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Big cities aren't great for one's happiness, according to findings from public policy researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas, who examined data from the General Social Survey, revealing a correlation between higher levels of happiness and being located in a small town or rural area.

Just as experiencing emotions beyond happiness can have surprising, positive side effects, bad days can actually be good for your long-term happiness. A psychology team from the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering found that subjects who experienced a combination of happiness and sadness at the same time were more likely to improve their sense of mental health over the long run.

The countries and states that get high places on the "Happiest Places" lists also tend to have the highest su***de rates, according to research from the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England; Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York; and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. "This result is consistent with other research that shows that people judge their well-being in comparison to others around them," one of the researchers noted. "These types of comparison effects have also been shown with regards to income, unemployment, crime, and obesity."

It turns out that surrounding yourself with happy people will cause that happiness to rub off on you. Those were among the findings of researchers who looked at the Framingham Heart Study, which looked at the health and happiness of more than 4,700 residents of the city of Framingham, Massachusetts, and found that people who reported feeling happy tended to form their own "clusters" with one another. They found that your likelihood of happiness rises 15.3 percent if a family member or close friend is happy.

Yeah, we know—duh. But here's where it gets interesting: According to Allen McConnell, university distinguished professor at Miami University's Department of Psychology, the difference between felines and canines is nil. As he said in Happiness Hacks, "We've never found differences between dogs and cats. The primary difference is the extent to which you anthropomorphize the pet. If you view your iguana as having human-like compassion and qualities, it's as good as a golden retriever. It's all in the mind of the owner.

In his book of science-based tips for improving happiness, Happiness Hacks: 100% Scientific! Curiously Effective!, Alex Palmer writes "Feeling down? Turn on some lights—or at least turn them up. In three separate study conditions, researchers found a correlation between people's feelings of hopelessness and their perception of room lighting. They found that participants rated the brightness of a room as darker when they were feeling hopeless and also indicated a preference for a brighter room."

Or at least, they're better for the happiness and health of long-distance relationships. Researchers found that those who communicated via phone or we**am were more likely to feel emotionally supported by their significant other. Those who used text messages and instant messaging felt no such connection.

While happiness is a highly valued trait in Western cultures, that's not the case worldwide. "In fact, some individuals across cultures are averse to various kinds of happiness for several different reasons," according to Mohsen Joshanloo and Dan Weijers at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. They found that in a number of cultures, from Japan to Germany to the Middle East, a tendency toward "happiness aversion" can be found

Here's some good news for anyone actively planning to grow older: Chances are that your level of happiness will grow with the number of birthday candles on your cake. A study by the University of Alberta tracked subjects level of happiness over a 25-year period, determining that across the board (and controlling for other variables), those who got older, got happier.

It's as the saying goes: money can't buy happiness. Nobel Prize–winning economist Amartya Sen found that societies that expanded their level of freedom and independence saw a corresponding boost in the quality of life of the citizens. He concludes that allowing people to live the way they prefer to is far more likely to result in widespread satisfaction than the usual focus on GDP and other economic concerns.