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Humility isn’t the most sought-after
of virtues. But in addition to making
someone much more likable, it may
just have a direct relationship with
happiness.
“People don’t often talk about
the emotional benefits
of humility,” says
UC Riverside
psychology
graduate
student
Elliott Kruse,
“but it’s
possible that
it may be
one way to
become more
content.”
Kruse, along with
fellow grad student
Joe Chancellor, is
studying the effects
of humility and how
people attain that
quality.
Eat That Not-so-Negative
Slice of Humble Pie
“Humility
may be
one way
to become
more
content.”
“We felt that some of the popular
views of humility didn’t fit well with
our own experiences interacting with
the humble people in our lives,”
Kruse says. “Many folks assume
that the humble are overly modest,
perhaps boring and even
weak, or that the experience
of humility is somehow
negative.”
From that perspective,
Kruse says you’d think that
humility might make people
unhappy, because they’re not
expected to like themselves.
But Kruse and Chancellor
have discovered the opposite:
Feeling humble is related to
feeling secure—and experiencing fewer
negative emotions in general.
“Humility may lead to happiness
[by] making it easier for people
to experience gratitude,” Kruse
explains. “Which may in turn increase
satisfaction with life.”
UCR Spring 2013 | 11