A poll of 2,000 adults uncovered the top things that boost our mood, with getting a compliment, eating a favourite snack and laughing until the tears flow also scoring high.
While 45 per cent love nothing more than getting a nice bit of praise, and 37 per cent are delighted when their pets are happy to see them.
The average adult experiences these moments three times a day and claims that, in a typical week, they feel good about their day four times out of seven.
That said, 34 per cent are finding it increasingly hard to be happy, with 83 per cent proactively avoiding negative stories on social media and TV due to it leaving them feeling ‘emotionally drained’.
The research, commissioned by cheese snack, Babybel, also found 46 per cent of Londoners currently feel like they need a pick me up.
In response, the brand has created the Goodness Bench inside King’s Cross Station, London, to mark the launch of its Join the Goodness campaign.
It’s designed to spread feel-good vibes by playing positive news stories from the week while donating to its longstanding charity partner, Comic Relief, each time the bench is sat on.
A spokesperson for the brand said: “It’s more important than ever to do little things that make us feel good, inside and out whether that means grabbing your favourite snack or helping someone in need.
“We all need a boost from time-to-time and feeling good goes hand in hand with doing good, which is why we wanted to spread positivity through this activation.”
Saturday is deemed the day of the week most likely to bring joy - with Monday, unsurprisingly, ranking worse.
But 68 per cent feel happiness is infectious, and as a result, 35 per cent often or always go out of their way to spread a bit of positivity.
The typical adult will do 12 things a month to lift their mood - even if it’s as simple as sitting down with a coffee, according to the OnePoll.com data.
Although only 24 per cent actively set aside time on a regular basis to do things that make them happy.
Babybel’s spokesperson added: “Many of the things on our top 20 list of happiness-makers come at absolutely no cost at all.
“Of course, whether we see a sunny blue sky in the morning isn’t up to us, sadly - but we can all give someone a compliment any time and spread goodness that way.
“Doing things to make others happy also has the benefit of making us happy as well, making it a really positive circle of behaviour.”
Top 20 things that make Brits feel good
- A good night’s sleep
- A sunny blue sky
- Summer
- Receiving a compliment or praise
- Booking a holiday
- Crying with laughter
- Getting a quiet moment to yourself
- Eating your favourite snack
- Pets being happy to see you
- Looking back at old photographs
- Finishing a great book
- Helping an elderly person with something
- Finishing a workout
- Hearing children really belly-laughing
- Finding a parking space when it’s busy
- A newly-cleaned car
- When your football or other sports team wins
- A heart-to-heart with a loved one
- Volunteering or helping others
- Finding out your children have done well at school
