sent to my class which asked about average hours of physical
activity). The purpose of the surveys were to compare the happiness levels of each set of students
after they exercised, and it also asked their reasons for going out to exercise as well as what
prevented them from doing it more often. The final thing I did was research the Internet for
expert studies and articles that discussed or were related to my topic/research question.
Correlation between exercise and happiness can be connected to two different
philosophical points of view. John Stuart Mill, a philosopher from the 1800s, believes that there
are two types of happiness-- long term and short term-- and that long term is the greater of the
two since it takes longer to pursue which therefore results in longer lasting happiness. Short term
happiness is experienced through momentary pleasures, while long term happiness exercises the
higher intellectual and moral senses, and is achieved more through the process of goal setting
and achievement. Robert Nozick, a philosopher from the 1970s, believes in the distribution of
happiness within a lifetime, and that a person with ever progressing/increasing happiness is
happier than one who is decreasing, even if it is ever so slightly. The happiness felt through
exercise, especially if pursued for satisfactory purposes, is much alike both of these philosophies.
If you are constantly setting goals for yourself (i.e. getting in shape, achieving fitness goals),
then you will continuously get happier over time. You will be able to notice the
ascent/improvement in your athletic ability, which will in turn convert into long term happiness
for yourself. The pathway to achieving your fitness goals may not be an easy one, for many
hours of difficult practice is not something that is necessarily fun to go through, but the eventual
feeling of success and satisfaction will make the pain suffered in those weeks of practice worth
it.

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In my chemistry class, all the students were instructed to create and conduct a happiness
pursuit that would take place over a few weeks. Some students set goals for themselves that they
would accomplish in this time (e.g. learn how to cook, play the guitar, write a book) while others
chose stress relieving activities (e.g. go hiking, do yoga, exercise). For my pursuit, I decided I
would try to constantly improve my personal track records (PRs) in the meets whose dates fell in
my pursuit times. This meant that I would need to push myself extra hard at practice, which
would no doubt be an ordeal.
As my pursuit went along, I was surprised to find that I was experiencing happiness in a
myriad of different ways. When I went to practice, no matter how difficult the workout or how
much I did not feel like running, I would always be satisfied that I went through with it as I knew
that it would benefit me in the long run, along with the satisfaction of hard work felt at the end of
any workout combined with the runners high. Being amongst all my teammates brought me
happiness in the form of love and company as well, as plenty of them have become good friends
of mine.
I also found that on days when I was experiencing high levels of stress or anxiety, a
placid, long run with music really helped me overcome it. Long runs allowed me the opportunity
to clear my head of all negative thoughts. Sure, they would hurt in the beginning, but once I was
able to warm up and slowly forget the pain I was in, I would lose myself in daydream-like
thoughts of dreams and goals I wanted to accomplish, and for some reason, running to the beat of
my favorite songs helped me believe that I could in fact make these dreams reality.
Finally, the best form of happiness I experienced was that of success at meets. To me,
PRing (running personal records) was evidence of all my hard work, and mental and physical
growth. The knowledge that I PRed (when I did), made me overjoyed and filled me with a sense

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of pride, accomplishment, and confidence in not only myself but to believe that I could continue
to improve and be a track star one day. Id feel satisfied in what I accomplished, yet not satisfied
enough to stop working hard to run faster PRs, which was (is) a perfect balance. When I was
awarded a medal (at invitational meets), I felt like they had so much more significance outside of
just being a circle of metal. They were tokens of all the sweat and hard work that was put into
allowing myself the opportunity to be rewarded that medal. So because of all this, I have to
conclude that there is a very strong correlation between exercise and happiness, and that it is
evident in plenteous different forms.
In addition to these personal and philosophical connections, a cultural connection can
also be made to prove that happiness can be achieved through staying physically active.
Denmark is considered the happiest country in the world. There are many factors that go into
this, and one of those is believed to be derived from the fact that biking accounts for 50% of
residents trips to school and work. Researchers have found that this benefits happiness in plenty
of ways. Not only does it increase fitness level, but it also reduces carbon emissions from motor
vehicles, which therefore reduces pollution in the air (making it cleaner and healthier). For this
reason researchers believe that riding your bicycle for 30 minutes daily can add 1-2 years of life
expectancy, and be beneficial to you in a copious amount of ways.
I conducted some studies for this paper so that I could gather some qualitative research
on the topic of correlating exercise and happiness. I created two identical surveys, the only
difference being that the question How many hours a week do you dedicate to physical
activity? was added to one of the surveys. That survey was sent out to my teaching team at
school. The other survey (without the added question) was sent out to my track/cross country
team. The results from these surveys led to interesting conclusions. I found that the majority of

