Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting Human Flourishing in Work, Health, Education, and Everyday Life, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11The Prospects, Practices, and Prescriptions for the Pursuit of Happiness

KRISTIN LAYOUS, KENNON M. SHELDON AND SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY

Happiness is a central criterion of mental health (Keyes, 2005; Taylor & Brown, 1988) and has been found to be associated with numerous tangible benefits, such as enhanced physical health, reduced psychopathology, greater productivity, more fulfilling relationships, and even longer life (see Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005, for a review). Thus, an important goal for psychology is advancing knowledge about how to help people increase their levels of happiness, positive mental health, and personal thriving. During the last decade, researchers have made a great deal of progress investigating intentional ways to increase happiness—yielding both theory (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005) and empirical evidence (see Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009, for a meta-analysis) supporting the notion that happiness levels can be increased. Furthermore, growing research is pointing to the optimal conditions under which happiness-enhancing activities work to increase well-being, as well as the processes underlying these strategies' success (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). Finally, preliminary studies suggest that increasing happiness through positive activities may lead to multiple favorable downstream effects on people's health, work, and relationships (e.g., Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008).

Although the concept of happiness is widely understood ...