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The happiness hypothesis : finding modern truth in ancient wisdom

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The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom Paperback – Illustrated, Dec 26 2006

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• Print length 320 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Basic Books
• Publication date Dec 26 2006
• Grade level 8 and up
• Reading age 13 years and up
• Dimensions 15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
• ISBN-10 0465028020
• ISBN-13 978-0465028023
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; Illustrated edition (Dec 26 2006)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465028020
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465028023
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 390 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
• #1 in Philosophy of Psychology in Health
• #11 in Metaphysics (Books)
• #18 in Philosophy & Religion

About the author

Jonathan haidt.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and then did post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago and in Orissa, India. He taught at the University of Virginia for 16 years before moving to NYU-Stern in 2011. He was named one of the "top global thinkers" by Foreign Policy magazine, and one of the "top world thinkers" by Prospect magazine.

His research focuses on morality - its emotional foundations, cultural variations, and developmental course. He began his career studying the negative moral emotions, such as disgust, shame, and vengeance, but then moved on to the understudied positive moral emotions, such as admiration, awe, and moral elevation. He is the co-developer of Moral Foundations theory, and of the research site YourMorals.org. He is a co-founder of HeterodoxAcademy.org, which advocates for viewpoint diversity in higher education. He uses his research to help people understand and respect the moral motives of their enemies (see CivilPolitics.org, and see his TED talks). He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom; The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion; and (with Greg Lukianoff) The Coddling of the American Mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting a generation up for failure. For more information see www.JonathanHaidt.com.

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• ISBN-10 0465028020
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• Publication date 26 December 2006
• Language English
• Dimensions 15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
• Print length 320 pages
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 1st edition (26 December 2006); Basic Books
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465028020
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465028023
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 390 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Importer ‏ : ‎ Basic Books
• Packer ‏ : ‎ Basic Books
• Generic Name ‏ : ‎ Books
• #429 in Theology & Philosophy of Religion
• #449 in Biology Books
• #479 in Self-Help for Happiness

About the author

Jonathan haidt.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and then did post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago and in Orissa, India. He taught at the University of Virginia for 16 years before moving to NYU-Stern in 2011. He was named one of the "top global thinkers" by Foreign Policy magazine, and one of the "top world thinkers" by Prospect magazine.

His research focuses on morality - its emotional foundations, cultural variations, and developmental course. He began his career studying the negative moral emotions, such as disgust, shame, and vengeance, but then moved on to the understudied positive moral emotions, such as admiration, awe, and moral elevation. He is the co-developer of Moral Foundations theory, and of the research site YourMorals.org. He is a co-founder of HeterodoxAcademy.org, which advocates for viewpoint diversity in higher education. He uses his research to help people understand and respect the moral motives of their enemies (see CivilPolitics.org, and see his TED talks). He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom; The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion; and (with Greg Lukianoff) The Coddling of the American Mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting a generation up for failure. For more information see www.JonathanHaidt.com.

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The Happiness Hypothesis

Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

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By Jonathan Haidt

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A “wonderfully smart and readable” (Washington Post) book that combines philosophical wisdom and scientific research, revealing surprising insights about how to live a meaningful life

