Happiness experiment aims to spread laughter across UK

London, July 31 (ANI): Scientists are planning to cheer up Britons next week with the help of an online psychological experiment.

Starting Monday, the experiment will be conducted for five days.

People behind the experiment will conduct a national poll before and after, to see whether or not it has had an effect.

As a part of the project, people will be invited to visit a website and take part in four mood-boosting techniques, reports Sky News.

Scientists are hoping that once the participants are made happy by the site, their happiness will spread across the UK.

After participants log on to the site, they will be asked to rate their mood and will be randomly assigned to one of four groups.

They will then be shown a video which described one of four techniques associated with increasing happiness.

Professor Richard Wiseman, the man running the study, feels it can make a difference if enough people take part.

"No-one's ever tried cheering up a whole country before, and it's the right time to do it with everyone feeling gloomy from the recession. Potentially somewhere like London, which is densely populated, you might find people smiling a lot more. It's a mad idea, but it might just work," he said. (ANI)