The Biology Of Happiness

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The Biology of Happiness

Author : Bjørn Grinde
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400743920
Total Pages : 113 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biology of Happiness by : Bjørn Grinde

Download or read book The Biology of Happiness written by Bjørn Grinde and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-04-02 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The briefs presents a model for happiness based on current knowledge in evolutionary biology and neurobiology. Briefly, the primary purpose of nervous systems is to direct an animal toward behaviour relevant for survival and procreation. In primitive animals actions are based on reflexes, while in humans the modules directing behaviour engage positive and negative affect (good and bad feelings), and they are swayed by cognitive processes. The reason why evolution opted for this strategy was the improved flexibility in response – i.e., we learn from previous experiences. The human capacity for happiness is an accidental consequence. An array of brain modules has evolved to care for various pursuits, but recent studies suggest that they converge on shared neural circuits designed to generate positive and negative mood. Happiness can be construed as the net output of the relevant modules. The briefs suggests a strategy for how to avoid having negative feelings (such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain) dominate the mind, and how to exercise positive feelings. In short, the book offers both a deeper understanding of what happiness is about, and a framework for improving well-being. An array of brain modules has evolved to care for various pursuits, but recent studies suggest that they converge on shared neural circuits designed to generate positive and negative mood. Happiness can be construed as the net output of the relevant modules. The book suggests a strategy for how to avoid having negative feelings (such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain) dominate the mind, and how to exercise positive feelings. In short, the book offers both a deeper understanding of what happiness is about, and a framework for improving well-being.

Happiness

Author : Richard Layard
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101117710
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis Happiness by : Richard Layard

Download or read book Happiness written by Richard Layard and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-06-27 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. We all want more money, but as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not speculation: It's the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled. The central question the great economist Richard Layard asks in Happiness is this: If we really wanted to be happier, what would we do differently? First we'd have to see clearly what conditions generate happiness and then bend all our efforts toward producing them. That is what this book is about-the causes of happiness and the means we have to effect it. Until recently there was too little evidence to give a good answer to this essential question, but, Layard shows us, thanks to the integrated insights of psychology, sociology, applied economics, and other fields, we can now reach some firm conclusions, conclusions that will surprise you. Happiness is an illuminating road map, grounded in hard research, to a better, happier life for us all.

Happiness

Author : Daniel Nettle
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191604747
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

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Book Synopsis Happiness by : Daniel Nettle

Download or read book Happiness written by Daniel Nettle and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2005-05-12 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What exactly is happiness? Can we measure it? Why are some people happy and others not? And is there a drug that could eliminate all unhappiness? People all over the world, and throughout the ages, have thought about happiness, argued about its nature, and, most of all, desired it. But why do we have such a strong instinct to pursue happiness? And if happiness is good in itself, why haven't we simply evolved to be happier? Daniel Nettle uses the results of the latest psychological studies to ask what makes people happy and unhappy, what happiness really is, and to examine our urge to achieve it. Along the way we look at brain systems, at mind-altering drugs, and how happiness is now marketed to us as a commodity. Nettle concludes that while it may be unrealistic to expect lasting happiness, our evolved tendency to seek happiness drives us to achieve much that is worthwhile in itself. What is more, it seems to be not your particular circumstances that define whether you are happy so much as your attitude towards life. Happiness gives us the latest scientific insights into the nature of our feelings of well-being, and what these imply for how we might live our lives.

The Biology of Happiness

Author : Bjørn Grinde
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400743939
Total Pages : 113 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biology of Happiness by : Bjørn Grinde

