Happiness Studies: An Introduction

In this book, Tal Ben-Shahar introduces a new interdisciplinary field of study that is dedicated to exploring happiness. The study of happiness ought not be left to psychologists alone. Philosophers, theologians, biologists, economists, and scholars from other disciplines have explored ways of attaining happiness, and to do justice to this important pursuit, we ought to listen to their words and experiment with their prescriptions. Not only does the field of happiness studies embrace different disciplines, it also approaches happiness as a multifaceted and multidimensional variable that includes five parts which form the acronym SPIRE:

• Spiritual wellbeing
• Physical wellbeing
• Intellectual wellbeing
• Relational wellbeing
• Emotional wellbeing

This book addresses each of these elements of happiness, explains them, and addresses practical ways for their cultivation.