Doctor Happiness makes a house call - Western Courier - News

Doctor Happiness makes a house call - Western Courier - News

Dr. Happiness analyzes the science of happiness; although it is intangible and means different things to different people, Edward F. Diener told Western students that happiness makes for real and scientific results for people who value and pursue it.

Diener, psychology professor at the University of Illinois, delivered the lecture "Positive Psychology - The Science of Happiness" based on his research related to the science of happiness.

"We want people to think about their values in their lives in terms of what might make them happier," Diener said. "At the same time this is a new area most people don't know about."

Diener began his lecture by explaining subjective well-being, meaning how people evaluate their lives. This also is an umbrella term with various types of evaluation such as self-esteem, joy and feelings of fulfillment.

"People throughout the world believe that happiness is an important and valuable goal," Diener said.

He admitted money is necessary to survive in the current society, but also described materialism as toxic. Diener said that while people with an extremely high life satisfaction prefer love to money, people with extremely low life satisfaction tend to think money is