• Social Psychology
• "I really can't recommend this book enough. It's one of the best and most insightful books I've ever read." Joe Rogan
• "[T]he psychologist Jonathan Haidt shows in his wonderfully smart and readable The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom [that] modern science and history have a lot to say to each other." Darrin McMahon, The Washington Post
• "[An] inspiring nuanced study." People
• "[A] marvelous book.... I don't think I've ever read a book that laid out the contemporary understanding of the human condition with such simple clarity and sense." Guardian, (UK)
• "This unusual book sets itself apart from the self-help category with its extensive scientific references, and intelligent, neutral prose, while the author's illuminating illustration of how the human mind works is both educational and refreshing." Sunday Times (London)
• "With singular gusto, Haidt measures ten 'Great Ideas' against past/present research in psychology and science. LJ' s verdict: Dr. Phil et al. don't have diddly on the old-school sages. No man is an island, indeed, and no modern reader should be without this carefully considered demystification of life." Library Journal, Best Books 2006
• "This is a delightful book.... Haidt's writing embraces spiritual and mystical viewpoints while retaining scientific and rational coherence." Nature
• "A disarming, original book, reassuring to those more conversant with worriment than merriment.... Smart and serious without pomposity." Seattle Times
• "Haidt's remedy for the modern glut of frivolous self-help literature is to review and revise the classics, examining the ideas of thinkers like Plato, Buddha and Jesus in light of modern research into human behavior. Along the way, Haidt, a social psychologist, provides practical advice for parenting, romance, work and coping with the political and cultural divisions currently preoccupying the country." Psychology Today
• "The most brilliant and lucid analysis of virtue and well-being in the entire literature of positive psychology. For the reader who seeks to understand happiness, my advice is: Begin with Haidt." Martin E.P. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania and author of Authentic Happiness
• The Happiness Hypothesis is a wonderful and nuanced book that provides deep insight into the some of the most important questions in life--Why are we here? What kind of life should we lead? What paths lead to happiness? From the ancient philosophers to cutting edge scientists, Haidt weaves a tapestry of the best and the brightest. His highly original work on elevation and awe--two long-neglected emotions--adds a new weave to that tapestry. A truly inspiring book." David M. Buss, author of The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating
• "This fresh and original book goes to the heart of what people have found out about happiness, across cultures and times. Enjoyable, important, and eminently readable." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of FLOW
• "Jonathan Haidt leaves no doubt about the importance of emotion in the creation of personal meaning. This is a delightful and courageous book." Antonio Damasio, author of Looking for Spinoza
• "In this beautifully written book, Jonathan Haidt shows us the deep connection that exists between cutting-edge psychological research and the wisdom of the ancients. It is inspiring to see how much modern psychology informs life's most central and persistent questions." Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
• "Should we live our lives by age-old wisdom or the latest discoveries? Haidt gives us the luxury of not having to choose, bringing together both sources of insight in this sparkling investigation into the psychology of life and happiness." Daniel Wegner, author of The Illusion of Conscious Will
• "It would be something of an exaggeration to say that Jonathan Haidt has found the final answer to happiness, but he has come as close as any other writer of our times. Every page of his book provides gems of insight about the good life and where to look for it. Anyone who is interested in humannature and its potential must read this book." William Damon, Director, Stanford Center on Adolescence, and author of The Moral Child
• "An intellectual tour de force that weaves into one fabric wisdom that is ancient and modern, religious and scientific, Eastern and Western, liberal and conservative all with the aim of pointing us to a more meaningful, moral, and satisfying life." David G. Myers, Professor of Psychology, Hope College, author of Intuition: Its Powers and Its Perils
• " The Happiness Hypothesis ... has more to say about the pleasures and perils, the truths, of being alive than any book I've read in a long time." San Francisco Bay Guardian
• "Haidt's is an open-minded, robust look at philosophy, psychological fact and spiritual mystery, of scientific rationalism and the unknowable ephemeral--an honest inquiry that concludes that the best life is, perhaps, one lived in the balance of opposites." Bookpage
• "An erudite, fluently written, stimulating reassessment of age-old issues." Publishers Weekly, starred review

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The Happiness Hypothesis Summary

1-Sentence-Summary:   The Happiness Hypothesis is the most thorough analysis of how you can find happiness in our modern society, backed by plenty of scientific research, real-life examples and even a formula for happiness.

Favorite quote from the author:

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The happiness hypothesis review, audio summary, who would i recommend the happiness hypothesis summary to.

If you’re looking for a scientifically proven way to find happiness, you’ve come to the right place.

These blinks show that Jonathan Haidt , social psychologist and professor at NYU , has pulled out all the stops.

In the beginning of The Happiness Hypothesis , he establishes a metaphor, which then serves throughout the rest of the book to explain happiness in different contexts.

He says our brain is divided into two main parts.  Your limbic system is in charge of your basic instincts , the needs for sleep, food and sex.

The neocortex is, as its name suggests, a newer part of the brain, responsible for your rational thinking . It’s what keeps your limbic system in check and makes sure you don’t run around naked on the street, overeat, or sleep in when you’re supposed to go to work.

While the neocortex follows suit to your thoughts, your limbic brain doesn’t. It’s fully in charge of your heart rate, moving while you sleep or the knee-jerk reflex .

Haidt therefore describes the limbic brain as a wild elephant,  with your neocortex being  the rider , trying to control the elephant.

Unhappiness comes from the rider and the elephant disagreeing, and Haidt uses this metaphor to show you what you can do to close the gap between the two.

50% to 80% of your baseline level of happiness is determined in your genes , but by changing your thoughts you can still train the elephant .

For example, your limbic brain is trained to recognize danger everywhere, in order to survive, but by  becoming an optimist , you can lessen this behavior, which isn’t quite so useful today.

