Everybody wants it. But what exactly is happiness? The pursuit of happiness has been recognized by everyone from poets to politicians as what makes the world go round. The world's largest and fastest-growing industries - alcohol, pharmaceuticals, mind altering drugs, self-help books, counselling, travel, and tourism - all profit heavily from our intent to become completely happy with our lives. In the first comprehensive book to address this most basic of human desires, Daniel Nettle explores why we want to be happy, how we assess our levels of happiness, and the different ways that happiness is interpreted in different cultures. Using statistical information from the National Child Development Study, a project that has collected social and emotional data from thousands of people since 1958, Nettle shows the ways in which definitions and sources of happiness have changed over time.
- ISBN10 0192805584
- ISBN13 9780192805584
- Publish Date 1 August 2005 (first published 7 January 2005)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 30 August 2011
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Oxford University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 224
- Language English