Good genes are nice, but joy is better

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier

HN

Comments:

1. To the title: I'm confident there are good genes that cause joy. I'm certain there are bad genes that cause anti-joy.

2. The actual article talks about relationships with people, and not about happiness per se. (For example, what about a hermit who constantly derives joy from listening to classical music?) Bad title.

3. Most of what is stated is a correlation, and it seems there are obvious alternative explanations, such as the opposite-direction causality: if your health problems get bad enough, that may interfere with your relationships. For example: "Part of a study found that people who had happy marriages in their 80s reported that their moods didn’t suffer even on the days when they had more physical pain. Those who had unhappy marriages felt both more emotional and physical pain." Maybe those who feel worse physical pain are more likely to snap at their spouse, and/or less likely to do the things that make their spouse feel loved.

I mean, it's plausible that the thesis is correct, but the article seems to overstate the certainty of the evidence.