Major Theoretical Questions Theories about subjective well-being have grown over the past several decades, but have been re ned only slowly as adequate data have been compiled to test them. We can characterize the theories describing happiness along several dimensions. The rst dimension is whether the theory places the locus of happiness in external conditions such as income and status, as many sociological theories do, or within the attitudes and temperament of the individual, as many psychological theories do. Some have maintained that people adapt to all circumstances over time, so that only individual personality matters for producing happiness, whereas others believe that economicandothersocietalfactorsarethedominantforcesinproducingwell-being. Throughout my writings there is a mix of both the internal and external factors that in uence well-being. A second dimension that characterizes scholarship on well-being is the issue of whether the factors affecting well-being are relative or absolute. That is, are there standards used by people at all times and places in judging their lives and in reacting to events? Or are standards dependent on what other people possess, on expec- tions,andonadaptationlevelsbasedonpastcircumstances?Again,thereisevidence supporting the role of both universal and relative standards. People around the globe are probably in uenced by common factors such as friendship versus loneliness, but even these universal in uences on happiness are probably subject to some degree of comparison depending on what the person is used to and what others have. However, some factors might be much more comparative than other in uences, as Hsee, Yang, Li, and Shen (in press) have described.

When a cultural movement that began to take shape in the mid-twentieth century erupted into mainstream American culture in the late 1990s, it brought to the fore the idea that it is as important to improve one's own sense of pleasure as it is to manage depression and anxiety. Cultural historian Daniel Horowitz's research reveals that this change happened in the context of key events. World War II, the Holocaust, post-war prosperity, the rise of counter-culture, the crises of the 1970s, the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and the prime ministerships of Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron provided the important context for the development of the field today known as positive psychology. Happier? provides the first history of the origins, development, and impact of the way Americans -- and now many around the world -- shifted from mental illness to well-being as they pondered the human condition. This change, which came about from the fusing of knowledge drawn from Eastern spiritual traditions, behavioral economics, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and cognitive psychology, has been led by scholars and academic entrepreneurs, as they wrestled with the implications of political events and forces such as neoliberalism and cultural conservatism, and a public eager for self-improvement. Linking the development of happiness studies and positive psychology with a broad series of social changes, including the emergence of new media and technologies like TED talks, blogs, web sites, and neuroscience, as well as the role of evangelical ministers, Oprah Winfrey's enterprises, and funding from government agencies and private foundations, Horowitz highlights the transfer of specialized knowledge into popular arenas. Along the way he shows how marketing triumphed, transforming academic disciplines and spirituality into saleable products. Ultimately, Happier? illuminates how positive psychology, one of the most influential academic fields of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, infused American culture with captivating promises for a happier society.

Robert Lane offers evidence that the major premises of market economics are mistaken.

Written during the height of the ecology movement, The Ecological Transition is a stunning interdisciplinary work. It combines anthropology, ecology, and sociology to formulate an understanding of cultural-environmental relationships. While anthropologists have been studying relationships between humans and the physical environment for a very long time, only in the last thirty years have questions inherent in these relationships broadened beyond description and classification. For example, the concept of environment has been extended beyond the physical into the social. Although anthropologists have adopted many of the concepts that Bennett develops in the book, he also feels that the central issues have never been addressed, either by anthropologists or by people in related disciplines. The most important of these, in Bennett's opinion, is the failure to incorporate a respect for the environmental in contemporary culture, which would allow making exceptions in certain human practices in order to protect the environment. His point in The Ecological Transition is that a basic cultural change in modern civilization is necessary to achieve this end. Both a theoretical and a practical work, The Ecological Transition emphasizes the relationships between human culture, the physical environment, technology, and social policy. The Ecological Transition is a challenging volume that makes us face the consequences of human behavior in the modern world: its effect on pollution, natural resources, agriculture, the economy, and population, to name just a few areas. The book remains a significant contribution to the discourse on social, economic, and environmental problems. While the book was first published in 1976, it still reads as a contemporary tract.

This edited volume, a collection of both theoretical essays and empirical studies, presents an Austrian economics perspective on the role of culture in economic action. The authors illustrate that culture cannot be separated from economic action, but t

The book deals with two focal issues: 1. The structural rules according to which information is organized in perception (Part I). 2. The rules on how pieces of information are integrated and transformed into judgements (Part II).Included in Part I are theories on neural mechanisms and models linking perception and memory. Part II refers to simple physical and complex semantic dimensions. Antecedents in animal behaviour are explored too. The book is intended for a broad readership; it should stimulate research which will link topics that have been traditionally separated.Features of the book are: - a synopsis of discrete, structural and quantitative aspects of perception linking perception with higher cognition and memory. - an overview on new approaches and findings from East and West on perceptual organization and rules inherent to judgement. - the chapters are strongly interconnected and didactical in tone. Introductions are designed to increase readability of the work.

Appearing on the hundredth anniversary of the teaching of psychology at the University of Nebraska, this volume represents a return to an earlier preoccupation with motivation and reflects a resurgence of interest in it.øEight professionals in psychology discuss the many sides of motivation. Mortimer Appley, president emeritus of Clark University, sees equilibrium, or homeostasis, as the fundamental motivational process. Douglas Derryberry and Don M. Tucker of the University of Oregon present a broad and basic model of motivation, viewing it as a product of the evolution and neural architecture of the human brain. Carole S. Dweck of Columbia University approaches personality development through motivational concepts, in particular goals related to self-image. Bernard Weiner of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the importance of one?s perception of control over the causes of a situation or problem and over its management or solution. Albert Bandura of Stanford University is concerned with short- and long-term goals as they are affected by emotional states and a sense of self-efficacy. Similarly, Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan of the University of Rochester consider the bearing of self-determination on motivation and achievement.