Where to Find the Science

1: What Is Happiness?

Two Types of Happiness

Ed Diener and R. E. Lucas, “Personality and Subjective Well-Being,” in D. Kahneman, Ed Diener, and N. Schwarz, Well-Being: Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999), 213–29.

Ed Diener et al., “New Measures of Well-Being,” in Assessing Well-Being, ed. Ed Diener (New York: Springer, 2009), 247–66.

Be Your True Self

Alan S. Waterman, “Two Conceptions of Happiness: Contrasts of Personal Expressiveness (Eudaimonia) and Hedonic Enjoyment,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64, no. 4 (1993): 678–691.

Focus on the 40 Percent

Kristina M. DeNeve and Harris Cooper, “The Happy Personality: A Meta-Analysis of 137 Personality Traits and Subjective Well-Being,” Psychological Bulletin 124, no. 2 (1998): 197–229.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (New York: Penguin, 2008).

2: Happy at Work

Ask: Why Are You Doing This?

Kennon M. Sheldon and Andrew J. Elliot, “Goal Striving, Need Satisfaction, and Longitudinal Well-Being: The Self-Concordance Model,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76, no. 3 (1999): 482–97.

It’s Not About the Paycheck

David Lykken and Auke Tellegen, “Happiness Is a Stochastic Phenomenon,” Psychological Science 7, no. 3 (1996): 186–89.

Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, “High Income Improves Evaluation of Life but Not Emotional Well-Being,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, no. 38 (2010): 16489–93.

Andrew E. Clark and Andrew J. Oswald, “Satisfaction and Comparison Income,” Journal of Public Economics 61, no. 3 (1996): 359–81.

It’s Not Even About a Really Big Paycheck

Ed Diener and Martin E. P. Seligman, “Beyond Money: Toward an Economy of Well-Being,” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 5, no. 1 (2004): 1–31.

Track Your Progress

C. Hoppmann and P. Klumb, “Daily Goal Pursuits Predict Cortisol Secretion and Mood States in Employed Parents with Preschool Children,” Psychosomatic Medicine 68, no. 6: 887–94, https://doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000238232.46870.f1

Encourage Autonomy

Richard M. Ryan and Christina Frederick, “On Energy, Personality, and Health: Subjective Vitality as a Dynamic Reflection of Well-Being,” Journal of Personality 65, no. 3 (1997): 529–65.

Show Your Happiness

Barry M. Staw, Robert I. Sutton, and Lisa H. Pelled, “Employee Positive Emotion and Favorable Outcomes at the Workplace,” Organization Science 5, no. 1 (1994): 51–71.

Ditch Contracts

Deepak Malhotra and J. Keith Murnighan, “The Effects of Contracts on Interpersonal Trust,” Administrative Science Quarterly 47, no. 3 (2002): 534–59.

Personalize Your Space

Craig Knight and S. Alexander Haslam, “The Relative Merits of Lean, Enriched, and Empowered Offices: An Experimental Examination of the Impact of Workspace Management Strategies on Well-Being and Productivity,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 16, no. 2 (2010): 158–72.

Get Plants

Marlon Nieuwenhuis et al., “The Relative Benefits of Green Versus Lean Office Space: Three Field Experiments,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 20, no. 3 (2014): 199–214.

Walk to Work, or Get a Bike

Evelyne St-Louis et al., “The Happy Commuter: A Comparison of Commuter Satisfaction Across Modes,” Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 26, part A (2014): 160–70.

Write Down Meaningful Moments

Shawn Achor, “Positive Intelligence,” Harvard Business Review 90, no. 1 (2012): 100–102.

Giada Di Stefano et al., “Making Experience Count: The Role of Reflection in Individual Learning,” Harvard Business School NOM Unit Working Paper, no. 14-093 (2016).

Focus on Strengths

Susan Sorenson, “How Employees’ Strengths Make Your Company Stronger,” Gallup News, February 20, 2014.

Craft Your Job

Amy Wrzesniewski, Justin M. Berg, and Jane E. Dutton, “Managing Yourself: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want,” Harvard Business Review 88, no. 6 (2010): 114–17.

Take a Proper Break

John P. Trougakos and Ivona Hideg, “Momentary Work Recovery: The Role of Within-Day Work Breaks,” Current Perspectives on Job-Stress Recovery (Researh in Occupational Stress and Well-Being, 7) (Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2009): 37–84.

. . . For 17 Minutes Off, 52 Minutes On

Derek Thompson, “A Formula for Perfect Productivity: Work for 52 Minutes, Break for 17,” The Atlantic, September 17, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/science-tells-you-how-many-minutes-should-you-take-a-break-for-work-17/380369/

. . . Or for 5 Minutes Off, 25 Minutes On

Francesco Cirillo, “The Pomodoro Technique (The Pomodoro),” Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 54, no. 2 (2006).

Don’t Eat Lunch at Your Desk

John P. Trougakos et al., “Lunch Breaks Unpacked: The Role of Autonomy as a Moderator of Recovery During Lunch,” Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 2 (2014): 405–21.

Don’t Become a Lawyer

Martin E. P. Seligman, Paul R. Verkuil, and Terry H. Kang, “Why Lawyers Are Unhappy,” Cardozo Law Review 23, no. 1 (2001): 33–54.

William W. Eaton et al., “Occupations and the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 32, no. 11 (1990): 1079–87.

. . . Unless You Take a Pay Cut

Lawrence S. Krieger and Kennon M. Sheldon, “What Makes Lawyers Happy? Transcending the Anecdotes with Data from 6200 Lawyers,” George Washington University Law Review 83, no. 2 (2015): 554–627.