If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.

A large chunk of our happiness comes from our social relationships , and the first step towards improving them, is understanding them.

Reciprocity is the principle on which we interact, which is why you feel guilty if you don’t return a favor and  Sheldon feels compelled to give a gift back . We feel so strongly about it, that we’d prefer to get nothing, rather than receiving an unfair share .

You can use this principle the next time you fight with your spouse or roommate: Just admit some of the things you did wrong . Your friend will start to reciprocate and also admit what they did wrong, helping both of you to resolve the conflict.

Doing this also helps lessening your self-serving bias , since your elephant thinks it’s always right and your rider usually defends it.

Next to your relationships, your work is one of the few factors that matters a lot to your happiness.

The adaptation principle shows that whatever lucky event or adversity we face, we get used to it. This was proven in a study showing that people who won the lottery and people who became paralyzed both returned to their baseline happiness levels after one year.

However, what you spend your time working on is one of those external circumstances that has a big impact, thanks to the progress principle . It says that we draw much more happiness from working towards a goal , rather than reaching it.

So try to find meaningful work  you’re good at – as Confucius says: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Your most important relationship in your life will likely be the one with your partner or spouse. But on your quest for love , don’t just rely on passion . No matter how much “in love” you are at the beginning of the relationship, it naturally fades – and that’s okay.

Haidt says we must seek to develop companionate love , which is what best friends, brothers, sisters and family members share. Having someone at your side through the ups and downs of life, sharing your joy and sadness and exploring and learning together creates a much stronger bond, which can last you a lifetime, but it takes time to develop.

So don’t give up a relationship once passion fades, but give your companionate love time to develop.

The rider and the elephant might also disagree about who you are.  For example your rider can try to preserve your image of being an efficient, career-driven manager, while your elephant just wants to cut himself some slack and play soccer with his buddies.

It often takes a crisis for us to see these differences, which is why adversity can make us happier.  This is especially true for people in their teens and twenties, who spend a lot of time thinking and looking for meaning in their lives. A crisis gives you the chance to see what the elephant really wants and help the rider adjust your self-image to match your true desires.

Lastly, we need to feel connected to something greater than ourselves , which is why religion has a place in our lives. Even if you’re an atheist, you probably believe in karma, destiny or fortune. That’s a good thing! Belief gives us a sense of awe , because it makes us realize that we’re a small part of something much greater.

• Surround yourself with the people you love the most and live in accordance with reciprocity
• Do work that matters to you
• Find a partner who will stand by your side through sunshine and rain
• Allow yourself to be part of something greater

These are just some of the things I learned from these blinks, as there were so many good insights, let alone in the book.

These blinks did an awesome job. I read parts of The Happiness Hypothesis , and every page hits you with a new insight. I don’t know how I would’ve summarized it, but Blinkist did it.

I would have liked to learn about the formula here (Haidt gives a formula for happiness in the book, consisting of your biological set points, the conditions of your life, and your voluntary activities), but I don’t mind that they went for the rider and the elephant metaphor.

Using this throughout all blinks made the summary very consistent and actionable. The book is great, the summary is superb – I highly recommend you get both.

Listen to the audio of this summary with a free reading.fm account*:

The 27 year old who burns through one love relationship after another, the 47 year old who still slaves away in a corporate job she hates in hope for a good retirement and anyone who thinks happiness is just something your born with.

Last Updated on December 5, 2022

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Niklas Göke is an author and writer whose work has attracted tens of millions of readers to date. He is also the founder and CEO of Four Minute Books, a collection of over 1,000 free book summaries teaching readers 3 valuable lessons in just 4 minutes each. Born and raised in Germany, Nik also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration & Engineering from KIT Karlsruhe and a Master’s Degree in Management & Technology from the Technical University of Munich. He lives in Munich and enjoys a great slice of salami pizza almost as much as reading — or writing — the next book — or book summary, of course!

