Description: Happier? provides the first history of the origins, development, and impact of the shift in how Americans - and now many around the world - consider the human condition. This change, which came about from the fusing of beliefs and knowledge from Eastern spiritual traditions, behavioral economics, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and cognitive psychology, has been led by scholars and academic entrepreneurs, in play with forces such as neoliberalism and cultural conservatism, and a public eager for self-improvement. Ultimately, the book illuminates how positive psychology, one of the most influential academic fields of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, infused American culture with captivating promises for a happier society.
Review Quotes: "Mr. Horowitz's straightforward, comprehensive history of the positive-psychology movement follows the money wherever it leads--and it leads everywhere. He presents every controversy, representing defenders of positive psychology as fully as its critics . . . Daniel Horowitz's history deftly reveals the eternal lessons that underlie all its incarnations: Money can't buy happiness; human beings need social bonds, satisfying work and strong communities; a life based entirely on the pursuit of pleasure ultimately becomes pleasureless. "
--Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal"Especially compelling is the discussion of the relationship between positive psychology and other contemporary developments." --Library Journal"Horowitz explores the history of the relatively new and surprisingly pervasive discipline of happiness studies and positive psychology... a thorough and thoughtful introduction to an influential discipline." --Publishers Weekly"An astonishing work of cultural analysis on changes in the field of psychology." --Spirituality & Practice"Daniel Horowitz has accomplished an impressive feat. Happier? is a thorough
and judicious history of positive psychology--a movement both influential and
controversial." --Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education,
Harvard Graduate School of Education"Kudos to cultural historian Daniel Horowitz for comprehensively chronicling the
emergence of positive psychology--'a cultural movement of tremendous reach and
power.' Thanks to its impressive scholarship and lucid story-telling, Happier? is
the go-to book for anyone seeking to understand the roots and fruits of modern
happiness research." --David G. Myers, Professor of Psychology, Hope College;
author of The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy--and Why"Daniel Horowitz has done a Herculean job of compiling an exhaustive history of the
conceptualization and study of happiness, from the early 1940s through the present
day. His work will gently lead the casual reader interested in happiness into the issues
raised by our assumptions about its role in a life well-lived, while experts are sure
to discover new sources and ideas to enrich their own thinking." --Julie K. Norem, Margaret Hamm Professor of Psychology, Wellesley College; author of The Positive Power of Negative Thinking"In an impressive work of historical synthesis, Daniel Horowitz shows how academic
and commercial interests have shaped contemporary views of happiness and created
a happiness industry. Horowitz's reach is broad, his judgments are exact, and his
material is entertaining. Hubris and foolishness are constant themes, as even quite
sober researchers seem seduced by the promise--intellectual and financial--of a
topic whose payoff seems always just out of reach." --Peter D. Kramer, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University; author of Ordinarily Well"In this comprehensive, well-researched, engaging book, Horowitz (emer., American studies, Smith College) traces the history and development of positive psychology and happiness studies in the US...a highly readable historical meditation on happiness." --CHOICE"Horowitz's study is primarily an intellectual one, and he ends it by calling for an investigation into the sociology and social history of the happiness movement's users and consumers. Indeed, now that he has laid the groundwork with this thorough intellectual history of the movement, scholars can turn their efforts to understanding how Americans used what they learned in happiness-oriented therapies, training, and books." --The American Historical Review"Horowitz helps us see the extensive reach of psychology into American lives. And he raises the provocative question of whether happiness studies have really made us happier or whether they have lulled us into the false sense that social reforms are unnecessary." --Journal of American History"Happier contributes to a rethinking of how to periodize the history of psychology. [Horowitz's] analysis suggests psychology underwent an effective revolution around the turn of this century. The history of this effective revolution remains unwritten, but Happier along with other recent titles is suggestive of its broad contours. As such, the book is essential reading for historians of psychology." --Journal of The History of the Behavioral Sciences