December 2009

THIMPHU (Reuters) - It is a sign of the times for Bhutan that a $9 million McKinsey consultancy report to find ways to accelerate Bhutan's economic growth has sparked soul-searching among this isolated and mostly conservative people. For this is a nation famed for being...

Chris Peterson is one of the world's leaders in the science of happiness and positive psychology. In this article he talks about happiness and positive psychology and especially, the key construct of optimism. Importantly, he discusses some of the invalid criticisms of optimism and presents...

It's no surprise that mothers want the best for their children, but are they setting the bar too high when it comes to their own expectations of themselves as parents? One in three mothers admit to setting expectations for themselves as parents that are "unrealistic,"...

If you're struggling with how to define your life beyond material goods, Deepak Chopra has seven ways for you to make the shift, once and for all, to a purpose-driven life and authentic happiness. One of the most positive ways to live is to look on...

A new study published by The University of Western Ontario reveals that couples who share the responsibility for paid and unpaid work report higher average measures of happiness and life satisfaction than those in other family models. Who would ever have thought washing up could...

To what extent should governments and politicians be focused on happiness and wellbeing? Should and/or can governments legislate for happiness and wellbeing? This is the final paragraph in an interesting article on the role of governments in promoting happiness from the UK's Guardian...

It_ã_s late in the year and most people I talk to these days are pretty tired and looking forward to some time off work over the next few weeks (myself included; and yes, psychologists do sometimes talk to themselves; and yes again, it_ã_s actually OK...

from Sandi Smith of The American Happiness Association (www.americanhappiness.org) In the past year, I've been extremely grateful to have been able to co-create an entire organization dedicated to happiness - the American Happiness Association (AHA).  During this time, I've watched people's reactions to happiness, and...

As hinted at above, we've been following Lou Tice for a while now and he constantly impresses us with his practical wisdom and valuable ideas. Today, we're happy to bring to you a few of his short messages...

We all know that a guiding principle of happiness and positive psychology is that _ã–Other people matter._㝠What is it that makes other people matter to us? Empathy. Empathy is commonly defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Our ability to...