Over 3 million people signed up for Yale's happiness course

NEW YORK • The Yale happiness class, formally known as Psyc 157: Psychology And The Good Life, is one of the most popular classes to be offered in the university's 320-year history.

The class was taught in-person only once, during the spring 2018 semester, as a 1,200-person lecture course in the largest space on campus.

That March, a free 10-week version made available to the public via Coursera, titled The Science Of Well-Being, also became instantly popular, attracting hundreds of thousands of online learners.

But when lockdowns began last March during the Covid-19 pandemic, two full years later, enrolment numbers skyrocketed.

To date, more than 3.3 million people have signed up, said the website.

"We octupled the number of people taking the class," said Dr Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale and the head of the university's Silliman College, of its pandemic-era popularity.

"Everyone knows what he or she needs to do to protect his or her physical health - wash your hands, social distance and wear a mask," she added.

"People were struggling with what to do to protect their mental health."

The Coursera curriculum, adapted from the one Dr Santos taught at Yale, asks students to, among other things, track their sleep patterns, keep a gratitude journal, perform random acts of kindness and take note of whether, over time, these behaviours correlate with a positive change in their mood.

Ms Gretchen McIntire, 34, a home health aide in Massachusetts, is studying for her bachelor's degree in psychology through an online programme from Southern New Hampshire University.

In her free time during lockdown in August, she took the class. She called it "life-changing".

The practical aspect of the Coursera curriculum appealed to Ms McIntire, who learnt she had Asperger's syndrome at 23.

A night owl, she had struggled with sleep and enforcing her own time boundaries.

"It's hard to set those boundaries with yourself sometimes and say, 'I know this book is really exciting, but it can wait till tomorrow, sleep is more important,'" she said.

"That's discipline, right? But I had never done it in that way, where it's like, 'It's going to make you happier. It's not just good for you; it's going to actually legitimately make you happier.'"

Not every student of the class has felt transformed.

Mr Matt Nadel, 21, a Yale senior, was among the 1,200 students who took the class on campus in 2018.

He said he was disappointed that the class was a sort of review of the kinds of obvious good advice you may get from a grandmother: Get enough sleep, drink enough water, just do your best.

"Did the class impact my life in a long-term, tangible way? The answer is no," he added.

While the class was not life-changing for him, Mr Nadel said he is more expressive now when he feels gratitude.

"Which is great," he said. "But that's about all."

NYTIMES