{
  "checkedAt": "2026-09-30",
  "videoId": "7691047395676785940",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/@eduardluta/video/7691047395676785940",
  "originalFormula": "happiness = expectations - reality",
  "editorialCorrection": "surprise gap = actual outcome - expected outcome",
  "isCompleteHappinessEquation": false,
  "scenario": {
    "invented": true,
    "unit": "game points",
    "actual": [
      50,
      50,
      50
    ],
    "expected": [
      20,
      50,
      80
    ],
    "gap": [
      30,
      0,
      -30
    ],
    "gapChangeFromHighToLowExpectation": 60,
    "formula": "actual - expected",
    "chartBarsRepresent": "actual points received",
    "notHappinessScores": true
  },
  "research": {
    "rutledge2014": {
      "url": "https://rutledgelab.org/happinessequation",
      "doi": "10.1073/pnas.1407535111",
      "initialLaboratoryParticipants": 26,
      "smartphoneParticipants": 18420,
      "scope": "Momentary self-reported happiness during reward tasks, not overall life satisfaction",
      "model": "Recent certain rewards, expected values and reward prediction errors with temporal weighting"
    },
    "replication2021": {
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33632071/",
      "finding": "Preregistered behavioural replication mostly confirmed the original findings"
    },
    "expectationsCommentary2021": {
      "url": "https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/may/opinion-there-happiness-equation-heres-how-were-trying-find-out",
      "finding": "Anticipation matters before outcomes; realistic expectations rather than blanket pessimism"
    },
    "gratitude2003": {
      "url": "https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/6Emmons-BlessingsBurdens.pdf",
      "doi": "10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377",
      "experiments": 3,
      "finding": "Benefits on several but not all outcomes; positive affect the most robust finding"
    }
  },
  "editorialPromptsAreValidatedIntervention": false,
  "assets": {
    "video-thumbnail.jpg": "Original TikTok poster, unchanged",
    "thumb.webp": "Crop of the original poster; creator portrait"
  }
}