What Are the Happiest Jobs

CareerBliss, “The Happiest Jobs in 2017,” Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/pictures/58c6d2f231358e1a35ace4cf/the-happiest-jobs-in-2017/#24851d8b6a89

Working Less Won’t Make You Happier

Danish Ministry of the Environment, Happiness Research Institute, “Job Satisfaction Index 2017,” https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/928487_f752364b0a43488c8c767532c0de4926.pdf

Ruut Veenhoven, “Informed Pursuit of Happiness: What We Should Know, Do Know and Can Get to Know,” Journal of Happiness Studies 16, no. 4 (2015): 1035–71.

Don’t Retire Early

Ruut Veenhoven, Findings on Happiness & Retirement (World Database of Happiness, Subject code R3, 2009), http://www.academia.edu/27197961/Findings_on_Happiness_and_Retirement

Susan Rohwedder and Robert J. Willis, “Mental Retirement,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives: A Journal of the American Economic Association 24, no. 1 (2010): 119–38.

Gina Kolata, “Taking Early Retirement May Retire Memory, Too,” New York Times, October 11, 2010.

Meditate

Lorenza S. Colzato, Ayca Ozturk, and Bernhard Hommel, “Meditate to Create: The Impact of Focused-Attention and Open-Monitoring Training on Convergent and Divergent Thinking,” Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012): 116.

Take Up Yoga

N. Hartfiel et al., “Yoga for Reducing Perceived Stress and Back Pain at Work,” Occupational Medicine 62, no. 8 (2012): 606–12.

3: Happy at Play

Sandie McHugh et al., “Everyday Leisure and Happiness in Worktown: A Comparison of 1938 and 2014,” World Leisure Journal 58, no. 4 (2016): 276–84.

Choose Happiness-Boosting Activities

Miao Wang and M. C. Sunny Wong, “Happiness and Leisure Across Countries: Evidence from International Survey Data,” Journal of Happiness Studies 15, no. 1 (2014): 85–118.

Make Contacts

Wang and Wong, “Happiness and Leisure Across Countries.”

Get Outside

Carey Knecht, “Urban Nature and Well-Being: Some Empirical Support and Design Implications,” Berkeley Planning Journal 17, no. 1 (2004).

Head to the Park

Liisa Tyrväinen et al., “The Influence of Urban Green Environments on Stress Relief Measures: A Field Experiment,” Journal of Environmental Psychology 38 (2014): 1–9.

Knecht, “Urban Nature and Well-Being.”

. . . Or Sit by a Window

Roger S. Ulrich et al., “Stress Recovery During Exposure to Natural and Urban Environments,” Journal of Environmental Psychology 11, no. 3 (1991): 201–30.

Join a Sport

Haifang Huang and Brad R. Humphreys, “Sports Participation and Happiness: Evidence from US Microdata,” Journal of Economic Psychology 33, no. 4 (2012): 776–93.

Shea M. Balish, Dan Conacher, and Lori Dithurbide, “Sport and Recreation Are Associated with Happiness Across Countries,” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 87, no. 4 (2016): 382–88.

Make Leisure a Habit

Andrew W. Bailey and Irene K. Fernando, “Routine and Project-Based Leisure, Happiness, and Meaning in Life,” Journal of Leisure Research (2012): 139–54.

Value Time over Money

Hal E. Hershfield, Cassie Mogilner, and Uri Barnea, “People Who Choose Time Over Money Are Happier,” Social Psychological and Personality Science 7, no. 7 (2016): 697–706.

Buy Experiences, Not Things

Ryan T. Howell, Paulina Pchelin, and Ravi Iyer, “The Preference for Experiences Over Possessions: Measurement and Construct Validation of the Experiential Buying Tendency Scale,” Journal of Positive Psychology 7, no. 1 (2012): 57–71.

Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich, “To Do or to Have? That Is the Question,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 85, no. 6 (2003): 1193–202.

Take Eight-Day Vacations

Jessica De Bloom, Sabine A. E. Geurts, and Michiel A. J. Kompier, “Vacation (After-) Effects on Employee Health and Well-Being, and the Role of Vacation Activities, Experiences and Sleep,” Journal of Happiness Studies 14, no. 2 (2013): 613–33.

Plan Vacations Earlier

Jeroen Nawijn et al., “Vacationers Happier, but Most Not Happier After a Holiday,” Applied Research in Quality of Life 5, no. 1 (2010): 35–47.

Have Fun First

Ed O’Brien and Ellen Roney, “Worth the Wait? Leisure Can Be Just as Enjoyable with Work Left Undone,” Psychological Science 28, no. 7 (2017): 1000–1015, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617701749.

You’re More Competent on the Weekend

Richard M. Ryan, Jessey H. Bernstein, and Kirk Warren Brown, “Weekends, Work, and Well-Being: Psychological Need Satisfactions and Day of the Week Effects on Mood, Vitality, and Physical Symptoms,” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 29, no. 1 (2010): 95–122.

Go with the Flow

Jeanne Nakamura and Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, “Flow Theory and Research,” in Handbook of Positive Psychology, ed. C. R. Snyder and Shane J. Lopez (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009): 195–206.

Flow in Teams

Charles J. Walker, “Experiencing Flow: Is Doing It Together Better Than Doing It Alone?,” Journal of Positive Psychology 5, no. 1 (2010): 3–11.

Find an Adventure

Christopher D. Jones et al., “Validation of the Flow Theory in an On-Site Whitewater Kayaking Setting,” Journal of Leisure Research 32, no. 2 (2000): 247–61.

Knit . . . or Quilt

Jill Riley, Betsan Corkhill, and Clare Morris, “The Benefits of Knitting for Personal and Social Wellbeing in Adulthood: Findings from an International Survey,” British Journal of Occupational Therapy 76, no. 2 (2013): 50–57.

