Are We Happy Yet?

Chocolate or strawberry? Life or death? We make tons of quick decisions unconsciously; others we hem and haw over in agony. We choose actions and form opinions via mental processes which are influenced by biases, reason, emotions, and memories.

If only it were a simple calculus: hungry, eat, full, stop. But an array of biochemicals sending signals to the brain from a variety of local centers and around the body conspires to make appetite highly complex and very malleable in order to take advantage of excess calories whenever they are available. 

Research on how to increase positive moods and capitalize on your strengths has proliferated lately thanks to the positive psychology movement, and has shed light on ongoing insights into personality, mood, and cognition.