Download or read book The Biology of Happiness written by Bjørn Grinde and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-30 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brief presents a model for happiness based on current knowledge in evolutionary biology and neurobiology. Briefly, the primary purpose of nervous systems is to direct an animal toward behaviour relevant for survival and procreation. In primitive animals actions are based on reflexes, while in humans the modules directing behaviour engage positive and negative affect (good and bad feelings), and they are swayed by cognitive processes. The reason why evolution opted for this strategy was the improved flexibility in response – i.e., we learn from previous experiences. The human capacity for happiness is an accidental consequence. An array of brain modules has evolved to care for various pursuits, but recent studies suggest that they converge on shared neural circuits designed to generate positive and negative mood. Happiness can be construed as the net output of the relevant modules. The briefs suggests a strategy for how to avoid having negative feelings (such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain) dominate the mind, and how to exercise positive feelings. In short, the book offers both a deeper understanding of what happiness is about, and a framework for improving well-being. An array of brain modules has evolved to care for various pursuits, but recent studies suggest that they converge on shared neural circuits designed to generate positive and negative mood. Happiness can be construed as the net output of the relevant modules. The book suggests a strategy for how to avoid having negative feelings (such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain) dominate the mind, and how to exercise positive feelings. In short, the book offers both a deeper understanding of what happiness is about, and a framework for improving well-being.

How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

Author : Paul Bloom
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 9780393077117
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (771 download)

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Book Synopsis How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by : Paul Bloom

Download or read book How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like written by Paul Bloom and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2010-06-14 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Engaging, evocative. . . . [Bloom] is a supple, clear writer, and his parade of counterintuitive claims about pleasure is beguiling.”—NPR Why is an artistic masterpiece worth millions more than a convincing forgery? Pleasure works in mysterious ways, as Paul Bloom reveals in this investigation of what we desire and why. Drawing on a wealth of surprising studies, Bloom investigates pleasures noble and seamy, lofty and mundane, to reveal that our enjoyment of a given thing is determined not by what we can see and touch but by our beliefs about that thing’s history, origin, and deeper nature.

Stumbling on Happiness

Author : Daniel Gilbert
Publisher : Vintage Canada
ISBN 13 : 0307371360
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis Stumbling on Happiness by : Daniel Gilbert

Download or read book Stumbling on Happiness written by Daniel Gilbert and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2009-02-24 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy – and what we can do about it. Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was. Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn’t gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off? Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.

The Psychology of Gratitude

Author : Robert A. Emmons
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780195348729
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (487 download)

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Book Synopsis The Psychology of Gratitude by : Robert A. Emmons

Download or read book The Psychology of Gratitude written by Robert A. Emmons and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-02-26 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gratitude, like other positive emotions, has inspired many theological and philosophical writings, but it has inspired very little vigorous, empirical research. In an effort to remedy this oversight, this volume brings together prominent scientists from various disciplines to examine what has become known as the most-neglected emotion. The volume begins with the historical, philosophical, and theoretical foundations of gratitude, then presents the current research perspectives from social, personality, and developmental psychology, as well as from primatology, anthropology, and biology. The volume also includes a comprehensive, annotated bibliography of research on gratitude. This work contributes a great deal to the growing positive psychology initiative and to the scientific investigation of positive human emotions. It will be an invaluable resource for researchers and students in social, personality, and developmental, clinical, and health psychology, as well as to sociologists and cultural anthropologists.

The Happiness of Pursuit

Author : Shimon Edelman
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0465022243
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (65 download)

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Book Synopsis The Happiness of Pursuit by : Shimon Edelman

Download or read book The Happiness of Pursuit written by Shimon Edelman and published by . This book was released on 2012-01-31 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draws on philosophy, literature, and brain science to explain why the pursuit of happiness is a more complicated effort than understood by most people, sharing insights into how to apply scientific methods for increasing one's chances of achieving happiness.

The Oxford Handbook of Happiness

Author : Susan A. David
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198714629
Total Pages : 1137 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Happiness by : Susan A. David

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Happiness written by Susan A. David and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 1137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A text for researchers and practitioners interested in human happiness. Its editors and chapter contributors are world leaders in the investigation of happiness across the fields of psychology, education, philosophy, social policy and economics.

The Origins of Happiness

Author : Andrew E. Clark
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691196958
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis The Origins of Happiness by : Andrew E. Clark

Download or read book The Origins of Happiness written by Andrew E. Clark and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new perspective on life satisfaction and well-being over the life course What makes people happy? The Origins of Happiness seeks to revolutionize how we think about human priorities and to promote public policy changes that are based on what really matters to people. Drawing on a range of evidence using large-scale data from various countries, the authors consider the key factors that affect human well-being, including income, education, employment, family conflict, health, childcare, and crime. The Origins of Happiness offers a groundbreaking new vision for how we might become more healthy, happy, and whole.

