The Pursuit of Happiness: Discovering the Pathway to Fulfillment, Well-Being, and Enduring Personal Joy

by David G. Myers

Social psychologist David G. Myers has reviewed thousands of recent scientific studies conducted worldwide in search of the key to happiness. With wit and wisdom, he explodes some of the popular myths on the subject and presents specific techniques for finding true joy in

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Science

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

David G. Myers is a professor of Psychology at Hope College in Michigan, and the author of 17 books, including popular textbooks entitled Psychology, Exploring Psychology, Social Psychology and several general-audience books dealing with issues related to Christian faith as well as scientific psychology.

Reviews

[Bret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Money doesn't matter, age doesn't matter, gender or race doesn't matter, where you live doesn't matter in determining your happiness.

What does enable happiness:

* fit and healthy body
* realistic goals and expectations
* positive self-esteem
* feelings of control
* optimism
* outgoingness
* supportive friendships
* socially intimate, sexually warm, equitable marriage
* challenging work and active leisure
* adequate rest and retreat
* faith that entails communal support, purpose, acceptance, outward focus, and hope

[Robb Seaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a bit dated. Specifically, more recent results suggest that the disabled are significantly less happy and satisfied than the book would lead you to believe (although they are still better off than one would naively suspect), the theoretical foundations of Pennebaker's work on trauma-writing have advanced significantly and focus on the benefits of sense-making and its mediating role in cognitive accessibility, most people adapt to marriage within two years, negative affect peaks in late adolescence, etc.

Myer's has a tendency to use anecdotes, which work well stylistically, but are probably too easy to believe, which is to say: readers may come away convinced of the truth of more than they would based on a careful review of the evidence.

[Hayley Brentmar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book (and the studies it sights) are a bit dated, but it was still interesting. It felt like sitting through a good lecture in a sociology class. I enjoyed it, but wasn't surprised by anything.

[Franziska · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great research book on who is happy, when and why. However, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's already read "The American Paradox" by David Myers, since a lot of it is in that book already. However, if you want more detailed reading on happiness, this is a great book.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a statistical look at what makes people happy which was a really interesting approach. It concluded many things that we already know deep down but aren't always good at actually living.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't especially agree with Myers.

He's a tiny bit too religious for my tastes, and doesn't really seem to believe that having enough money for security is key for a lot of a person's growth, if they are well-adjusted and smart.

Here's some of the points others have mentioned

- money doesn't matter

Totally disagree

- age doesn't matter

I agree but looks will matter

- gender or race doesn't matter

true

- where you live doesn't matter in determining your happiness

maybe!

I would die without being in a city less than a million people without a zillion bookstores and a zillion record stores.

But society is breaking down, and rents are killing off all the neatest stores and all the artistic and cultural things that matter in a community. Frightening costs of living, with barely a living wage, basically destroys the white picket fence dream of a wife or girlfriend in a dream home, where you can enjoy your career, and enjoy your hobbies

Lots of people i know seem to be in survival move, struggling with career, housing, food or the price of gas. And others with say, the sale of their parents homes and a good career they lucked out on 20 30 40 years ago, just blow it on wine and vacation or antiques.

Basically you get lucky depending on your family, and what decade you got a job, went to school, or bought a house.

So i think, yeah, the suburbs matter, and money matter.

I can't tell you how much i added to my knowledge, by going to a university library, or bookstores around universities, and adding a few shelves of stuff, that i wouldn't find out by watching the television. And lots of stuff that is rarely noticed on the intertubes.

We have far too many books that are written in the past 25 years, discussed overmuch, and tons of books from 1945 to 2000 which are ignored, out of print, or with zero reviews on amazon or uh goodreads.

.............

what myers thinks brings up happy

- health
- realistic goals
- realistic expectations
- feelings of control (that's where money comes into play)

yes yes

...........

- positive self-esteem
- optimism
- outgoingness
- supportive friendships
- socially intimate, sexually warm, equitable marriage
- challenging work
- active leisure
- adequate rest and retreat
- faith that entails communal support, purpose, acceptance, outward focus, and hope


I think that's all pretty much bullshit

yes your hobbies always come into play, and hope for the ideal set of friends
and ideal soulmate

but all that stuf is mostly fluff

...........

I think it boils down to

- money
- not being stupid/personality
- health
- having deep hobbies

If you got a good personality, and security from money, and not bleeding from any part of your body

you got it made

a. buy books
b. buy records
c. buy some old movies
d. wait for the friends, soulmates or stocks to cash in

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The study of happiness is a journey that takes one through the examination of every aspect of their lives. How much one is content, physical health, even whether they're married or not has a certain impact according to this book. But why are we so worried about being happy? This endless pursuit has gone on for generations - and I expect it to continue endlessly. We want desperately to be happy - and I wonder just how many people truly are.

This book wasn't particularly helpful though. So much is common sense. So much information is outdated. So much doesn't hold up well under scrutiny. I can even see where the author's personal bias has affected the outcome of some of his conclusions.

