The Happiness of Pursuit: A Review of Curious?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 | Tags: Meaningful life, Uncategorized, flow, happiness | 1 Comment »In Curious?, George Mason University psychologist Todd Kashdan provides self-help backed by science, toting curiosity as the means to a fulfilling life. Kashdan asks his readers: Is life really all about achieving happiness, or is it actually the pursuit of ...
Aging in Reverse: A Review of Counterclockwise
Friday, September 25th, 2009 | Tags: aging, happiness, health, mindfulness, positive psychology | 1 Comment »In Counterclockwise, Ellen Langer, a renowned social psychologist at Harvard, suggests that our beliefs and expectations impact our physical health at least as much as diets and doctors do. She argues that, as we grow older, our physical limitations are ...
The Dark Side of Self-Help
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 | Tags: happiness, health | 6 Comments »“I am a beautiful person.” “I am capable of anything.” Self-help books and motivational speakers are often quick to recommend these kinds of personal mantras to make us feel better about ourselves. But it seems that for many of us, ...
Support for Coming Out
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 | Tags: Prejudice, happiness, social exclusion, social integration | 1 Comment »As anyone who saw last year’s Milk knows, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to hold a major public office in the United States, and he used his position to passionately urge gays and lesbians to come out ...
Why to Be Good, How to Be Happy
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 | Tags: Dacher Keltner, compassion, events, happiness | 4 Comments »This Thursday, the Greater Good Science Center will be hosting "Why to Be Good, How to Be Happy," the third seminar in its "Science of a Meaningful Life" series and its first in Los Angeles. We want to hear from those ...
Tell Us What Movie Makes YOU Happy
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 | Tags: arts, happiness | 6 Comments »On Greater Good this month, Jeremy Adam Smith discusses the 10 films that are most likely to make him happy. Researchers often use films to induce happiness in the lab, and it seems that if they wanted to boost Jeremy's mood, ...
Can We Really Make Love Last?
Thursday, August 20th, 2009 | Tags: family, happiness, love, marriage, social connections | Leave a Comment »We’ve all read the fairy tales and watched the “rom-coms,” but most of us maintain a certain cynicism when it comes to romantic love. Sure, it may exist, but it certainly doesn’t last in long-term relationships. Passion and romance give ...
Testing Positive Psychology
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | Tags: Forgiveness, Generosity, compassion, development, gratitude, happiness, helping behavior, meditation, mindfulness, motivation, optimism, prosocial behavior, psychology, self-actualization | 1 Comment »Are there really steps people can take to increase their overall happiness and life satisfaction? For the past decade, researchers in the positive psychology movement have tried to identify effective, everyday strategies for making people happier. Recently, researchers Nancy L. Sin ...
Putting Emotional Intelligence to Work
Monday, August 10th, 2009 | Tags: emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, happiness, social integration, work | 1 Comment »Ever notice a colleague who seems to keep up a positive attitude at work, no matter what comes her way? How does she do it? According to a study lead by psychologist Abraham Carmeli, published recently in the Journal of ...
Better Together: A review of The Lonely American
Thursday, June 18th, 2009 | Tags: Uncategorized, aging, happiness, health, nature, prosocial behavior, social connections, social exclusion, social integration | Leave a Comment »“Americans in the twenty-first century devote more technology to staying connected than any society in history, yet somehow the devices fail us: Studies show that we feel increasingly alone.” So begins the new book The Lonely American, by psychiatrists Jacqueline Olds ...