Emily L. Burt and Jacqueline Atkinson, “The Relationship Between Quilting and Wellbeing,” Journal of Public Health 34, no. 1 (2011): 54–59.

Get Playful

René T. Proyer, “The Well-Being of Playful Adults: Adult Playfulness, Subjective Well-Being, Physical Well-Being, and the Pursuit of Enjoyable Activities,” European Journal of Humour Research 1, no. 1 (2013): 84–98.

Crack a Joke

Paul McGhee, Humor as Survival Training For a Stressed-Out World: The 7 Humor Habits Program (Bloomington, IN: Author House, 2010).

Shelley A. Crawford and Nerina J. Caltabiano, “Promoting Emotional Well-Being Through the Use of Humour,” Journal of Positive Psychology 6, no. 3 (2011): 237–52.

. . . But Not at Someone Else’s Expense

Thomas E. Ford, Katelyn A. McCreight, and Kyle Richardson, “Affective Style, Humor Styles and Happiness,” Europe’s Journal of Psychology 10, no. 3 (2014): 451–63.

Limit Your Options

Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper, “When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79, no. 6 (2000): 995–1006.

Become a Bar Regular

Robin Dunbar, “Friends on Tap: The Role of Pubs at the Heart of the Community,” Oxford: Campaign for Real Ale, http://www.camra.org.uk/documents/10180/36197/Friends+on+Tap/2c68585b-e47d-42ca-bda6-5d6b3e4c0110

Listen with Intention

Yuna L. Ferguson and Kennon M. Sheldon, “Trying to Be Happier Really Can Work: Two Experimental Studies,” Journal of Positive Psychology 8, no. 1 (2013): 23–33.

Cool Down

Yoshiro Tsutsui, “Weather and Individual Happiness,” Weather, Climate, and Society 5, no. 1 (2013): 70–82.

Do Something for Someone Else

Dylan Wiwad and Lara B. Aknin, “Self-Focused Motives Undermine the Emotional Rewards of Recalled Prosocial Behavior” (2017), https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/96QWA

4: Happy in Love

Five Is the Magic Number

J. M. Gottman, What Predicts Divorce? The Relationship Between Marital Processes and Marital Outcomes (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994).

Wait at Least a Month for Sex

Sharon Sassler, Fenaba R. Addo, and Daniel T. Lichter, “The Tempo of Sexual Activity and Later Relationship Quality,” Journal of Marriage and Family 74, no. 4 (2012): 708–25.

Do a Daily Debrief

Terri L. Orbuch, 5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great (New York: Delacorte Press, 2009), 88–89.

Repair Your Relationship House

John Gottman and Julie Gottman, “The Natural Principles of Love,” Journal of Family Theory & Review 9, no. 1 (2017): 7–26.

Seek Out “Bids”

Kristin Ohlson, “The Einstein of Love,” Psychology Today, September 1, 2015.

Celebrate Good News

Shelly L. Gable, Gian C. Gonzaga, and Amy Strachman, “Will You Be There for Me When Things Go Right? Supportive Responses to Positive Event Disclosures,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, no. 5 (2006): 904–17.

Jill M. Logan and Rebecca J. Cobb, “Benefits of Capitalization in Newlyweds: Predicting Marital Satisfaction and Depression Symptoms,” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 35, no. 2 (2016): 87–106.

Celebrate Tough Times, Too

J. Flora and C. Segrin, “Relationship Development in Dating Couples: Implications for Relational Satisfaction and Loneliness,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 17, no. 6 (2000): 811–25.

Get More Sleep

American Academy of Sleep Medicine, “Poor Sleep Is Associated with Lower Relationship Satisfaction in Both Women and Men,” ScienceDaily, June 15, 2009.

Friends’ Relationships Are Important, Too

Rose McDermott, James H. Fowler, and Nicholas A. Christakis, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Unless Everyone Else Is Doing It Too: Social Network Effects on Divorce in a Longitudinal Sample,” Social Forces 92, no. 2 (2013): 491–519.

Raise Your Credit Score

Jane Dokko, Geng Li, and Jessica Hayes, “Credit Scores and Committed Relationships,” FEDS Working Paper No. 2015-081, http://dx.doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2015.081

Create a Division of Labor

Wendy Klein, Carolina Izquierdo, and Thomas N. Bradbury, “Working Relationships: Communicative Patterns and Strategies Among Couples in Everyday Life,” Qualitative Research in Psychology 4, no. 1–2 (2007): 29–47.

Rethink What You’re Getting from Sex

A. Gewirtz-Meydan and R. Finzi-Dottan, “Sexual Satisfaction Among Couples: The Role of Attachment Orientation and Sexual Motives,” Journal of Sex Research (February 2017): 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1276880.

Seek Similar Spending Habits

Scott I. Rick, Deborah A. Small, and Eli J. Finkel, “Fatal (Fiscal) Attraction: Spendthrifts and Tightwads in Marriage,” Journal of Marketing Research 48, no. 2 (2011): 228–37.

Say “We”

Benjamin H. Seider et al., “We Can Work It Out: Age Differences in Relational Pronouns, Physiology, and Behavior in Marital Conflict,” Psychology and Aging 24, no. 3 (2009): 604–13.

