This author delves deeply into the scientific study of human happiness, exploring what makes it a meaningful, desirable, and essential pursuit. They investigate the factors contributing to enduring contentment and how individuals can cultivate happier, more flourishing lives. Their work examines the cognitive and motivational processes that differentiate happy from less happy individuals, revealing that content people interpret events in more positive and adaptive ways. The research also probes how happiness varies across cultures and demographics, exploring practical strategies for its enhancement.
Lyubomirsky isolates the major turning points of adult life, looking to both achievements and failures to reveal that our misconceptions about the impact of such events is perhaps the greatest threat to our long-term well-being.
Always emphasizing how much an individual's happiness is within his or her control, Lyubomirsky addresses the scientific how of her happiness research, and provides a powerful contribution to the field of positive psychology.