Description
Book SynopsisDrawing on international comparisons of data on happiness, this book offers both general and academic audiences a simple, deep, and honest answer to the timeless question: What makes people happy?The conventional recipe for happiness has long included money, marriage, and parenthood as basic ingredients. What research is telling us, however, is that these elements don''t relate to happiness in quite the way we might expect them to.
Redistributing Happiness: How Social Policies Shape Life Satisfaction explores the factors that determine life satisfaction and demonstrate how an individual''s happiness is largely shaped by social contextby where they live and local policies, norms and attitudes about religious beliefs, economic and political security, income redistribution, and more.The book begins with a review of the contributions of other disciplinessuch as economics, psychology, and political scienceto common explanations of the sources of happiness. Next, the authors offer an
Trade ReviewOverall, the book is written in accessible language, which makes it the perfect fit for a wide variety of readers. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. * Choice *
Table of ContentsIllustrations 1. Introduction: The Science of Happiness 2. A Happy Person 3. Happiness Is: Social Context 4. Marriage and Happiness in the United States and Japan 5. A Happy Couple 6. The (Re)Distribution of Happiness 7. An Unhappy Person 8. Unhappiness in Post-Communist Societies 9. Conclusions Appendix: Technical Analyses Notes References Index