Turn On a Sappy Romance

S. A. Vannier and L. F. O’Sullivan, “Passion, Connection and Destiny: How Romantic Expectations Help Predict Satisfaction and Commitment in Young Adults’ Dating Relationships,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 34 (2017): 235–57, https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407516631156

Put On Those Rose-Colored Glasses

Sandra L. Murray et al., “Tempting Fate or Inviting Happiness? Unrealistic Idealization Prevents the Decline of Marital Satisfaction,” Psychological Science. 22, no. 5 (2011): 619–26, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611403155

Punch Up Your “How We Met” Story

Kim Therese Buehlman, John Mordechai Gottman, and Lynn Fainsilber Katz, “How a Couple Views Their Past Predicts Their Future: Predicting Divorce from an Oral History Interview,” Journal of Family Psychology 5, no. 3–4 (1992): 295–318.

Maintain Friendships Outside the Marriage

Geoffrey L. Greif and Kathleen Holtz Deal, Two Plus Two: Couples and Their Couple Friendships (New York: Routledge, 2012).

Change Up Date Night

Arthur Aron, Christina C. Norman, and Elaine N. Aron, “Shared Self-Expanding Activities as a Means of Maintaining and Enhancing Close Romantic Relationships,” in Close Romantic Relationships: Maintenance and Enhancement, ed. John H. Harvey and Amy Wenzel (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001): 47–66.

Keep a Journal Handy

Ting Zhang et al., “A ‘Present’ for the Future: The Unexpected Value of Rediscovery,” Psychological Science 25, no. 10 (2014): 1851–60.

Make Time for Sex

Tara Parker-Pope, “Sex and the Long-Term Relationship,” New York Times, March 22, 2011.

5: Happy at Home

Brighten Up

Ping Dong, Xun Huang, and Chen-Bo Zhong, “Ray of Hope: Hopelessness Increases Preferences for Brighter Lighting,” Social Psychological and Personality Science 6, no. 1 (2015): 84–91.

Rikard Küller et al., “The Impact of Light and Colour on Psychological Mood: A Cross-Cultural Study of Indoor Work Environments,” Ergonomics 49, no. 14 (2006): 1496–1507.

Beware Blue Light

M. Boubekri et al., “Impact of Workplace Daylight Exposure on Sleep, Physical Activity, and Quality of Life,” SLEEP (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) 36 (2013): 30.

“Blue Light Has a Dark Side,” Harvard Health Letter, September 2, 2015.

Create a Fake Sun

Virginie Gabel et al., “Effects of Artificial Dawn and Morning Blue Light on Daytime Cognitive Performance, Well-Being, Cortisol and Melatonin Levels,” Chronobiology International 30, no. 8 (2013): 988–97.

Place Your Desk Sideways to the Window

Mohamed Boubekri, Robert B. Hull, and Lester L. Boyer, “Impact of Window Size and Sunlight Penetration on Office Workers’ Mood and Satisfaction: A Novel Way of Assessing Sunlight,” Environment and Behavior 23, no. 4 (1991): 474–93.

Be Messy—in Creative Places

Kathleen Vohs, Aparna Labroo, and Ravi Dhar, “The Upside of Messy Surroundings: Cueing Divergent Thinking, Problem Solving, and Increasing Creativity,” NA -Advances in Consumer Research (Association for Consumer Research) 44 (2016): 264–68.

But Skip the Abstract Art

Roger S. Ulrich, “Effects of Interior Design on Wellness: Theory and Recent Scientific Research,” Journal of Health Care Interior Design 3 (1991): 97–109.

Warm Up Your Walls

Kemal Yildirim, Kemal, M. Lutfi Hidayetoglu, and Aysen Capanoglu, “Effects of Interior Colors on Mood and Preference: Comparisons of Two Living Rooms,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 112, no. 2 (2011): 509–24.

Raise the Roof

Joan Meyers-Levy and Rui Zhu, “The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use,” Journal of Consumer Research 34, no. 2 (2007): 174–86.

Love Those Curves

Moshe Bar and Maital Neta, “Humans Prefer Curved Visual Objects,” Psychological Science 17, no. 8 (2006): 645–48.

Place a Notepad and Trash Can Near the Mirror

Pablo Briñol et al., “Treating Thoughts as Material Objects Can Increase or Decrease Their Impact on Evaluation,” Psychological Science 24, no. 1 (2013): 41–47.

If You Build It . . .

Michael I. Norton, Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely, “The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 22, no. 3 (2012): 453–60.

Get Some Flowers

Jeannette Haviland-Jones et al., “An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers,” Evolutionary Psychology 3, no. 1 (2005): 104–32, https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490500300109

Enjoy the View

Ernest O. Moore, “A Prison Environment’s Effect on Health Care Service Demands,” Journal of Environmental Systems 11, no. 1 (1981): 17–34.

Roger Ulrich, “View Through a Window May Influence Recovery,” Science 224, no. 4647 (1984): 420–21.

Carolyn M. Tennessen and Bernadine Cimprich, “Views to Nature: Effects on Attention,” Journal of Environmental Psychology 15, no. 1 (1995): 77–85.

When You Feel Bad, Reach Out and Touch Something

Dan King and Chris Janiszewski, “Affect-Gating,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38, no. 4 (2011): 697–711.

Create a “Relaxation Room”

Karen J. Sherman et al., “Effectiveness of Therapeutic Massage for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Depression and Anxiety 27, no. 5 (2010): 441–50.

Turn Off the TV

John P. Robinson and Steven Martin, “What Do Happy People Do?,” Social Indicators Research 89, no. 3 (2008): 565–71.

Get a Savings Jar

Aaron C. Weidman and Elizabeth W. Dunn, “The Unsung Benefits of Material Things: Material Purchases Provide More Frequent Momentary Happiness Than Experiential Purchases,” Social Psychological and Personality Science 7, no. 4 (2016): 390–99.