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The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom Hardcover – December 22, 2005

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• Print length 297 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Basic Books
• Publication date December 22, 2005
• Grade level 8 and up
• Reading age 13 years and up
• Dimensions 6 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• ISBN-10 0465028012
• ISBN-13 978-0465028016
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How could science have gotten it so wrong? How could doctors and psychologists not have seen that children need love as well as milk? This chapter is about that need the need for other people, for touch, and for close relationships. No man, woman, or child is an island. Scientists have come a long way since John Watson, and there is now a much more humane science of love. The story of this science begins with orphans and rhesus monkeys, and ends with a challenge to the dismal view of love held by many of the ancients, East and West. The heroes of this story are two psychologists who rejected the central tenets of their training: Harry Harlow and John Bowlby. These two men knew that something was missing in behaviorism and in psychoanalysis, respectively. Against great odds they changed their fields, they humanized the treatment of children, and they made it possible for science to greatly improve upon the wisdom of the ancients.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 1st edition (December 22, 2005)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 297 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465028012
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465028016
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• #1,434 in Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy
• #1,998 in Emotional Mental Health
• #3,719 in Medical General Psychology

About the author

Jonathan haidt.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and then did post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago and in Orissa, India. He taught at the University of Virginia for 16 years before moving to NYU-Stern in 2011. He was named one of the "top global thinkers" by Foreign Policy magazine, and one of the "top world thinkers" by Prospect magazine.

His research focuses on morality - its emotional foundations, cultural variations, and developmental course. He began his career studying the negative moral emotions, such as disgust, shame, and vengeance, but then moved on to the understudied positive moral emotions, such as admiration, awe, and moral elevation. He is the co-developer of Moral Foundations theory, and of the research site YourMorals.org. He is a co-founder of HeterodoxAcademy.org, which advocates for viewpoint diversity in higher education. He uses his research to help people understand and respect the moral motives of their enemies (see CivilPolitics.org, and see his TED talks). He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom; The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion; and (with Greg Lukianoff) The Coddling of the American Mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting a generation up for failure. For more information see www.JonathanHaidt.com.

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Book Summary The Happiness Hypothesis , by Jonathan Haidt

The Happiness Hypothesis explores the nature of human happiness, blending the philosophical and theological wisdom of ancient thinkers with insights from the field of positive psychology. Our satisfaction is driven by how our mental filters interpret the events in our lives, with the human brain perpetually divided against itself in the struggle between the desires created by our emotions and the attempts of reason to control them. The key to happiness is to use reason to focus the mind away from desires that will only bring fleeting happiness, while giving in to those desires that will bring lasting fulfillment.

1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of The Happiness Hypothesis

One of the primary human impulses is to maximize our happiness. But our satisfaction in life is driven by our emotions . And our emotions, in turn, are determined by the ways in which our mental filters cause us to interpret and react to events and situations.

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom is about how human beings can maximize happiness. It explores how different philosophical traditions have defined happiness throughout human history, places them within an evolutionary framework, and shows how there is a constant back-and-forth between reason and emotion.

Neither western ideas about the fulfillment of goals nor eastern notions about the elimination of desire as being the path to happiness are 100 percent right. The key to happiness is to strike the right balance between the two—to use reason to focus the mind away from desires that will only bring fleeting happiness, while giving in to those desires that will bring lasting fulfillment.

The Rider and the Elephant

Before we can really delve into how you can maximize your own happiness, we need to understand the basic divisions that characterize the human brain—because the brain is home to the neurological and psychological mechanisms that determine how we experience the world.

The most apt metaphor for thinking about the human mind is of a human rider sitting atop an elephant . The rider, representing reason, can do her best to attempt to direct the elephant. But the elephant, representing emotion, is far more powerful and has its own will; it will only comply with the rider’s commands if those commands are not in conflict with its desire.

But we should be careful not to overgeneralize. Reason and emotion are not mutually exclusive or engaged in some zero-sum contest against one another . While emotion is usually the senior partner in the relationship, it is a partnership nonetheless. The two work together—reason enhances our emotional intelligence and our emotional intelligence strengthens our powers of reason.

First, we’ll need to delve into some evolutionary anthropology to establish why the elephant is so much more powerful than the rider. Understanding the dynamics of this fundamental division within our brains will guide our analysis of human happiness. Once we do that, we’ll be able to explore specific strategies for maximizing happiness.

In general, these strategies are centered around:

• Overcoming negativity by moving to the upper range of your affective style
• Practicing reciprocity and tearing down self-delusions
• Desiring the right things
• Improving your relationships
• Learning to overcome adversity
• Cultivating your virtues
• Discovering the divine or sacred in your life
• Living a purposeful life

Our analysis of all these strategies will blend insights from positive psychology, ancient and modern philosophy and religion, and evolutionary anthropology.

The Primacy of Emotion

As humans, we are controlled primarily by our desires, which are driven by our emotions—not our powers of reason. Our emotions determine our opinions and positions on moral questions. It is only after we arrive at these positions that we invent reasons to justify them retroactively.

