How of Happiness

The scientific pursuit of happiness.

By Sonja Lyubomirsky

Is There Anything To Be Happy About In Today’s News?

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on May 24, 2009 - 6:34pm in How of Happiness

Is there anything to be happy about in today’s news? As a scientist and an Obama supporter, these days I sometimes don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Every other news headline appears to send a contradictory message. One warns of the economy in free fall, sending jitters, another about the Obama administration recommitting to serious science or eradicating some nasty piece of legislation loitering from the last 8 years, prompting cheers. Read More

When Everyone Loses

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on December 29, 2008 - 9:50pm in How of Happiness

E is for Economy. D is for Downsizing. And S is for Smelling the Roses.

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on October 24, 2008 - 5:58pm in How of Happiness

The typical home in the US today is double the size of what it was in 1940, with two or more baths and a mean of two rooms per person (!), but the average individual isn't any happier. Does a couple or small family really need to live in a four-bedroom home with a pool to have a satisfying life? Read More

Can You Be Too Happy-Go-Lucky?

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on October 5, 2008 - 7:29pm in How of Happiness

I was recently invited to a screening of a film about happiness. The film is called Happy Go Lucky (to be released in LA and NYC on Oct 10 and more widely 1-2 weeks later) and the director is Mike Leigh. (In case some readers don't know him, Leigh has made some wonderful films in the UK, including Vera Drake and Secrets & Lies.) Read More

How To Remain Happy When the Financial World Crumbles

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on September 19, 2008 - 5:21pm in How of Happiness

Sometimes I think our country has gone nuts. We have collapsing financial markets, unprecedented housing foreclosures, $4 gas, and an emperor without any clothes on perambulating in the midst of an incredibly critical presidential election. But despite everything, many people (myself included) have a remarkable capacity to maintain optimism and confidence and even some cheer – about ourselves and the world around us. Read More

Can Anything in Life Ever Surpass Winning 14 Gold Medals?

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on August 19, 2008 - 10:26pm in How of Happiness

As I was watching Michael Phelps receive his 14th gold medal—what a week!—this is what I was thinking: “How could anything in this 23-year old swimmer’s life ever top this?” And: “After he comes down from the high, will he ultimately end up less happy than the rest of us mere mortals?” Read More

Happiness Breeds Success…and Money!

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on July 18, 2008 - 1:52pm in How of Happiness

I had a rather interesting experience this week appearing on the CNBC show, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. The theme was that being happy will bring you cash. Read More

Happiness and Religion, Happiness as Religion

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on June 24, 2008 - 10:45pm in How of Happiness

I begin with a bit of self-disclosure. I don’t have a religious or spiritual bone in my body. (Yes, maybe even less than Richard Dawkins.) But this doesn’t mean that I’m not open-minded about research on happiness and religion. As I write in my book, The How of Happiness, just because (most) religious beliefs cannot be empirically tested or falsified doesn’t mean that the consequences of having religious faith, participating in religious life, or searching for the sacred cannot be studied. Indeed, a growing body of psychological science is suggesting that religious folks are happier, healthier, and recover better after traumas than nonreligious ones. Read More

What's So Great About Business Class?

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on June 13, 2008 - 8:19pm in How of Happiness

Singapore Airlines announced recently that it will begin flying all-business-class flights across the Pacific – Newark to Singapore started in May and Los Angeles to Singapore will start in September. The demand for business class seats is apparently enormous, so this new venture sounds like it makes perfect business sense. But the psychological scientist in me wonders whether, at the end of the day, this will prove to be such a good idea. Read More

How Much Confidence and Optimism Is Good For World Leaders and How Much Is Too Much?

By Sonja Lyubomirsky on June 2, 2008 - 2:54pm in How of Happiness

As an experimental social psychologist, my job is not to analyze anyone’s personality, let alone an individual whom I’ve never seen larger than in a 42-inch image. However, Robert Draper’s and Scott McClellan’s characterizations of George W. Bush as a staunch optimist lead me to ask, “How much optimism and confidence is good for world leaders and how much is too much?” Read More