It can be constructive to find a silver lining, even in the darkest and most regrettable clouds.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been terrible. Almost seven million people have died, globally. Rates of depression and anxiety have risen. So have rates of car crashes in the US and unruly passengers on airplanes.

But, amidst all the suffering, there has been a surprising silver lining. We conducted a survey of 301 people in the U.S. and found that 48% said that the Covid-19 pandemic made them happier in at least one way.

Why did some people thrive during the pandemic? And what can that tell you about how you can be happier, whether or not you are in the midst of difficult times?

We asked people who reported mood boosts during Covid what they attributed it to. Interestingly, the reasons that Covid thrivers have reported for feeling happier during Covid relate to evidence-based paths to happiness that have previously been discovered.

Gratitude

More than 50 percent of Covid thrivers attribute increased happiness to an increase in gratitude.

Clearer Thinking has done research showing just how powerful gratitude can be for improving your mood. We created an interactive digital tool called Building Happiness Habits that teaches you to associate different common objects in your environment with gratitude (e.g., mirrors or doorways). We then ran a study that randomly assigned some people to use the tool and others to a control group (that merely counted how many times they saw the common object). Even though this intervention is quick, those who took part in it reported a boost in mood – an additional 2.6 points out of 18 possible points compared to the control group.

Perhaps the pandemic being hard on so many people, with news reports telling us of death and suffering, has made it easier for people to reflect on things they have to be thankful for, or to adjust their psychological baseline.

Exercise

More than 40% of Covid thrivers attribute increased happiness to a strong exercise routine. According to one study, the average American over the age of 25 exercised 4 more minutes per day during Covid. While this isn’t a big average difference, Covid was a catalyst for some of our study participants to start exercising more.

This mood boost for those who exercised more due to Covid aligns with prior research on the value of exercise for mood. A recent survey of the literature concluded that there is “tons of evidence” for the value of exercise in improving mood.

Interestingly, there is some evidence that people may underestimate how much happiness exercise will bring them. A recent study asked people to predict how much enjoyment they would gain from exercising, on a scale from 1 to 10. The participants, on average, expected exercise would give them 6.94 points of happiness. After exercise, the authors asked participants how much they actually enjoyed the exercise. They rated it as 7.69, a significant increase. In other words, people reported that exercise made them a bit happier than they expected it to.

Improving Relationships

More than 36% of Covid thrivers said that the pandemic improved their relationships with their partners. And more than 30% said it improved their relationships with their children.

According to data from the American Time Use Survey, the average American spent an additional 31 minutes per day with household members in May 2020 to December 2020, compared to the prior year.

Studies have long shown that close relationships are among the biggest predictors of happiness. Shawn Anchor reports that higher perceived social support can improve one’s happiness to the equivalent of about $121,000 per year of income. Clearer Thinking has a v