Widely Publicized '3 To 1 Happiness Ratio' Turns Out To Be Completely Unfounded

A highly cited and discussed 2005 paper from Barbara Fredrickson and Marcial Losada suggested a mathematical ratio between positivity and happiness, arguing that human beings flourish when the ratio of positive to negative statements made in an interaction is about 2.9. Now a new paper claims that the happiness ratio is complete and utter bunk. University of East London grad student Nicholas Brown analyzed the paper with NYU Physics professor Alan Sokal and University of Florida psychologist Har...