While researching my (as yet unpublished) book, I spent a lot of time pondering the elements of happiness, and one aspect I gave considerable thought to was the role of art in our lives. From my own experience, my anxiety is worse when I don’t regularly listen to music. Witnessing beauty, whether in nature, in a stunning piece of art, in a dancer’s fluid movements, or in an athlete’s mastery of their sport (to name a few examples) can have a calming effect on the body. I wondered, do we humans need art to be happy?

The conclusion I ultimately reached was, no, art is not one of the foundational needs. I spent years looking at what makes people unhappy, and never did the source boil down to an absence of art (although, perhaps that is due to a wealth of art allowing us to take it for granted—will let other happiness scholars debate). However, the arts do make us happier by filling our foundational needs in various ways.

I recently stumbled across two articles that highlight how the arts fill or have filled foundational needs during times of crisis. The first article was “Songs of Survival” by Douglas Starr, which appeared in the September/October 2023 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine. The article was about the WWII concentration camp near Prague. Camp Terezin was used to house a number of talented artists with the nefarious purpose of putting a pretty face on the camps. “H.G. Adler, a Terezin survivor who wrote the definitive history of the camp, said that people used music and art to anesthetize themselves, creating a life detached from the present, and give them a sense of meaning and control when they had none.” By detaching oneself from the present, one can erect a psychological barrier that helps a person feel less tormented in a dangerous environment (safety). A sense of meaning helps satisfy our growth needs. And promoting a feeling of control helps with our autonomy needs.

The second article was “Using Art for Medical Healing” by Rachel B. Levin from the Spring 2024 issue of USC Trojan Family Magazine. This article details how the university hospitals are using art to help patients cope with the stress of illness. In a hospital setting, researchers are, of course, interested in the physiological impact of the arts, such as using dance to improve balance and speech and reduce tremors in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, Levin notes that using art in a hospital environment “allows patients to recognize their importance and their value and connect to their extraordinary capacity to be creative” (esteem). Finally, Levin points out that, by identifying with a piece of art that someone else has created (dance, film, song, painting, sculpture, etc.), “one of the things that can happen is you realize you are not alone” (social).

How do the arts make you happy?