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Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth | 
 enlarge | Authors: Ed Diener, Robert Biswas-diener
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.94
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Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 15801
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1.4
ISBN: 1405146613
Dewey Decimal Number: 158
EAN: 9781405146616
ASIN: 1405146613
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
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Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
Utilizing sophisticated methodology and three decades of research by the world's leading expert on happiness, Happiness challenges the present thinking of the causes and consequences of happiness and redefines our modern notions of happiness.
- shares the results of three decades of research on our notions of happiness
- covers the most important advances in our understanding of happiness
- offers readers unparalleled access to the world's leading experts on happiness
- provides "real world" examples that will resonate with general readers as well as scholars
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
Well-Balanced, Scientific Book on Happiness December 16, 2008
26 out of 27 found this review helpful
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 scientific-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
Not since Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World have I found a happiness book that covers so many happiness topics for the reader. While Johnson's book is a LOT shorter, and a sort of "Cliff Notes" version of this book in a sense, get this one if you want a more detailed review of the happiness literature.
Great research findings aside, 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. Happy trails!
Happiness, as simple as possible, but not simpler... November 26, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Does money buy happiness? Does religion make you happy? What about marriage or children? What are the benefits of happiness? Is happiness genetically determined? Can you be too happy? If you want an easy one-sentence sound bite answer to questions like these, stop reading. If however you are interested in a well-balanced scientific view on the matter, you might want to take a second look at "Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth" by Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener.
This publication is not your regular "10 steps to happiness" self-help book. This 250 pages read oozes with rigorous happiness research. Both authors have a combined happiness research experience of more than half a century. You can feel that they really live and breathe their science instead of just regurgitating article abstracts, and Ed Diener belongs to the happy few that have access to the priceless Gallup World Poll database. So this father-son couple really knows a thing or two about the science of happiness.
Most of the truckloads of happiness books out there try to make you as happy as possible. They embody an "optimizer" view on happiness. This publication is different. It is OK to be, say, quite happy without incessantly jumping around for joy. This book takes a "satisfyer" stance on the subject. Now it happens that research by Barry Schwartz shows that satisfyers eventually end up happier. So by not hardselling you happiness, this book might really make you happier eventually.
For a scientific book, this work is quite easy to digest. Academics might regret the lack of footnotes in the text, but many researchers are fairly mentioned by name. On the other hand, not every reader might want to know the details about the tattoos on the authors' body parts, or about how to cook a delicious bowl of cockroaches. But these parts make the book an entertaining read, occasionally bubbling with humour, which might offer you some extra fleeting moments of, well, happiness.
If you've never read a book about happiness, this one is definitely a good start. If your bookshelf shows off "Stumbling on Happiness" by Dan Gilbert or "The How of Happiness" by Sonja Lyubomirsky, just to mention a few, this one should be in your collection. And if you're looking for something to insert between your "Handbook of Positive Psychology" and your "Positive Psychology in a Nutshell", this one might perfectly do the job.
Mechanic's Guide to The Power of Positive Thinking November 3, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book is a very interesting study of happiness, from the benefits of happiness (not just "feel good"--it affects your health and longevity.) There are chapters on the causes of happiness (well, ok, I am sure we can list the causes of UNHAPPINESS! Woo! That is a negative thought, more on that later.)
Can you be happy? Will this book teach you to be happy? I don't know, but I did like the CHECKLIST of thinking. Two sets of questions; one highlights your negativism, the other your positive side. Obviously, you want to focus on the plus and suppress the negative. And then there is visualization.
All these things are available in other books (Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale) but this is a very easy-to-read handbook that can direct you to examine your life and your attitude. I liked those checklists--that makes this book a bit like a handbook on how to DO positive thinking, not just be in the positive mode. Recommended--in fact, I think this is a must-read.
