Happiness Books
Layard, Richard (2005) Happiness:
Lessons from a new science, Penguin Press, New
York
Written by one of Britain’s best known
economists, and the founder of Europe’s leading
economics research center, this book should encourage
governments to appreciate the wisdom of measuring , and
implementing policies that focus on,
happiness.
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., &
Schkade, D. (2004). Pursuing happiness: The architecture
of sustainable change. To appear in Review of General
Psychology.
Sonja Lyubomirsky and Kennon
Sheldon are the leaders of a major effort to seek out
and refine happiness-increase techniques, and to
demonstrate that individuals can and do become lastingly
happier. Inspirational, important, and cutting edge, a
“must read” paper.
Seligman, Martin, E. P. (2002)
Authentic Happiness, The Free Press, New
York
Although misleadingly titled, this book
by a former president of The American Psychological
Association who in 1998 founded Positive Psychology
asserts to its growing number of adherents that
happiness is the goal of his new field.
Argyle, Michael, (2001, Second
Edition) The Psychology of Happiness, Taylor and
Francis, New York.
This revised edition of a
work first published in 1987 is the most up-to-date
review of happiness research findings currently
available in book format.
Kahneman, D., Diener, E., &
Schwarz, N., eds. (1999) Wellbeing: The foundations
of hedonic psychology. Russell Sage Foundation, New
York, 593 pages,
This book, edited by 2002
Nobel prize winner (economics), psychologist Daniel
Kahneman and top happiness authority Ed Diener, is the
most comprehensive and sophisticated collection of
writings on happiness currently available.
Diener, Ed., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E.,
& Smith, H. E. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three
decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125,
276-302.
For those interested in “just the
facts,” this review of happiness findings updates Dr.
Diener’s classic 1984 review of the literature
(published in Psychological Bulletin).
Myers, David. G. (1992) The Pursuit
of Happiness. Who is happy and why?, Morrow, New
York.
David Myers, who is also the author of
the most popular college introductory psychology
textbook, presents an excellent and highly readable
review. While now somewhat outdated, most of the
findings in this work are still valid.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective
well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95,
542-575
This classic paper reviews early
research and theoretical approaches to
happiness.
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