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people on my teaching team (who arent all athletes, and who one might consider the general
public) said that the main reason they exercise is to relieve stress. However, the majority of
people on my track/cross country team (all athletes) said that their main reason for exercising
was to feel the satisfaction that working out gives you. This meant that while both parties did
have happiness related reasons for exercising, they were almost complete opposite and the
different motivation for each group was evident.
Overall, 96% of athletes on my track/cross country team rated the question On a scale of
1-10, 1 being that it strongly decreases your happiness, 5 being your mood stays the same, and
10 being it strongly increases your happiness, how do you usually feel after working out? Be
honest, a 6 or above, while 80% of my teaching teammates gave the same response (a 6 or
above). I found the difference in percentages curious, and was able to use Mills philosophy to
lead me to a possible conclusion as to why: stress relief can be considered a momentary pleasure.
It affects how you feel in the current moment, and is usually something relaxing that does not
require an intense amount of effort or intellect. For that reason, it can be considered a lower
pleasure, or short term happiness. However, when someone feels satisfied for having done
something, it is usually because they worked hard and stepped outside of their comfort zone to
make that something happen. A higher level of intellect might be necessary, which means that
feeling satisfied at the end of a workout can be considered a higher pleasure, or long term
happiness. This means that the reason that the athletes had higher happiness levels after working
out was because they were in fact experiencing a different type of happiness than my teaching
teammates, long term in contrast to short term.
After finishing our happiness pursuits in chemistry class, every student on my team had
to fill out a survey that was filled with questions about our pursuits, in which the answers

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required us to rate the questions on a scale of 1-10 (e.g. How happy were you for having
engaged in your pursuit?, Was engaging in your pursuit stress relieving?). Students that
included any form of exercise in their pursuits rated the amount of exercise that went in a 9.3,
which indicated that the people who included exercise in their pursuit were engaging in it
rigorously and intensely, possibly alike an athlete. Another question on this survey was How
happy were you for having engaged in your pursuit, and I found that of the people who included
exercise in their pursuits, the average rating for this question was 9.2, meaning that this was the
average happiness level of those people. The average happiness level of the entire team during
the pursuit was 7.6, and the average happiness level of those on my team that did not include
exercise in their pursuits was 6.6. All these different numbers led me to the conclusion that those
who engaged in exercise were able to find high levels of happiness, and that people who exercise
are happier than the average population, and much happier than those who do not.
There are an abundance of studies that have been conducted on the topic of how exercise
relates to happiness, including some biological ones. Opiate protein, also known as endorphins,
have pain relieving properties and are found inside the brain. The word endorphin comes from
the word endogenous, which means having an internal origin, or produced inside the body, and
the word morphine, which is a chemical substance that increases mood and helps relieve pain.
Endorphins are neurotransmitters that are chemically alike morphine, as neurotransmitters are
endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from neuron (a brain cell) to neuron in the brain, and
the brain has been known to respond to morphine (as there are morphine receptors in the brain).
This suggests that the brain therefore makes its own morphine like substances. As the amount of
exercise one engages in increases, so does the endorphin release level, and those that partake in

