A classic psychology study -- it discovers traits that successful, mentally healthy people have in common, but without being able to explain why those traits mi

A classic psychology study -- it discovers traits that successful, mentally healthy people have in common, but without being able to explain why those traits might be important, or uncover any cause-effect relationships that might exist. Not having an explanation, only a description, means that the detected traits are mere correlations, neither causes nor effects. Like most such studies, the conclusion is that people are happy because they're in relationships -- or is it that people are in relationships because they're happy? Or is it that an unexamined variable, such as one or more genetic traits, produces a person who is both happy and in a relationship? Psychology can't tell us. But it can certainly pretend to. This is why work that relies only on description isn't science. Science requires testable, falsifiable explanations. Further reading: http://arachnoid.com/science_of_mind http://arachnoid.com/science_of_mind