The automatic system (the elephant) simply responds to stimuli around it and forms judgments and preferences based on what it perceives. And, in a pure contest of wills, the automatic system will nearly always beat the controlled system (the rider). The key is to change the stimuli in your environment into those that will produce desires whose pursuit and fulfillment will lead to true satisfaction. You can’t master the elephant; but, perhaps, you can change what the elephant sees .

Affective Style

The elephant determines our likes and dislikes, often in ways that we’re not consciously aware of . These emotional cues color our thinking, causing the elephant to dominate the rider. A perceived threat will make us consciously evaluate all stimuli as possible threats; a rush of sadness will cause us to adopt a more bleak way of looking at the world as a whole. These are the basic mental preconditions that affect all humans.

So, in general, emotion is always a stronger force within the mind than reason. And if we delve a bit further, we discover that an individual's general emotional state isn’t solely determined by the stimuli they encounter; it’s also influenced by a genetic predisposition toward happiness or sadness known as the affective style.

However, your affective style doesn’t set your level of happiness in stone. The affective style is best thought of as a range or emotional thermostat—some people simply have higher happiness levels at the upper end of their range than others. But within those constraints, there’s still great potential for improvement. Even if you have a negative affective style, you can still become happier. Moving to the upper levels of your affective style is akin to taming the elephant and guiding it down a different path. Effective methods for doing this include meditation, cognitive therapy, and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

The Reciprocity Reflex

A key factor that affects our happiness is the strength of our connections to other people. And reciprocity—the phenomenon by which we treat others as we have been treated by them—is one of the strongest ties that bind society together.

The reciprocity reflex tells us to repay others when they do something for us. From an evolutionary perspective, it works because it increases everyone’s chances of survival. The reciprocity reflex causes the other members of the group to help you if you have helped them, creating networks of mutual obligation. These are the seeds of altruism.

Self-Delusion

But there is a flaw in this. Because reality is filtered through the lens of our mental perceptions, we are vulnerable to deception. ** Real altruism may not...

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The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Introduction

One of the primary human impulses is to maximize our happiness. Indeed, this is the goal of the modern field of positive psychology. But in our pursuit of happiness, we also have much to learn from the philosophical and literary wisdom of past thinkers , from Buddha to Sigmund Freud.

In this summary, we’ll survey the world’s intellectual, philosophical, and theological ideas on happiness, from ancient India and Greece to the present day. But we won’t just explore these ideas in isolation—we’ll integrate them with one another and evaluate them using the insights we’ve gained from modern psychology. Using our better understanding of how the human mind really works, we will figure out how we can best use these ideas to gain the most joy out of our own lives.

As we’ll see, **our satisfaction in life is driven...

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The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 1: The Split Mind

Have you ever wondered why we do harmful or destructive things even when we know we shouldn’t? Or why we think about saying outlandish or offensive things in situations where we know it would be inappropriate to do so? This is because the mind is not really one unified entity. Instead, it’s split between reason and emotional impulse.

In this chapter, we’ll explore the nature of the divided mind and the consequences it has for our thoughts and actions. As we’ll see, the divided mind is the key to understanding the mental processes that govern our perception of the world. This is important, because those mental processes play a large role in determining our overall level of happiness.

The most apt metaphor for thinking about the human mind is of a human rider sitting atop an elephant . The rider, representing reason, can do her best to attempt to direct the elephant. But the elephant is far more powerful and has its own will; it will only comply with the rider’s commands if those commands are not in conflict with its desire. Thus, the rational part of ourselves can advise and guide our emotional core; but in a pure contest of wills,...

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The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 2: Overcome Negativity

One major stumbling block on our road to happiness is our negativity bias. As we saw in the last chapter, our perceptions and interpretations of the events that we witness determine our reality—not the events themselves. And unfortunately, those interpretations tend toward pessimism and negativity. The key is to shift our mental structures and patterns of thought so that we have more positive and fulfilling interpretations of the events in our lives. In this chapter, we’ll analyze why we have such a strong negativity bias and explore some strategies for overcoming it.

Negativity Bias

The elephant determines our likes and dislikes, often in ways that we’re not consciously aware of . For example, studies have shown that white Americans have an automatic negative reaction when they’re shown black faces or symbols of black culture.

Similarly, people tend to be drawn to things that sound like their own names. People named Dennis are surprisingly overrepresented in the field of dentistry and married couples have been shown to be disproportionately likely to have first names that share the same first letter (like Dan and Dana or Jason and Jessica). Thus, even major life...