Sustainable Happiness

Author : Joe Loizzo
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136993193
Total Pages : 746 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (369 download)

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Book Synopsis Sustainable Happiness by : Joe Loizzo

Download or read book Sustainable Happiness written by Joe Loizzo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-09-10 with total page 746 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today’s greatest health challenges, the so-called diseases of civilization—depression, trauma, obesity, cancer—are now known in large part to reflect our inability to tame stress reflexes gone wild and to empower instead the peaceful, healing and sociable part of our nature that adapts us to civilized life. The same can be said of the economic challenges posed by the stress-reactive cycles of boom and bust, driven by addictive greed and compulsive panic. As current research opens up new horizons of stress-cessation, empathic intelligence, peak performance, and shared happiness, it has also encountered Asian methods of self-healing and interdependence more effective and teachable than any known in the West. Sustainable Happiness is the first book to make Asia’s most rigorous and complete system of contemplative living, hidden for centuries in Tibet, accessible to help us all on our shared journey towards sustainable well-being, altruism, inspiration and happiness.

Assessing Well-Being

Author : Ed Diener
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9048123542
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (481 download)

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Book Synopsis Assessing Well-Being by : Ed Diener

Download or read book Assessing Well-Being written by Ed Diener and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-06-04 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sandvik, Diener, and Seidlitz (1993) paper is another that has received widespread attention because it documented the fact that self-report well-being scales correlate with a number of other methods of measuring the same concepts, such as with reports by knowledgeable “informants” (family and friends), expe- ence sampling measurement, and the memory for good versus bad life events. A single factor was found to underlie measures using different methods, and a n- ber of different well-being self-report measures were found to correlate with the non-self-report measures. Thus, although the self-report measures of well-being are imperfect, and can be in uenced by response artifacts, they have substantial validity as shown by their correlations with measurements based on alternative methods. Whereas the Pavot and Diener article reviewed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Lucas, Diener, and Larsen (2003) paper reviews various approaches to assessing positive emotions. As we wrote in the chapter in this volume in which we present new measures, we do not consider any of the existing measures of positive affect to be entirely acceptable for measuring subjective well-being in the affect area, and that is why we have created and validated a new measure.

Positive Psychology

Author : William C. Compton
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 1544322933
Total Pages : 529 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (443 download)

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Book Synopsis Positive Psychology by : William C. Compton

Download or read book Positive Psychology written by William C. Compton and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2019-01-09 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Topically organized, Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing presents a highly engaging, up-to-date introduction to positive psychology. Authors William C. Compton and Edward Hoffman invite students to apply practices to their own lives, contexts, and experiences to ensure understanding. The text examines how positive psychology applies to stressors and health within such traditional research areas as developmental, clinical, personality, motivational, social, and behavioral psychology. Furthermore, the text offers perspectives on positive emotional states, research and theory on positive traits, coverage of positive institutions, and a look at the future of positive psychology. The Third Edition reflects significant growth in field with hundreds of new references and expanded content on topics including mindfulness, money and subjective well-being, and romantic love.

The Science of Subjective Well-Being

Author : Michael Eid
Publisher : Guilford Press
ISBN 13 : 1606230735
Total Pages : 561 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis The Science of Subjective Well-Being by : Michael Eid

Download or read book The Science of Subjective Well-Being written by Michael Eid and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This authoritative volume reviews the breadth of current scientific knowledge on subjective well-being (SWB): its definition, causes and consequences, measurement, and practical applications that may help people become happier. Leading experts explore the connections between SWB and a range of intrapersonal and interpersonal phenomena, including personality, health, relationship satisfaction, wealth, cognitive processes, emotion regulation, religion, family life, school and work experiences, and culture. Interventions and practices that enhance SWB are examined, with attention to both their benefits and limitations. The concluding chapter from Ed Diener dispels common myths in the field and presents a thoughtful agenda for future research.