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intense exercise for a long period of time may experience a state of euphoria, which is an intense
feeling of happiness and self confidence.
Studies conducted by the Michigan State University extension state that exercise should
be prioritized alongside work and family commitments, for it is important to not only stay
healthy, but to be happy. They found that this can be easier to prioritize and do if one is engaging
in a form of physical activity that they enjoy and can do regularly. (Berkey). They recommend
to add working out to your calendars so that it adds a sense of seriousness (in that youre taking
your exercise seriously).
While exercising reduces risks of diseases and maladies such as heartburn, it can also
immensely decrease the chances of suffering from mental illness as well as attribute to an overall
better mental well being. Exercise can augment self esteem, which is something that the mental
diseased can lack which in turn adds to the reason they are in a negative mental state. Exercising
can also help treat anxiety, enhance mood states, and increase psychological resilience (an
individuals ability to adapt to properly adapt to stress). It can also help improve sleep, which
makes for a happier person as the more well rested you are, the more motivation and positive
energy you have radiating through you. P. Hassmen conducted a study based on mental health
and physical activity. There were a total of 3,403 people between the ages of 26-64 participating
in the study, and the majority of the participants were females. The study found that an increase
in exercise did in fact decrease depression and stress levels (and vice versa). Interesting enough,
the people who were found to be the most depressed in the study were those who were impotent
and could not work out due to being handicapped. In addition to these findings, Hassem also
found that the people who exercised the most frequently had the lowest anger scores and felt
more socially involved than those who did not. Hassem concluded that If an individual works

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out two to three times a week, (they) will find a decrease in stress, anger, depression and an
increase in perceived health, coherence, and fitness. (Pursuit of Happiness Inc).
In conclusion, staying physically active comes with many benefits. Staying physically
active can help you increase your lifespan, sleep better at night, have stronger muscles and
bones, be able to move around more, stay at or attain a healthy weight, feel better and more
confident with yourself, decrease the chance of becoming depressed, and just be a happier person
overall. It can even help you meet new people and grow your friend circle. People who do not
exercise are more likely to get heart diseases, become depressed, have high blood pressure and
cholesterol, get type 2 diabetes, become obese, have a stroke, and any other health related
disease. No one likes being sick, and a healthier person is therefore a happier one. Since
happiness is internal, it can be difficult to make any definitive conclusions about it, as it can
differ for different people. It is possible that the reason people who exercise are happier than
those who don't could just be that they are happier people in general. However, there is a very
obvious correlation between happiness and exercise, and this has been made palpable through
my personal connections/experiences, two well-known philosophers, studies I have conducted,
and research studies made by experts in the field. While these are all very different methods of
research, they all share the same conclusion: physical activity can in fact increase happiness and
mood through a wide variety of ways.

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Work Cited
1. Berkey, Jennifer. "Michigan State University MSU Extension." Staying Active Increases
Your Long-term Happiness. Michigan State University Extension, 9 Mar. 2013. Web. 22
May 2014. <http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/staying_active_increases_your_longterm_happiness>.
2. Hoffman, Elena. Happiness and Physical Activity: Survey. 1, 2, 2014.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gAblRECN4JKVTaZ0Nqni7N8NI9g040BE71IFGWsr
KA8/viewform?usp=mail_form_link
3. "John Stuart Mill Archive." The John Stuart Mill Internet Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 22
May 2014. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mill-john-stuart/index.htm>.
4. Kenny, Anthony. "Happiness." Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 66 (1965): 93102. Web.
5. "Key Studies on Exercise and Well-Being." Pursuit of Happiness. Pursuit of Happiness,
Inc, 2014. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-ofhappiness/exercise/exercise-and-happiness-reviews/>.

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6. Melnick, Meredith. "Denmark Is Considered The Happiest Country. You'll Never Guess
Why." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/denmark-happiestcountry_n_4070761.html>
7. "Tips for Increasing Physical Activity." Tips for Increasing Physical Activity.
ChooseMyPlate, n.d. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/physicalactivity/increase-physical-activity.html>.
8. Willet, Sarah. "Runner's High." Runner's High. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.
<http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/sarah.html>.