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 3: Do Unto Others

Another key factor that affects our happiness is the strength of our connections to other people . And reciprocity—the phenomenon by which we treat others as we have been treated by them—is one of the strongest ties that bind society together. In this chapter, we’ll explore the origins of reciprocity, why it acts as such a strong binding agent, and how it shapes and governs our happiness by strengthening our relationships with other people.

Kin altruism is the mechanism by which individuals care for and protect individuals within their kin group (those with whom they share a blood relation). It’s observed in the behavior of many non-human animals and can be explained by simple Darwinian instincts: if the ultimate goal is to ensure the survival of one’s genes, it makes sense to be altruistic toward other members of the kin group.

But this does not fully explain the human phenomenon of reciprocity as we observe it. Humans, unlike other animals, work with, care for, and protect people with whom they have minimal or no blood relation. If anything, such behavior cuts against Darwinian impulse, as these other people are our “competitors” for...

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Shortform Exercise: Overcome Self-Delusion

Think about how you can readjust your perceptions.

Think of a past instance in which you behaved selfishly. How did you rationalize that behavior to yourself at the time?

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 4: Adjusting Your Happiness

A cornerstone of Buddhist belief, and that of many other Eastern religious traditions, is that the striving for status and possessions will leave you spiritually unfulfilled and, ultimately, joyless.

These faiths encourage breaking all emotional attachment to things and refraining from trying to attain what you don’t have. The striving, according to this view, is the root of human unhappiness.

And it’s true that we often feel hollow and unfulfilled even after we get the things that we want (or, at least, we think we want). But the self-denying philosophy of Buddhism gets some things wrong about human psychology. It turns out that some things are worth striving for. The key is not to eliminate desire; it’s to start desiring the right things.

The Fleeting Joy of Achievement

Before we delve into what we should be striving for, it’s worthwhile to explore why so many of the things we do strive for leave us feeling unfulfilled. We often experience only brief, temporary happiness when we achieve some long-held goal like landing a promotion, getting a new car, or getting good grades. Soon after, we feel the unquenchable urge to reach the next milestone. Why are we...

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 5: Attachment

In previous chapters, we’ve touched upon how our social attachments and relationships are central to our happiness and speak to a basic human need.

This is not a new insight by any means. In the 19th century, sociologist Emile Durkheim’s studies showed that people with fewer social attachments were more likely to die by suicide. And people with lots of meaningful relationships and connections to other people have been shown to have better health outcomes and report being happier.

In this chapter, we’ll explore the dynamics of our attachments to others and how pioneering research transformed how we think about the importance of love to human development.

Behaviorism

Before we talk about how crucial love is to human development, however, we need to discuss how psychology used to treat love. In the early days of psychology, the school of thought known as behaviorism taught that unconditional love was something to be avoided. The behaviorists believed that human action was governed by conditioned responses to reinforcements. Accordingly, people would only engage in behaviors they associated with rewards and refrain from behaviors they associated with punishment....

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 6: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

In thinking about how to maximize our happiness, we have to consider what makes us unhappy . If we could design the happiest possible lives for ourselves, surely we would opt for one without any setbacks or adversity, in which we get everything we want without having to overcome any struggles.

But this would actually be counterproductive. While the behaviorists in the last chapter were certainly overstating the case when they argued that providing unconditional love to children would render them weak and undeveloped, there is some truth to the idea that human beings need some amount of struggle in their lives in order to reach their full potential.

In this chapter, we’ll explore how, under certain circumstances, adversity can be beneficial for human happiness and fulfillment.

Benefits of Trauma

Health psychologists now talk about post-traumatic growth in addition to post-traumatic stress disorder . People who suffer setbacks, even tragedies like the loss of a loved one, often find new strengths as a result of their experience.

One way that adversity helps build character is through resilience. People who’ve suffered through hardships can emerge with a new...

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Shortform Exercise: Identify Adversity

Think about how overcoming challenges has shaped you.

In a few sentences, identify an incident in your life when you experienced an unexpected setback or loss.

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 7: Cultivate Your Virtues

The concept of virtue is often associated with puritanical values and behaviors like rigid piety and abstinence from sex. But is this really the most useful way to think about virtue?

