According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author of The How of Happiness, what were the results of the SMILE study after four months?

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According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author of The How of Happiness, what were the results of the SMILE study after four months?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

First, let's restate the question and the provided options to set the stage for analysis: according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, what were the results of the SMILE study after four months? Options include various patterns of improvement or lack thereof across different groups, with the last option stating that all three groups experienced a lift in depression and reported increased happiness.
Option 1: 'The exercise group showed no improvement compared to the other groups.' This would imply that physical activity alone had no differential effect versus other conditions. If the study reported broad improvements across groups, this claim would contradict the notion of some group-specific differences, and may misstate any potential equivalence or lack thereof.
Option 2: 'Only the medication group showed improvement in depression.' This asserts a pharmacological advantage in reducing depressive symptoms for a specific subset. If the four-month outcomes showed happiness gains across multiple conditions rather than a medication-specific effect, this option would fail to align with those broader results and could reflect a bias toward pharmacotherapy.
Option 3: 'Only the combination group showed improvement in depression.' Here, the claim is that a synergy between intervention components yielded improvement, while others did not. If the reported results indicated benefits across all groups, including non-combined or control conditions, this would misrepresent the breadth of observed effects.
Option 4: 'No one showed an improvement.' This is essentially a null-effect claim. If Lyubomirsky’s report indicated any uplift in mood or happiness across participants, this option would be inconsistent with those findings and would reflect a no-effect interpretation rather than the observed results.
Option 5: 'All three groups experienced a lift in depression and reported increased happiness.' This statement asserts that each group—whether exercise, medication, or combination—showed reductions in depressive symptoms alongside increases in happiness after four months. If the SMILE study demonstrated benefits across all arms, including reductions in depression and heightened happiness, this option would capture that generalized improvement rather than a group-specific or null effect.
To evaluate these options, consider the structure of the SMILE study: it typically compares multiple conditions (e.g., exercise, medication, and combination or control) over a set period, looking for changes in mood and well-being. A result stating universal benefit across all arms would reflect a broad, potentially non-specific effect, whereas statements limiting improvement to a single group or denying improvement altogether would imply more selective or null effects. 
In this context, the option describing universal lift in depression with increased happiness across all three groups should be weighed against the other alternatives by comparing whether the study reported consistent improvements in all arms, or whether differential effects were observed. If the reported outcome emphasized that all groups showed improvement, the other options would be inconsistent with that finding. If instead the study highlighted improvements only in certain groups, those alternatives would be more plausible. Finally, when assessing the phrasing, consider whether the claim about 'lift in depression' aligns with a reduction in depressive symptoms (i.e., a decrease in depression scores) and whether 'increased happiness' corresponds to higher self-reported well-being, as both outcomes are commonly measured in this line of research.
In sum, the analysis hinges on whether the four-month data demonstrated broad improvements across exercise, medication, and combination conditions, or whether improvements were confined to specific arms or absent altogether. The candidate that matches a universal improvement narrative would thus reflect the study’s reported pattern if such a pattern was indeed found, while the other options would reflect partial, group-specific, or null results. The nuanced distinction between these options requires aligning the stated outcomes with the actual four-month findings and distinguishing between depressive symptoms versus subjective happiness measures across all groups.

Accelerated ELL Writing 5 | The How of Happiness Quiz: Chapter 9, Part 2 (p. 240-end of chapter)

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author of The How of Happiness, what were the results of the SMILE study after four months?

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