Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life - Paperback

by Manel Baucells (Author), Rakesh Sarin (Author)

Manel Baucells and Rakesh Sarin have been conducting ground-breaking research on happiness for more than a decade, and in this book they distill their provocative findings into a lively, accessible guide for a wide audience of readers. Integrating their own research with the latest thinking in the behavioral and social sciences--including management science, psychology, and economics--they offer a new approach to the puzzle of happiness. Woven throughout with wisdom from the world's religions and literatures, Engineering Happiness has something to offer everyone--regardless of background, profession, or aspiration--who wants to better understand, control, and attain a more joyful life.

- Shows how a few major principles can explain how happiness works and why it is so elusive

- Demonstrates how the essence of attaining happiness is choice

- Explores how to avoid happiness traps

- Tells how to recognize happiness triggers in everyday life

Front Jacket

This book is for anyone seeking to become happier. It provides a thoughtful, reasoned approach to improving one's happiness based on fundamental scientific research and case review. The authors' unique approach clarifies how individuals can, in essence, decide to be happy. They provide practical steps that are easy to follow and should result in a happier you.--Ralph L. Keeney, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

"This book contains wisdom from many sources: findings in the social sciences, systematic ways of organizing useful concepts, memorable anecdotes, insights from different cultures and, most of all, good common sense. Reading this illuminating book is a first good choice. A second is to follow its recommendations to be happier. Bravo!"--Robin Hogarth, author of Educating Intuition

Author Biography

Manel Baucells is Professor of Business and Economics at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Rakesh Sarin is Paine Professor of Management at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.