Happiness 2.0: The Path to Contentment

Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? This week, we kick off a month-long series we’re calling Happiness 2.0. We talk with psychologist Iris Mauss, who explains why happiness can seem more elusive the harder we chase it, and what we can do instead to build a lasting sense of contentment.

Additional Resources

Spontaneous Suppression in Dating Couples: Social and Physiological Correlates of Suppressing Negative and Positive Emotions During Negative and Positive Conversations, by Felicia K. Zerwas et al., International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2022. 

The Psychological Health Benefits of Accepting Negative Emotions and Thoughts: Laboratory, Diary, and Longitudinal Evidence, by Brett Q. Ford et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2018.

Culture Shapes Whether the Pursuit of Happiness Predicts Higher or Lower Well-Being, by Brett Q. Ford et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2015.

Regulation of Emotions Under Stress, by Amanda J. Shallcross, Allison Troy, and Iris B. Mauss, Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015.

Desperately Seeking Happiness: Valuing Happiness is Associated with Symptoms and Diagnosis of Depression, by Brett Q. Ford et al., Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2014.

The Paradoxical Effects of Pursuing Positive Emotion: When and Why Wanting to Feel Happy Backfires, by Brett Q. Ford and Iris B. Mauss, in Positive Emotion: Integrating the Light Sides and Dark Sides, Oxford University Press, 2014.

The Pursuit of Happiness can be Lonely, by Iris B. Mauss et al., Emotion, 2012.

Can Seeking Happiness Make People Unhappy? Paradoxical Effects of Valuing Happiness, Iris B. Mauss et al., Emotion, 2011.

Let It be: Accepting Negative Emotional Experiences Predicts Decreased Negative Affect and Depressive Symptoms, by Amanda J. Shallcross et al., Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2010.

The Pursuit and Assessment of Happiness can be Self-Defeating, by Jonathan W. Schooler, Dan Ariely, and George Loewenstein, in The Psychology of Economic Decisions, Oxford University Press, 2003.