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Are You (Still) An Optimist? These Questions Might Help Explain Why
Imagine you’re back in high school — fluorescent lights humming, hard plastic chairs, a classroom stuffy with hormones and anxiety — and you’ve just aced a test. Do you think to yourself, “I guess I
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She Taught Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever on Happiness. Then She Burned Out
Burnout isn’t just for cubicle warriors and workaholic entrepreneurs. Nobel prize-winning geniuses and beloved celebrities burn out too. And so do experts on happiness, apparently. Yale psychologist Laurie Santos is famous for teaching the university’s most popular class ever —
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Laughter Really Is Contagious — And That’s Good
My three young daughters like to watch pets doing silly things. Almost daily, they ask to see animal video clips on my phone and are quickly entertained. But once my 7-year-old lets out a belly
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The 6 Most Important Things Science Learned About How to Live a Happy, Fulfilled Life in 2022
Go back 25 years or so and psychology was almost exclusively focused on investigating mental illnesses and the suffering they caused. Then in 1998 pioneering psychologist Martin Seligman took up his term as president of the American
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She’s a Happiness Professor. Her Lessons Are Helping Her Beat Burnout
A dental emergency was Laurie Santos’ wake-up call. It wasn’t even her own: One of Santos’ students at Yale University needed her sign-off before getting some work done. Instead of feeling sympathy for her student
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Happiness Study Reveals a Critical Difference Between Two Types of People
HUMANS HAVE A complicated relationship with happiness. Consider this study on the subject: Scientists found that valuing happiness can lead to less happiness when you feel happy. It’s an emotional rollercoaster fueled by unhelpful expectations. Yet the relationship gets more
