What is happiness? Does true happiness even exist? For most of us--regardless of age, income, or occupation--the search for "happiness" is our most coveted goal. Indeed, our entitlement to its pursuit is even written into our Declaration of Independence. But for all of its universal appeal, there seems to be little agreement on how best to achieve happiness. Or even how to properly define it.

Fortunately, happiness need not be the fleeting pot of gold at the end of our emotional rainbow. Utilizing his groundbreaking development of the field of subjective well-being, Dr. Ed Diener--recognized as the world's leading expert on happiness--challenges our modern assumptions about the causes and consequences of happiness. Ed and his son Robert Biswas-Diener share the results of three decades of research on happiness to help unlock the mysteries of this elusive Holy Grail. In this fascinating book the father and son team presents scientific evidence revealing that happiness is not overrated, and is good for people's health, social relationships, job success, longevity, and altruism.

Happiness describes the new concept of Psychological Wealth, which extends beyond material riches, and beyond popular concepts like emotional intelligence and social capital. Psychological wealth is your true total net worth, and includes your attitudes towards life, social support, spiritual development, material resources, health, and activities in which you engage.

Happiness is an intellectual and entertaining journey to help us understand the pursuit of one of our most defining and elusive ideals.