Virtue should be defined as the cultivation of the best version of oneself . It is about fulfilling your potential, engaging in constant self-improvement, and striving toward the acquisition of a set of positive attributes or qualities. The specific virtues you aim for depend on your particular strengths and interests. The key is improvement—be it moral, intellectual, or even physical.

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was the quintessential self-improver, a man who constantly devoted himself to learning new things and acquiring new skills. Throughout his life, Franklin identified specific virtues that he actively sought to cultivate. In his later years, he looked back on his life with great satisfaction—and attributed his happiness to his relentless pursuit of virtue.

In this chapter, we’ll study this relationship between virtue and happiness, using new insights from the emerging field of positive psychology.

Ancient Virtue

Of course, the celebration of virtue is hardly new. It goes...

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 8: Divinity

If we could plot human experience on a graph, we might define it as existing along two axes.

On the horizontal X-axis, we have the world of connection and relationships; here, we make distinctions between strangers and friends, known and unknown.

On the Y-axis, we have the world of hierarchy; those we perceive as being our social superiors or inferiors. But there seems to be a third dimension, a Z-axis. This is what we might call divinity; a sense of uplifting when we witness something extraordinary or beautiful. It is its own unique moral dimension.

In this chapter, we’ll explore this dimension of sacredness and how, by drawing closer to the divine, we can experience the joyful emotion of elevation.

The Logic of Disgust

Before we talk about spiritual uplifting, we should explore the opposite sensation. Many ancient religious texts are concerned with purity and cleanliness (i.e., rules about handling corpses, not eating certain kinds of meat, ablution rituals). There seems to be an ancient sensitivity to the emotion of disgust.

As has been the case with so many of the ancient writers and thinkers we’ve surveyed, this preoccupation with disgust actually reflects deep...

The Happiness Hypothesis Summary Chapter 9: The Purpose of Life

To discern the meaning of life, it is crucial to understand human beings as they actually are.

As we’ve seen, we are not hyper-rational beings. In most situations, the elephant is in charge, not the rider. Philosophers seeking to explain or understand the human condition need to incorporate this fundamental psychological truth into their work.

Knowing this is important because it determines what the most effective strategies are for living a purposeful life. We explore those strategies in this final chapter.

Occupational Self-Direction

One of the essential conditions for a satisfying life is meaningful work. We need to engage in pursuits that fill our lives with purpose and meaning. Work doesn’t have to be narrowly defined as a career. It can be anything that’s action-oriented and sets things in motion.

We have a need to see that our actions have an effect on the world around us. This is a psychological need known as effectancy. Anything from simple child’s play to a stable adult career can provide effectancy, satisfying our hunger to see that there are results associated with the labor we provide.

The most meaningful and satisfying work is that which people...

Shortform Exercise: Understand The Happiness Hypothesis

Explore the main takeaways from the Happiness Hypothesis.

Do you think that our perceptions and behavior are more driven by reason or emotion? Why?

Happiness Is a Good Book: A Reading List

Everyone wants to be happier. But happiness means different things to different people and there is more than one road to finding it. In honor of the International Day of Happiness, we offer these books on the topic of happiness—fiction featuring characters seeking meaning and connection as well as nonfiction science and advice titles that may inspire you to seek more happiness in your own life.

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by Elvin James Mensah

An unexpected friendship saves a young man’s life in this moving, utterly charming debut about chosen family, the winding road to happiness, and the grace of second chances.

Serena Singh Flips the Script

by Sonja Lalli

Serena Singh is tired of everyone telling her what she should want--and she is ready to prove to her mother, her sister, and the aunties in her community that a woman does not need domestic bliss to have a happy life.  

(Im)perfectly Happy

by Sharina Harris

As their lives spiral out of control, four college friends, known as the Brown Sugarettes Mastermind Club, find their way back to each other ten years later to become the hopeful, confident and driven women they once used to be.

Hector and the Search for Happiness

by Franois Lelord

Hector keeps a list of observations about the people he meets, hoping to find the secret to happiness in his travels.

Happy for You

by Claire Stanford

Struggling with questions about her life and future, Evelyn Kominsky Kumamoto takes a job as a researcher at a popular internet company charged with aiding in the development of an app that will help users quantify and augment their happiness. As she grapples with the tech world's bewildering work culture and jolting excess, an unexpected development in her personal life upends her assumptions about her future, and Evelyn embarks on a journey towards an authentic happiness all her own.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle

by Matt Cain

Forced into retirement, former postman Albert Entwistle, with no friends, family or hobbies, forms a brave plan to start truly living, seek the happiness he’s always denied himself and find the courage to look for the man he loved and lost years ago but has never forgotten.