Well-Being

Author : Daniel Kahneman
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 161044325X
Total Pages : 608 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Well-Being by : Daniel Kahneman

Download or read book Well-Being written by Daniel Kahneman and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 1999-07-08 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nature of well-being is one of the most enduring and elusive subjects of human inquiry. Well-Being draws upon the latest scientific research to transform our understanding of this ancient question. With contributions from leading authorities in psychology, social psychology, and neuroscience, this volume presents the definitive account of current scientific efforts to understand human pleasure and pain, contentment and despair. The distinguished contributors to this volume combine a rigorous analysis of human sensations, emotions, and moods with a broad assessment of the many factors, from heredity to nationality, that bear on our well-being. Using the tools of experimental science, the contributors confront the puzzles of human likes and dislikes. Why do we grow accustomed and desensitized to changes in our lives, both good and bad? Does our happiness reflect the circumstances of our lives or is it determined by our temperament and personality? Why do humans acquire tastes for sensations that are initially painful or unpleasant? By examining the roots of our everyday likes and dislikes, the book also sheds light on some of the more extreme examples of attraction and aversion, such as addiction and depression. Among its wide ranging inquiries, Well-Being examines systematic differences in moods and behaviors between genders, explaining why women suffer higher rates of depression and anxiety than men, but are also more inclined to express positive emotions. The book also makes international comparisons, finding that some countries' populations report higher levels of happiness than others. The contributors deploy an array of methods, from the surveys and questionnaires of social science to psychological and physiological experiments, to develop a comprehensive new approach to the study of well-being. They show how the sensory pleasures of the body can tells us something about the higher pleasures of the mind and even how the effectiveness of our immune system can depend upon the health of our social relationships.

Happiness—Concept, Measurement and Promotion

Author : Yew-Kwang Ng
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 9813349727
Total Pages : 188 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (133 download)

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Book Synopsis Happiness—Concept, Measurement and Promotion by : Yew-Kwang Ng

Download or read book Happiness—Concept, Measurement and Promotion written by Yew-Kwang Ng and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-12-03 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book defines happiness intuitively and explores several common conceptual mistakes with regard to happiness. It then moves on to address topical issues including, but not limited to, whether money can buy you happiness, why happiness is ultimately the only thing of intrinsic value, and the various factors important for happiness. It also presents a more reliable and interpersonally comparable method for measuring happiness and discusses twelve factors, from A to L, that are crucial for individual happiness: attitude, balance, confidence, dignity, engagement, family/friends, gratitude, health, ideals, joyfulness, kindness and love. Further, it examines important public policy considerations, taking into account recent advances in economics, the environmental sciences, and happiness studies. Novel issues discussed include: an environmentally responsible happy nation index to supplement GDP, the East Asian happiness gap, a case for stimulating pleasure centres of the brain, and an argument for higher public spending.

Darwinian Happiness

Author : Bjørn Grinde
Publisher : Darwin Press Incorporated
ISBN 13 : 9780878501601
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwinian Happiness by : Bjørn Grinde

Download or read book Darwinian Happiness written by Bjørn Grinde and published by Darwin Press Incorporated. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To be a Stone Age creature in a Jet Age zoo tends to cause problems. The list of consequences are numerous -- from depression and suicide to obesity, drug use, insomnia, loneliness, violence, and wars -- to mention only a few of the "diseases of civilisation". Are we prisoners of an environment that is at odds with the way evolution has shaped us, and if so, can we do anything about it? Can we use our knowledge of human nature to offer people more appropriate conditions of living, and at the same time create a more peaceful world? The author is convinced that present insight into the nature of being human can help us make better choices. There is actually a growing interest in applying the biological/evolutionary perspective to medical and social sciences, as exemplified by concepts such as Darwinian Medicine and Evolutionary Psychology. While the former focuses on the prevention of diseases, Darwinian Happiness is about utilising this perspective to improve well-being in general. Our great feats of engineering, from building the pyramids to sending a man to the moon, have been the easy tasks; the real challenge in shaping the future of Planet Earth lies in dealing with human nature. We have the power to turn our planet into a living nightmare and a biological refuse dump, but it is also within our capacity to create conditions of living better than those we ever had. The principle of Darwinian Happiness is meant to offer a guide for living that not only benefits the individual -- and should thus be coveted -- but also works for the benefit of the society and our planet. This book is written for a general audience as well as for professionals interested particularly in evolutionary psychology, behavioural biology, socio-biology, and happiness studies. It should also be read by politicians.