Reconsider That Open-Concept Kitchen

Kimberly A. Rollings and Nancy M. Wells, “Effects of Floor Plan Openness on Eating Behaviors,” Environment and Behavior 49, no. 6 (2016): 663–84, https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916516661822.

Move Closer to Work

Lars E. Olsson et al., “Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute,” Social Indicators Research 111, no. 1 (2013): 255–63.

Rent Instead of Buy

Rosie Murray-West, “What Makes a Happy Home?,” The Telegraph, March 27, 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/rich-house-poor-house/what-makes-a-happy-home/

Reduce, Reuse, and Smile

Jeffrey C. Jacob and Merlin B. Brinkerhoff, “Mindfulness and Subjective Well-Being in the Sustainability Movement: A Further Elaboration of Multiple Discrepancies Theory,” Social Indicators Research 46, no. 3 (1999): 341–68.

Jing Jian Xiao and Haifeng Li, “Sustainable Consumption and Life Satisfaction,” Social Indicators Research 104, no. 2 (2011): 323–29.

Xavier Landes et al., Sustainable Happiness: Why Waste Prevention May Lead to an Increase in Quality of Life (Danish Ministry of the Environment, Happiness Research Institute, 2015).

6: Happy in Friendship

150 Is the Magic Number

R. Dunbar, How Many Friends Does One Person Need?: Dunbar’s Number and Other Evolutionary Quirks (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010).

Layer Up

Dunbar, R. I. M. “Mind the Gap: Or Why Humans Aren’t Just Great Apes,” Proceedings of the British Academy 154 (2008): 403–423.

Seek Out Happy Friends—and Acquaintances

James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis, “Dynamic Spread of Happiness in a Large Social Network,” BMJ 337 (2008): a2338.

Smell a Happy Person

Jasper H. B. de Groot et al., “A Sniff of Happiness,” Psychological Science 26, no. 6 (2015): 684–700.

Spend More Time Together

Harry T. Reis et al., “Familiarity Does Indeed Promote Attraction in Live Interaction,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101, no. 3 (2011): 557.

Get Personal

Arthur Aron et al., “The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 23, no. 4 (1997): 363–77.

Cultivate Engaged Conversations

Harry Weger Jr. et al., “The Relative Effectiveness of Active Listening in Initial Interactions,” International Journal of Listening, 28, no.1 (2014), 13–31.

Less Can Be More . . .

M. Demir and L. A. Weitekamp, “I Am So Happy ’Cause Today I Found My Friend: Friendship and Personality as Predictors of Happiness,” Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, no. 2 (2007): 181–211.

. . . But Acquaintances Are Key

G. M. Sandstrom and E. W. Dunn, “Social Interactions and Well-Being: The Surprising Power of Weak Ties,” Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 40, no. 7 (2014): 910–22.

Demir and Weitekamp, “I Am So Happy.”

J. E. Perry-Smith, “Social Yet Creative: The Role of Social Relationships in Facilitating Individual Creativity,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 1 (2006): 85–101.

Give . . .

Lara B. Akins, J. Kiley Hamlin, and Elizabeth W. Dunn, “Giving Leads to Happiness in Young Children” (June 14, 2012), http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039211

Turn a Workplace Acquaintance into a Great Friend

Patricia M. Sias and Daniel J. Cahill, “The Development of Peer Friendships in the Workplace,” Western Journal of Communication 62, no. 3 (1998): 273–99.

. . . Experiences . . .

Cindy Chan and Cassie Mogilner, “Experiential Gifts Foster Stronger Social Relationships Than Material Gifts,” Journal of Consumer Research 43, no. 6 (2017): 913–31.

. . . But Don’t Be Too Generous

Craig D. Parks and Asako B. Stone, “The Desire to Expel Unselfish Members from the Group,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 99, no. 2 (2010): 303.

Climb the “Local Ladder”

C. Anderson et al., “The Local-Ladder Effect: Social Status and Subjective Well-Being,” Psychological Science, 23 (2012): 764–71, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611434537

Complain with Purpose

R. Kowalski et al., “Pet Peeves and Happiness: How Do Happy People Complain?,” Journal of Social Psychology 154, no. 4 (2014): 278–82.

Follow the Five Steps of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman, “How to Be Emotionally Intelligent,” New York Times, April 12, 2015.

Sample a Complaint Sandwich

E. Demerouti and R. Cropanzano, “The Buffering Role of Sportsmanship on the Effects of Daily Negative Events,” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26, no. 2 (2017): 263–74.

Guy Winch, The Squeaky Wheel (New York: Walker & Company, 2011).

Apologize Effectively

R. Fehr and M. Gelfand, “When Apologies Work: How Matching Apology Components to Victims’ Self-Construals Facilitates Forgiveness,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 113, no. 1 (2010): 37–50.

Make Friends Feel Competent

Meliksah Demir and Ingrid Davidson, “Toward a Better Understanding of the Relationship Between Friendship and Happiness: Perceived Responses to Capitalization Attempts, Feelings of Mattering, and Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs in Same-Sex Best Friendships as Predictors of Happiness,” Journal of Happiness Studies 14, no. 2 (2013): 525–50.

Follow the Rules of Friendship

M. Argyle and M. Henderson, “The Rules of Friendship,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 1, no. 2 (1984): 211–37.

Don’t Let a New Job Kill Old Friendships

D. L. Sollie and J. L. Fischer, “Career Entry Influences on Social Networks of Young Adults: A Longitudinal Study,” Journal of Social Behavior & Personality 3, no. 4 (1988): 205–25.

Watch Those Drinks

J. Thrul and E. Kuntsche, “The Impact of Friends on Young Adults’ Drinking Over the Course of the Evening—An Event-Level Analysis,” Addiction 110, no. 4 (2015): 619–26.

