Happiness books, papers and articles

Happiness Books and Papers

Key Happiness Books, Papers and Resources

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 While now somewhat outdated, most of the findings in this work are still valid.

Fordyce, Michael. W. Human Happiness; Its Nature and Its Attainment. (A two-volume set available for free online at - http://www.gethappy.net/freebook.htm

Michael Fordyce is the most progressive and influential happiness researcher, having conducted the world’s first compressive happiness-increase experiment in 1977. Fordyce does an excellent job describing what happiness is and why it is so important.

Fordyce, Michael. W. (1990) Michael Fordyce's Psychology of Happiness. (A 14 episode, video TeleCourse) Fort Myers: Edison Community College Television Productions. (available for free online viewing at: http://www.gethappy.net/vdeo-intro.htm)

While some specific findings presented in this pioneering video series are now out of date, the episodes give an in depth, comprehensive, overview of happiness, and detail the information used for his pioneering 1977 and 1983 happiness-increase experiments.

Pliskin, Zelig (1984) Gateway to Happiness, Aish HaTora Publications, Jerusalem, Israel

Written by a rabbi for the orthodox Jewish community, this work is unquestionably the best how-to book about happiness, Rabbi Pliskin’s cognitive-behavioral approach, presented in simple, unscientific language, covers all of the major strategies and impediments to happiness.

Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575

This classic paper reviews early research and theoretical approaches to happiness.

World Database of Happiness Papers and Book List

http://www1.eur.nl/fsw/happiness/

This is the best collection of professional papers and books on happiness available on the internet

Lionel's The Happiness Club Book List

http://www.happinessclub.com/pages/read.html

This is the most extensive collection of books on happiness available on the internet

George's Favorite Happiness Books

Dr. Michael W. Fordyce's Human Happiness; Its Nature and its Attainment

http://www.gethappy.net/freebook.htm

This free on-line book is easily the most progressive and inspired professional book on happiness there is. Written by the top happiness researcher in the world, who in 1977 published the world's first happiness-increase experiment, it comprehensively describes happiness, and forcefully explains why happiness is the most important aspect of human existence. It then presents, in substantial detail, the most sophisticated empirically validated happiness-increase program published to date.

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin's Gateway to Happiness

http://www.judaism.com/display.asp?type=quicksearch&etn=DACAB

Written primarily for the orthodox Jewish community by a cognitive therapist and Rabbi, Gateway to Happiness is easily the best "how to" book about happiness that I am aware of.

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