It's Not All Downhill From Here

by Terry McMillan

Loretha Curry's life is full. On the eve of her sixty-eighth birthday, she has a booming beauty-supply empire, a gaggle of lifelong friends, and a husband whose moves still surprise. But when an unexpected loss turns her world upside down, Loretha will have to summon all her strength, resourcefulness, and determination to keep on thriving, pursue joy, heal old wounds, and chart new paths. With a little help from her friends, of course.

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley

by Courtney Walsh

What happens when a desperately lonely woman stumbles upon a magazine article outlining the "31 Ways to Be Happy" and decides to use it as a last-ditch attempt to turn her life around?

With the Fire on High

by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago has been doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. She dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, but knows that is impossible. But once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free. 

The Ingredients of Happiness

by Lucy Burdette

'Happiness guru' Dr Cooper Hunziker has it all - a dream job, a soon-to-be published book and the perfect guy. But Cooper isn't happy. Forced to face a plagiarism accusation, life-changing betrayals and her traumatic past, can Cooper navigate her own path to happiness?

Happy Stories, Mostly

by Norman Erikson Pasaribu

Happy Stories, Mostly is a short story collection by queer Indonesian author Norman Erikson Pasaribu. Blending together speculative fiction and absurdism, these stories ask what it means to be almost happy—to nearly find joy, to sort-of be accepted, but to never fully grasp one's desire.

Delphine Jones Takes a Chance

by Beth Morrey

A single mother and high school dropout has an opportunity to graduate and rediscovers her life with an Oscar-winning actress turned teacher, an Eritrean couple running a jazz club, a lonely, elderly French widow and a handsome musician.

Really Good, Actually

by Monica Heisey

Determined to embrace her new life as a "Surprisingly Young Divorcâee," twenty-nine-year-old Maggie, with the help of her tough-loving academic advisor, her newly divorced friend Amy, and her group chat, barrels through her first year of singledom, searching for what truly makes her happy.  

The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the World's Happiest People

by Dan Buettner

Presents research and insights on how to achieve happiness and fulfillment by looking at the world's happiest places, discussing the foundational pillars of pleasure, purpose, and pride and how to apply them in everyday life.

Belong: Find Your People, Create Community & Live a More Connected Life

by Radha Agrawal

How is it that the internet connects us to a world of people, yet so many of us feel more isolated than ever? Radha Agrawal calls this "community confusion," and in Belong she offers every reader a blueprint to find their people and build and nurture community, because connectedness—as more and more studies show—is our key to happiness, fulfillment, and success. 

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

by Mark Manson

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness

by Ingrid Fetell Lee

The founder of the popular "Aesthetics of Joy" blog counsels readers on how to cultivate a happier, healthier life by making small environmental changes, revealing the unexpected impact of everyday spaces and objects on mood. 

The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness

by Robert Waldinger, MD, and Marc Schulz, PhD

What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful? The simple but surprising answer is: relationships. The stronger our relationships, the more likely we are to live happy, satisfying, and overall healthier lives. In fact, the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life. The Good Life shows us it’s never too late to strengthen the relationships you have, and never too late to build new ones.

The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life

by Mike Rucker, Ph.D.

Doesn’t it seem that the more we seek happiness, the more elusive it becomes? There is an easy fix, hiding in plain sight. Fun is an action you can take here and now, practically anywhere, anytime. Whether you’re a frustrated high-achiever trying to find a better work-life balance or someone who is seeking relief from life’s overwhelming challenges, it is time you gain access to the best medicine available. The Fun Habit is the ultimate guide to reap the serious benefits fun offers.

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-help That Actually Works: A True Story

by Dan Harris

The anchor, who had a nationally televised panic attack, takes readers on a ride through the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news during which he discovered a way to get happier that is truly achievable.

The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life

by Shawn Achor

Conventional wisdom holds that once we succeed, we’ll be happy; that once we get that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But the science reveals this formula to be backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around.  Drawing on original research—including one of the largest studies of happiness ever conducted—and work in boardrooms and classrooms across forty-two countries, Shawn Achor shows us how to rewire our brains for positivity and optimism to reap the happiness advantage in our lives, our careers, and even our health.

This Book Won't Make You Happy: Eight Keys to Finding True Contentment

by Niro Feliciano, LCSW

Provides a refreshing twist on how to find happiness, based not on what happens in your life but how you relate to it.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.