7: Happy in Health

Ten Minutes Is Enough

Cheryl J. Hansen, Larry C. Stevens, and J. Richard Coast, “Exercise Duration and Mood State: How Much Is Enough to Feel Better?,” Health Psychology 20, no. 4 (2001): 267–75.

Skip the Gym

Thomas Bossmann et al., “The Association Between Short Periods of Everyday Life Activities and Affective States: A Replication Study Using Ambulatory Assessment,” Frontiers in Psychology 4 (2013), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00102

Feel Less Exhausted . . . by Working Out Longer

Courtney A. Rocheleau et al., “Moderators of the Relationship Between Exercise and Mood Changes: Gender, Exertion Level, and Workout Duration,” Psychology & Health 19, no. 4 (2004): 491–506.

Seven (Minutes) to Succeed

Brett Klika and Chris Jordan, “High-Intensity Circuit Training Using Body Weight: Maximum Results with Minimal Investment,” ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal 17, no. 3 (2013): 8–13.

Dehydration Can Be a Downer

Lawrence E. Armstrong et al., “Mild Dehydration Affects Mood in Healthy Young Women,” Journal of Nutrition 142, no. 2 (2012): 382–88.

Watch Out for Dry Eyes

Motoko Kawashima et al., “Associations Between Subjective Happiness and Dry Eye Disease: A New Perspective from the Osaka Study,” PLoS ONE 10, no. 4 (2015): e0123299.

Get Older

Nancy L. Galambos et al., “Up, Not Down: The Age Curve in Happiness from Early Adulthood to Midlife in Two Longitudinal Studies,” Developmental Psychology 51, no. 11 (2015): 1664.

Filter Out the Negative

Laura L. Carstensen and Joseph A. Mikels, “At the Intersection of Emotion and Cognition: Aging and the Positivity Effect,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 14, no. 3 (2005): 117–21.

Drink More Coffee

Erikka Loftfield and Neal D. Freedman, “Higher Coffee Consumption Is Associated with Lower Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in Three Large Prospective Cohorts,” Evidence-Based Medicine 21 no. 3 (2016): 108.

. . . Or Take a Break from Caffeine—Then Restart It

Merideth A. Addicott and Paul J. Laurienti, “A Comparison of the Effects of Caffeine Following Abstinence and Normal Caffeine Use,” Psychopharmacology 207, no. 3 (2009): 423–31.

Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

Redzo Mujcic and Andrew J. Oswald, “Evolution of Well-Being and Happiness After Increases in Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables,” American Journal of Public Health 106, no. 8 (2016): 1504–10.

Grab Some Nuts

Almudena Sánchez-Villegas et al., “Mediterranean Dietary Pattern and Depression: The PREDIMED Randomized Trial,” BMC Medicine 11, no. 208 (2013).

Get Your Zs

Andrea N. Goldstein and Matthew P. Walker, “The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Function,” Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 10 (2014): 679–708.

Seven (Hours) to a Long Life

Daniel F. Kripke et al., “Mortality Associated with Sleep Duration and Insomnia,” Archives of General Psychiatry 59 (2002): 131–36.

Skip the Sleeping Pills

Daniel F. Kripke et al., “Mortality Hazard Associated with Prescription Hypnotics,” Biological Psychiatry 43, no. 9 (1998): 687–93.

If You Miss Sleep, You Can Get It Back

Hee-Jin Im et al., “Association Between Weekend Catch-Up Sleep and Lower Body Mass: Population-Based Study,” Journal of Sleep and Sleep Disorders Research 40, no. 7 (2017): https://doi.org/ 10.1093/sleep/zsx089

Work Out with Friends

Arran Davis, Jacob Taylor, and Emma Cohen, “Social Bonds and Exercise: Evidence for a Reciprocal Relationship,” PLoS ONE 10, no. 8 (2015): e0136705.

Eat Chocolate . . . but Be Mindful About It

Brian P. Meier, Sabrina W. Noll, and Oluwatobi J. Molokwu, “The Sweet Life: The Effect of Mindful Chocolate Consumption on Mood,” Appetite 108 (2017): 21–27.

Competition Is More Motivating Than Encouragement

Jingwen Zhang et al., “Support or Competition? How Online Social Networks Increase Physical Activity: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Preventive Medicine Reports 4 (2016): 453–58.

Track Your Food

Lora E. Burke, Jing Wang, and Mary Ann Sevick, “Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 111, no. 1 (2011): 92–102.

. . . And Track Your Actions

Ta-Chien Chan et al., “ClickDiary: Online Tracking of Health Behaviors and Mood,” Journal of Medical Internet Research 17, no. 6 (2015): e147, https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.4315

Move—Right Now

Neal Lathia et al., “Happier People Live More Active Lives: Using Smartphones to Link Happiness and Physical Activity,” PLoS ONE 12, no. 1 (2017): e0160589.

The Cure for the Common Cold Might be a Good Mood

Sheldon Cohen et al., “Positive Emotional Style Predicts Resistance to Illness After Experimental Exposure to Rhinovirus or Influenza A Virus,” Psychosomatic Medicine 68, no. 6 (2006): 809–15.

Appreciate Your Body

Viren Swami et al., “Associations Between Women’s Body Image and Happiness: Results of the YouBeauty.com Body Image Survey (YBIS),” Journal of Happiness Studies 16, no. 3 (2015): 705–18.

8: High-Tech Happiness

Ask: For What Are You Using the Internet?

C. F. Gordon, L. P. Juang, and M. Syed, “Internet Use and Well-Being Among College Students: Beyond Frequency of Use,” Journal of College Student Development 48, no. 6 (2007): 674–88.

