Happiness

I was always wondering if Ed Diener would get around to writing a happiness book for the popular read. For those not in the know, Ed Diener is one of the most well-known happiness researchers out there- and has been contributing to the positive psychology field for literally decades by adding piles of his own research papers to the ever growing stack of happiness studies. Based on a lot of his work that I have read, I figured the book would be pretty sceintific-minded. And I was right- you'll find no baloney here. "Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth" contains over 250 pages explaining in layman's terms, more or less, just about everything you ever wanted to know about happiness. Some of the more interesting topics covered include: -health and happiness -happiness and social relationships -happiness at work -money and happiness -spirituality and happiness -the happiest places on earth -the genetic set point and happiness Perhaps the most impressive thing I found in this book was the author's attitude about happiness. Here are people who have spent years researching happiness, and yet they seem to have put it all in a sensible perspective. Consider this: --happiness is something to shoot for most of the time, but negative emotions serve a useful purpose as well on occasion --while happiness can be reaching a desirable place, such as having good health, a successful carreer and a great family, don't overlook the process side of happiness in the pursuit of the good life (this is also a major point of another favorite happiness book of mine Happier: Can You Learn to be Happy?). In other words, happiness isn't only a destination, but also the journey. --happiness isn't JUST about feeling good, it is also good for you in a number of other surprising ways What more can I say? For anyone looking for a detailed, well-balanced, scientific look at happiness, its a great read. If you're not into the research-side as much, try "Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World".

(for anyone wondering where I'm coming from with this review, my Ph.D. is in marketing and psychology) Usually I'm a bit skeptical of these sorts of books- even top notch researchers tend to "dumb down" the material for general audiences, and the research findings can get lost in the stories. Not here, however. Dr. Diener does an excellent job of describing the current state of psychological research on happiness, in a way that both laypeople and scientists can appreciate. Short on jargon, and interwoven with informative personal stories, the book makes for a great read. The one thing I disliked was the lack of references within the text; sometimes I had to guess what the cite referred to by scanning the references in the back of the book. I won't get into all the specifics, as other reviewers have addressed the content of the book. However, it was really cool to see a balanced and nuanced treatment of controversial questions such as "does money buy happiness?", and how one can go about increasing his or her own happiness without buying into the latest fad. Of all the books I've looked at about "happiness", I'd strongly recommend this one both to laypeople interested in how they can improve their own happiness, as well as academic researchers looking for cool research ideas.

As a clinical psychologist, I can appreciate Drs Diener's book. Most books on happiness are based on anecdotal data. Most of them are highly influenced by dubious Buddhist teachings. But, this book is based on solid experimental psychology. I have 22 documented medical disorders and am in dire pain 24 hours per day (my sleep, of course is highly disturbed). I find that by just reading this book, my pain is reduced. I look forward to read this book again for the second time. I have read 6 books on happiness and this is really the best book on happiness. The credentials of its authors are also unparaleled. Dr Ed Diener is the Joseph R Smiley Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr Robert Biswar-Diener is known as the "indiana Jones of positive psychology" for his research on subjective well-being in remote cultures around the world.

The first thing you should ask yourself is why on earth do we need another happiness book? David Myers wrote the Pursuit of Happiness in 1992, Martin Seligman wrote Authentic Happiness in 2002, and then Sonja Lyubomirsky wrote the How of Happiness and Marci Shimoff wrote Happy for No Reason in 2007. Then there are dozens of other books on the topic in the last 3 years. Do we really need another one? My initial answer was absolutely not until I read this book. Ed Diener is the first scientist to devote a career to studying the nature of happiness. After 30 years of conducting research on the topic, he IS the authority on the topic and its about time he wrote a book. As for his son, Robert Biswas-Diener, he has been out in the field conducting the exotic, exciting research in various cultures that everyone else writes about. Why not hear about the nuances of their work from them instead of watered-down, overly simplified versions by others? There are several chapters in this book that do a killer job at addressing the complexity of what we know and don't know about happiness. Chapter 6 is about money and happiness. Forget the soundbites you hear that if you make more than $40,000/year, an increase in money is irrelevant to happiness. The Dieners' dig into the data, providing a fair and balanced analysis of the situations when money is relevant to happiness. Chapter 7 is about spirituality and religion. Another topic that has been reduced to a useless soundbite that being religious is good, end of story. Again, the Dieners' dig further into the research than their predecessors. They toe the line perfectly of what the research says and doesn't say. Chapter 8 is about how happiness operates in different countries and cultures. A point often missed except for intriguing data showing that we should all be living in Denmark (happiest place in the world?). Like other chapters, they describe scientific studies like a novelist. Interesting, informative, and thought provoking. Interspersed with personal stories of Robert's travels, it reminds you that science needs good storytellers and the Dieners' fit the bill. Another topic that has been shortchanged by soundbites is the idea that humans have this amazing ability to adapt to life circumstances. Thus, happiness is hard to hold onto (sound familiar?). I honestly believe that the way adaptation is discussed in this book will change the way people will discuss and teach this topic. I was amazed that they were able to distill the information in layperson terms but they did it. This is what they do best: take complex issues with multiple points and caveats, and write about them in a way that's interesting and easy to digest. It will be easy for readers to miss the subtle new interpretations of old ideas. They do a great job of shredding apart soundbites tossed around by journalists, other authors, and the mob of people interested in positive psychology or happiness. Insights

This is a fascinating book, packed with concise, accessible discussions of the major issues in the science of happiness. I read a lot on this topic, and I learned a huge amount. The connection between money and happiness (more complicated than many people admit), the connection between spirituality and happiness, the happiness "set-point," and dozens of other intriguing questions are tackled. The book does a particularly good job of presenting these issues thoroughly and accurately, but also in engaging language that's not hard to fight your way through. A great addition to the many books that tackle this topic: like Stumbling on Happiness, The Paradox of Choice, Strangers to Ourselves, Authentic Happiness, etc.