While this book was researched to death (just look at the bibliography and chapter notes to see that - there's well over 100 pages of just that material) I can't help but wonder how this book would have been written today. What studies have been done since that have disproved quite a bit of this (I know for a fact some of it has been)? And how has the world changed to where even that impacts happiness. I know an entire section could be dedicated to social media at this point (or an entire book or three).

Overall, I'm glad I read this. It truly was like sitting down to an interesting lecture (as another reviewer said). The biggest value though lies in the questions that this book raises. We, as reader, might not always agree with the answer given, but the fact is, there are some excellent talking points here, and things to consider in your own life.

I for one, am going to try harder after reading this book to be happier. Perhaps, that's the best outcome you can have from a book like this.

[Melsene G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book dates from 1992 so many of the examples/research might be considered out of date. That being said, there's plenty of good information in here about what is well-being and happiness. Per Aristotle, happiness is the supreme god. The founders of the Declaration of Independence included the pursuit of happiness as an 'unalienable' right.

There are chapters on wealth and well-being, demographics, mind power, traits of happy people, flow, friendship, love & marriage, and faith, hope, and joy. Here are the key takeaways to be or what to do to be happy: Be fit and healthy. Set realistic goals. Have positive self-esteem. Have a feeling of being in control. Be optimistic and outgoing. Have good friendships. Have a good marriage. Have challenging work and active leisure. Rest. Enjoy faith with communal support, purpose, acceptance and outward focus. Have hope.

All of this is good stuff. Having money doesn't make you happy. What I didn't like was the anti-American individualism theory and the various political jibes about Ronald and Nancy Reagan and other right of center politicians. Authors need to keep their personal politics out of these type of books as it erodes objective research and theories. Lastly, this book was written about 25 years ago and is somewhat outdated. The positive psychology movement was not exactly underway when this book and its research was published. (Marty Seligman founded it in 1998) So, I would suggest reading more current books on happiness and meaning, which there is a plethora of.

[Jolene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book asks and answers the important questions about the nature and value of happiness. Is happiness rare? Can money buy happiness? Does age affect happiness? Are men happier than women? This is my favorite quote I found in the book. The essence of happiness is pausing to savor the gift of our present moments.
In a world of multi-tasking happiness may be eluding us more and more. We need to take time over our coffee, tea or soda. We need to focus on eating when eating and realize we are nourishing our bodies. We need to see the beauty in a fresh fallen snow and let the worries about traffic keep for when you have to deal with the traffic. We need to treasure the times that our pets cuddle with us, when a friend takes time to say hello, when a neighbor needs help, when our child takes time to need us.

[Naomi Phung · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 - Even though this is old, it still introduced me to new concepts I can look into.

I just didn’t like all the mentions of celebrities and famous people. And I found the book to be really boring at times which had to do with how it was written/the author’s voice. But besides that, this book touched on the relevant topics and made me think about lots of concepts.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm looking for someone to invite to our campus to talk about how to increase our emotional wellness, or "happiness," in times of mental crisis. A colleague put me on to Myers' work, which has been a well-written introduction to positive psychology. Thought-provoking, with a few good take aways.

[Leonardo]

Citado en los artículos de Easterlin y de Angner de Capabilities and Happiness.

[Selmoore Codfish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author summarizes the state of the positive psychology movement. The purpose of the movement is to help those of us who aren’t currently in counseling to continue to lead healthy lives.
At the time of reading this, the book was getting out of date. However, the content still seemed to adequately introduce the positive psychology movement.
The author’s suggestions seem very useful in making happy lives. Although the author talks about a couple theories of psychology, anyone should be able to read this book.
One thing that I look for in books, especially related to psychology, is how they handle religious belief. Generally, psychologists seem more skeptical of issues of faith. However, the author was very supportive of faith’s roles in a positive life. In fact, the author has one chapter that is devoted to promoting faith as a means to support happiness. (He says that as long as it involves a God that loves, there are positive effects.) However, this brings up whether the author has pushed his evangelical Christian faith too much into his book. It is possible that he might turn away a few readers who think that he’s pushed too hard on this.
I read a hardcopy, and the print was very small. It took my eyes some time to get used to it.

[Jana Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than posit a new theory on happiness, this book collects and summarizes various academic studies on happiness. I appreciated the purely statistical focus for the first 90% of the book, and even though he turns into a bit of an apologist for his personal faith at the end, since he disclosed his bias upfront it wasn't too jarring in tone and purpose. I didn't necessarily learn anything surprising, but it was great to read all those studies in the collective.

[Jaume Batlle-i-Perales · Rating 5 out of 5]

A not-to-miss on this topic.

If Happiness is in your interest list, you must read this book.

A pleasure to read, instructive, well written, interesting. A must-read!

[Kiesha]

was not the author I thought it was didn't have time to read.

[meg]

Reads very similarly to his Psychology textbook. LOTS of anecdotes. Slightly dated, but pretty good all in all. Emphasizes optimism and perspective above all else.