Beware Internet Addiction

R. W. Kubey, M. J. Lavin, and J. R. Barrows, “Internet Use and Collegiate Academic Performance Decrements: Early Findings,” Journal of Communication 51, no. 2 (2001): 366–82.

Stop Apologizing

Thomas Jackson, Ray Dawson, and Darren Wilson, “Case Study: Evaluating the Effect of Email Interruptions Within the Workplace,” Proceedings of Conference on Empirical Assessment in Software Engineering, Keele University, UK (2002): 3–7, https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/489

Dunbar’s Number Works on Twitter

B. Gonçalves, N. Perra, and A. Vespignani, “Modeling Users’ Activity on Twitter Networks: Validation of Dunbar’s Number,” PLoS ONE 6, no. 8 (2011): e22656.

Turn Off Your Social Networks

C. Coccia and C. A. Darling, “Having the Time of Their Life: College Student Stress, Dating and Satisfaction with Life,” Stress and Health 32, no. 1 (2016): 28–35.

Don’t Trust Apps to Find You Love

Samantha Joel, Paul W. Eastwick, and Eli J. Finkel, “Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction,” Psychological Science 29 no. 10 (2017): 1478–89, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617714580

Take a Social Sabbatical

Morten Tromholt, “The Facebook Experiment: Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being,” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 19, no. 11 (2016): 661–66.

Text for “Relationship Maintenance”

Lori Cluff Schade et al., “Using Technology to Connect in Romantic Relationships: Effects on Attachment, Relationship Satisfaction, and Stability in Emerging Adults,” Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy 12, no. 4 (2013): 314–38.

Talk, Don’t Text, Over Long Distances

Lijuan Yin, “Communication Channels, Social Support and Satisfaction in Long Distance Romantic Relationships” (master’s thesis, Georgia State University, 2009), https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/56

Texting Kills Your GPA

A. Lepp, J. E. Barkley, and A. C. Karpinski, “The Relationship Between Cell Phone Use, Academic Performance, Anxiety, and Satisfaction with Life in College Students,” Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014): 343–50.

Cell Phones Increase Anxiety

Lepp, Barkley, and Karpinski, “Relationship Between Cell Phone Use.”

Keep It Personal

Moira Burke and Robert E. Kraut, “The Relationship Between Facebook Use and Well-Being Depends on Communication Type and Tie Strength,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 21, no. 4 (2016): 265–81.

Use Facebook to Build Offline Social Capital

N. B. Ellison, C. Steinfield, and C. Lampe, “The Benefits of Facebook ‘Friends’: Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12, no. 4 (2007): 1143–68.

Stop Comparing, Start Appreciating

Erin A. Vogel et al., “Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-Esteem,” Psychology of Popular Media Culture 3, no. 4 (2014): 206–22.

Leon Festinger, “A Theory of Social Comparison Processes,” Human Relations 7, no. 2 (1954): 117–40.

James Hamblin, “The Psychology of Healthy Facebook Use: No Comparing to Other Lives,” The Atlantic, April 8, 2015.

Play More Video Games

Younbo Jung et al., “Games for a Better Life: Effects of Playing Wii Games on the Well-Being of Seniors in a Long-Term Care Facility,” Proceedings of the Sixth Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, 2009, https://doi.org/10.1145/1746050.1746055

Snap a Selfie

Yu Chen, Gloria Mark, and Sanna Ali, “Promoting Positive Affect Through Smartphone Photography,” Psychology of Well-Being 6, no. 1 (2016): 8.

More Radio and Less TV

B. S. Frey and C. Benesch, “TV, Time and Happiness,” Homo Oeconomicus 25, no. 3/4(2008): 12.

. . . Though Watching TV with a Significant Other Can Be Healthy

Sarah Gomillion et al., “Let’s Stay Home and Watch TV: The Benefits of Shared Media Use for Close Relationships,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (2016): 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407516660388

9: Finding Your Happy Place

Get Out of Town

Brian J. L. Berry and Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, “An Urban-Rural Happiness Gradient,” Urban Geography 32, no. 6 (2011): 871–83.

. . . Or Do Cities Get a Bad Rap?

Edward Glaeser, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier (New York: Penguin Press, 2011).

Measuring Quality of Life

Dimitris Ballas, “What Makes a ‘Happy City’?,” Cities 32 (2013): S39–S50.

John L. Girt, “The Geography of Social Well-Being in the United States: An Introduction to Territorial Social Indicators,” Social Indicators Research 1, no. 2 (1974): 257–59.

Jennifer Roback, “Wages, Rents, and Amenities: Differences Among Workers and Regions,” Economic Inquiry 26, no. 1 (1988): 23–41.

Seek Social Support and Economic Stability

John F. Helliwell, Haifang Huang, and Shun Wang, “The Social Foundations of World Happiness,” in World Happiness Report 2017 (New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2017): 8–46.

Give Europe a Look

Mercer’s quality of living index, https://www.mercer.com/newsroom/2017-quality-of-living-survey.html

Equality Benefits All

Shigehiro Oishi, Selin Kesebir, and Ed Diener, “Income Inequality and Happiness,” Psychological Science 22, no. 9 (2011): 1095–100.

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better For Everyone (London: Penguin UK, 2010).

Inequality Index

Wim Kalmijn and Ruut Veenhoven, “Index of Inequality-Adjusted Happiness (IAH) Improved: A Research Note,” Journal of Happiness Studies 15, no. 6 (2014): 1259–65.

Emotion Matters

Eunkook Suh et al., “The Shifting Basis of Life Satisfaction Judgments Across Cultures: Emotions Versus Norms,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74, no. 2 (1998): 482–93.

