Product Description

This new edition of The Psychology of Happiness provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of research into the nature of happiness.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96522 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review

"This new edition is an excellent updated synthesis of the research in what has been a very successful area of advance in social psychology, due in no small measure to Michael Argyle’s own work in the field." – W. Peter Robinson, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Bristol.

"This book is bigger and better than the first edition. The author has definitely kept up with progress in the field and has summarised it well." – Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology, University College London.

"Michael Argyle’s book gives an excellent broad overview of the scientific field of subjective well-being – the study of happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect. Readers will discover many interesting, and even exciting, new facts about happiness. At the same time, this is not a difficult read… Argyle has done an outstanding job of introducing readers to an exciting new scientific field in the study of human behaviour." – Ed Diener, Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois.

`An impressive testimony to (Argyle's) enthusiasm, energy, eclecticism and grasp of the subject.' - Times Higher Education Supplement

"This new edition is an excellent updated synthesis of the research in what has been a very successful area of advance in social psychology, due in no small measure to Michael Argyle’s own work in the field." – W. Peter Robinson, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Bristol.

"This book is bigger and better than the first edition. The author has definitely kept up with progress in the field and has summarised it well." – Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology, University College London.

"Michael Argyle’s book gives an excellent broad overview of the scientific field of subjective well-being – the study of happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect. Readers will discover many interesting, and even exciting, new facts about happiness. At the same time, this is not a difficult read… Argyle has done an outstanding job of introducing readers to an exciting new scientific field in the study of human behaviour." – Ed Diener, Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois.

From the Back Cover

What is happiness?  Why are some people happier than others?

This new edition of The Psychology of Happiness provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of research into the nature of happiness. Major research developments have occurred since publication of the first edition in 1987 – here they are brought together for the first time, often with surprising conclusions.

Drawing on research from the disciplines of sociology, physiology and economics as well as psychology, Michael Argyle explores the nature of positive and negative emotions, and the psychological and cognitive processes involved in their generation. Accessible and wide-ranging coverage is provided on key issues such as: the measurements and study of happiness, mental and physical health; the effect of friendship, marriage and other relationships on positive moods; happiness, mental and physical health; the effects of work, employment and leisure; and the effects of money, class and education. The importance of individual personality traits such as optimism, purpose in life, internal control and having the right kind of goals is also analysed. New to this edition is additional material on national differences, the role of humour, and the effect of religion. Are some countries happier than others? This is just one of the controversial issues addressed by the author along the way.

Finally the book discusses the practical application of research in this area, such as how happiness can be enhanced, and the effects of happiness on health, altruism and sociability. This definitive and thought-provoking work will be compulsive reading for students, researchers and the interested general reader

 

 

About the Author

Michael Argyle is Emeritus Reader in Social Psychology at Oxford University, a Fellow of Wolfson College and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Oxford Brookes University. He is the author of many books including: The Social Psychology of Everyday Life (1992), The Psychology of Social Class (1993), The Psychology of Money (1998) and Psychology and Religion (1999), all published by Routledge.

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Customer Reviews

An analysis of which factors contribute to happiness
A well-written and concise summary of the many disparate psychological studies into which factors promote or inhibit the development of happiness. Can be used to confirm or disprove common sense/ pub arguments. Or to suggest actions available to the individual in his/ her own search for happiness. (Though the tone is "accessible-academic", not self-help.) Well-worth stretching the mind for a few evenings over this one.

Worthwhile
This is a worthwhile book I wholeheartedly recommend, with one proviso: read it when you are in a really good mood. For some odd reason if you pick it up in the midst of a depression it seems to make you feel worse. At least, that was my first experience with it. This may be the 'Ok, let's try another book,' scenario, when in truth no book on earth is going to help you this time!

The trouble with the field from which this book has emerged is that it comes out of a great mass of books which have been written in the past 30 years about happiness, how to achieve it, how to keep it. We all know or should by now that most of these books have been valueless. Before all of that there was psychology, textbooks, and before that religious texts and the findings of ancient cultures, like the Romans and the Greeks. So anyone who wants to read about happiness has got a job to do selecting a book. That's why, paradoxically, depressed people should not be going for the bookshelf! Only the happy should.

So, this book is great when things are going well. You can digest its careful arguments and observations with a clear head, instead of smearing it with tears because it's just another book that is not your ex-girlfriend.

You know what I mean, I'm sure.

Great scientific overview of happiness
A complete overview of scientific studies on happiness. useful for any psychologist interested in this area and for the general reader who wants a fully scientific look at this area. The author is a very well respected scientist and has authored many similar overviews of different areas of psychology. This is similar to the others. It packs alot of information statistics, analysis, and explanations of the research and its implications. It's quite dry as you would expect from a research focused text. You have to work to get the best out of this text, but there is enough comment to keep the general reader interested. Don't expect self help rules or advice as you wont get them here. Do expect quality proven knowledge which could be intelligently applied to a range of issues.