Hard research, no hype and reasonable approaches to what happiness is and how to achieve it October 26, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Happiness is one of those abstract ideas that no one can define; yet everyone is pretty clear about when they experience it. In this book, the authors report on extensive research on the role that happiness has in the human experience. While some of the results are a-priori pretty obvious, there are a few that will surprise you at first reading and afterward make significant sense. For example, in general happier people tend to live longer than unhappy people. No surprise there. However, the very happiest people do not live the longest, it is the group at the second highest level on the happiness scale that live the longest. The author's argument, and it is a sensible one, is that people that are too happy tend to take a few more chances and are less likely to recognize and heed danger signals.
The fact is that a bit of unhappiness is a cleansing agent; it causes humans to reevaluate their circumstances and improve their adjustment to their particular corner of the world. The authors argue that the person who claims to be happy at all times is either lying, too easily gratified or mentally ill. A point that any reasonable person would have to agree with, no life is free of stress and difficulties. Furthermore, the argument is also put forward that experiencing difficulties and resolving them is a fundamental component of happiness. There are few things more gratifying than the realization that you have battled your way out of a significant difficulty.
I approached this book with a bit of trepidation, as so many of the books about happiness are laden with superlatives, uppercase and bolded words and psychological fluff. That is not the case here, this is a reasoned approach to the concept of happiness, quantitative where possible, reasonable and honest at all times.
Accessing the Science of Happiness September 16, 2008
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Can money buy happiness? (See chapter 6). Are happier people healthier? (See chapter 3). Do happier people get paid more? (See chapter 5). Are religious / Spiritual people happier? (See chapter 7). Are some people just born happier? (See chapter 9). These are all components of the concept of psychological wealth.
In their new book, Happiness, Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, Ed Diener and his son Robert Biswas-Diener take on these and other provocative questions. In a very thorough but thoughtful way the Dieners draw on the most current research in the field of Positive Psychology to answer these questions. Sometimes the answers are "yes" sometimes the answers are "no" and sometimes the best and most honest answer is "it depends."
Psychological Wealth
The Dieners define psychological wealth as "your true net worth, and includes your attitudes toward life, social support, spiritual development, material resources, health, and the activities in which you engage." Hence psychological wealth incorporates more than just one's finances. The components of psychology wealth help us understand why some people may be financially poor but are rich in terms of psychological wealth and happiness while others can be fantastically financially wealthy but have very little psychological wealth and are miserable.
The Dieners explore the research findings that are related to each of the components of Psychological Wealth:
-Life satisfaction
-Spirituality and meaning in life
-Positive attitudes and emotions
-Loving social relationships
-Engaging activities and work
-Values and life goals to achieve them
-Physical and mental health
-Material sufficiency to meet our needs.
For example, as it turns out, (contrary to the oft repeated old adage), money CAN buy some happiness - to a degree - it depends. Yes, other people DO, in fact, matter. In the end, the Dieners say, "psychological wealth is about having a balanced portfolio. This book provides an overview of the elements of psychological wealth that research reveals are good investments."
Four Parts
The book is divided into four parts. Part one focuses on understanding true wealth and the explanation of the concept of psychological wealth. Part two is focused on why happy people function better physically, socially, and at work. Part three digs deeper into the other components of psychological wealth including money, religion/spirituality, culture, and "the happiness set point." Part four pulls everything together and provides a series of surveys and questionnaires for the reader to take to measure one's own psychological wealth.
Science can be fun
If you think all this science and research results in a dull, dry book to read, think again. This book is absolutely a delight to read. The Dieners have made the science very accessible and practical. You will love the stories they weave into the text - both the stories about themselves and the stories about the people they have studied. The Dieners take us along on their adventures around the world. From Africa to the Arctic to the Amazon, we tag along as they unlock the mysteries of happiness. As you read the book you come to understand why Ed is known as the "Jedi Master of Happiness" and why Robert has been called the "Indiana Jones of Psychology." Get the book, settle into a comfortable chair, buckle your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride.
Parting Quote
The Dieners conclude their book by wishing us all happiness and psychological wealth, "If you are high in psychological wealth, congratulations on a life that is well-lived. If you are impoverished, or poorer than you would like to be, now is the time to increase your [psychological] wealth, and hopefully this book has given you knowledge to help you get started." It does, it undoubtedly does.
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