Consider the Ideal Affect

Jeanne L. Tsai, “Ideal Affect: Cultural Causes and Behavioral Consequences,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 2, no. 3 (2007): 242–59.

Freedom Beats Money

Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

Host a Sports Event

Georgios Kavetsos and Stefan Szymanski, “National Well-Being and International Sports Events,” Journal of Economic Psychology 31, no. 2 (2010): 158–71.

A Surprising Statistic

Mary C. Daly et al., “Dark Contrasts: The Paradox of High Rates of Suicide in Happy Places,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 80, no. 3 (2011): 435–42.

10: The Downside of Happiness

There’s More to Life Than Happiness

Jordi Quoidbach et al., “Emodiversity and the Emotional Ecosystem,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 143, no. 6 (2014): 2057–66.

Anthony D. Ong et al., “Emodiversity and Biomarkers of Inflammation,” Emotion (2017): https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000343

Mixed Emotions Boast Benefits

Jonathan M. Adler and Hal E. Hershfield, “Mixed Emotional Experience Is Associated with and Precedes Improvements in Psychological Well-Being,” PLoS ONE 7, no. 4 (2012): e35633.

Pursuing Happiness Can Make You Sad

Jonathan W. Schooler, Dan Ariely, and George Loewenstein, “The Pursuit and Assessment of Happiness Can Be Self-Defeating,” The Psychology of Economic Decisions 1 (2003): 41–70.

Iris B. Mauss et al., “Can Seeking Happiness Make People Unhappy? Paradoxical Effects of Valuing Happiness,” Emotion 11, no. 4 (2011): 807–15.

Pursuing Happiness Can Hurt Your Relationships

June Gruber, Iris B. Mauss, and Maya Tamir, “A Dark Side of Happiness? How, When, and Why Happiness Is Not Always Good,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 6, no. 3 (2011): 222–33.

Jill T. Levitt et al., “The Effects of Acceptance Versus Suppression of Emotion on Subjective and Psychophysiological Response to Carbon Dioxide Challenge in Patients with Panic Disorder,” Behavior Therapy 35, no. 4 (2004): 747–66.

Too Much Happiness Makes You . . .

Adam M. Grant and Barry Schwartz, “Too Much of a Good Thing: The Challenge and Opportunity of the Inverted U,” Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, no. 1 (2011): 61–76.

. . . Take Too Many Risks

M. A. Cyders and G. T. Smith, “Emotion-Based Dispositions to Rash Action: Positive and Negative Urgency,” Psychological Bulletin 134 (2008): 807–28.

Howard S. Friedman et al., “Does Childhood Personality Predict Longevity?,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65, no. 1 (1993): 176–85.

. . . Worse at Spotting Liars

Joseph P. Forgas and Rebekah East, “On Being Happy and Gullible: Mood Effects on Skepticism and the Detection of Deception,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44, no. 5 (2008): 1362–67.

. . . Less Accurate

Lauren B. Alloy and Lyn Y. Abramson, “Judgment of Contingency in Depressed and Nondepressed Students: Sadder But Wiser?,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 108, no. 4 (1979): 441–85.

. . . More Rigid

Barbara L. Fredrickson and Marcial F. Losada, “Positive Affect and the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing,” American Psychologist 60, no. 7 (2005): 678–86.

. . . Less Creative

Mark A. Davis, “Understanding the Relationship Between Mood and Creativity: A Meta-Analysis,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 108, no. 1 (2009): 25–38.

. . . Psychopathic?

Richard P. Bentall, “A Proposal to Classify Happiness as a Psychiatric Disorder,” Journal of Medical Ethics 18, no. 2 (1992): 94–98.

June Gruber, Iris B. Mauss, and Maya Tamir, “A Dark Side of Happiness? How, When, and Why Happiness Is Not Always Good,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 6, no. 3 (2011): 222–33.

. . . Less Prepared to Fight or Flee

Gruber, Mauss, and Tamir, “A Dark Side of Happiness?”

. . . Selfish

Hui Bing Tan and Joseph P. Forgas, “When Happiness Makes Us Selfish, but Sadness Makes Us Fair: Affective Influences on Interpersonal Strategies in the Dictator Game,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46, no. 3 (2010): 571–76.

. . . Worse at Negotiating

Gerben A. Van Kleef, Carsten K. W. De Dreu, and Antony S. R. Manstead, “The Interpersonal Effects of Anger and Happiness in Negotiations,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 86, no. 1 (2004): 57–76.

. . . Poorer and Less Educated

Shigehiro Oishi, Ed Diener, and Richard E. Lucas, “The Optimum Level of Well-Being: Can People Be Too Happy?,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 2, no. 4 (2007): 346–60.

Getting Angry Has Its Perks

Maya Tamir and Brett Q. Ford, “Should People Pursue Feelings That Feel Good or Feelings That Do Good? Emotional Preferences and Well-Being,” Emotion 12, no. 5 (2012): 1061–70.

What Doesn’t Kill You . . .

Mark D. Seery, E. Alison Holman, and Roxane Cohen Silver, “Whatever Does Not Kill Us: Cumulative Lifetime Adversity, Vulnerability, and Resilience,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 99, no. 6 (2010): 1025–41.

Don’t Fake It

M. Frank, P. Ekman, and W. Friesen, “Behavioral Markers and Recognizability of the Smile of Enjoyment,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64, no. 1 (1993): 83–93.

Negative Is Smarter Than Positive

T. M. Amabile, “Brilliant but Cruel: Perceptions of Negative Evaluators,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 19 (March 1983): 146–56.

Bad Is Stronger Than Good

R. F. Baumeister et al., “Bad Is Stronger Than Good,” Review of General Psychology 5, no. 4 (2001): 323–70.