Happiness expert Sonja Lyubomirsky’s research-based lessons in how to find opportunity in life’s thorniest moments

In The Myths of Happiness , Sonja Lyubomirsky isolates the major turning points of adult life, looking to both achievements (marriage, children, professional satisfaction, wealth) and failures (singlehood, divorce, financial ruin, illness) to reveal that our misconceptions about the impact of such events is perhaps the greatest threat to our long-term well-being.

Lyubomirsky argues that we have been given false promises—myths that assure us that lifelong happiness will be attained once we hit the culturally confirmed markers of adult success. This restricted view of happiness works to discourage us from recognizing the upside of any negative life turn and blocks us from recognizing our own growth potential. Our outsized expectations transform natural rites of passage into emotional land mines and steer us to make toxic decisions, as The Myths of Happiness reveals.

Because we expect the best (or the worst) from life’s turning points, we shortsightedly place too much weight on our initial emotional responses. The Myths of Happiness empowers readers to look beyond their first response, sharing scientific evidence that often it is our mindset—not our circumstances—that matters. Central to these findings is the notion of hedonic adaptation, the fact that people are far more adaptable than they think. Even after a major life change—good or bad—we tend to return to our initial happiness level, forgetting what once made us elated or why we felt that life was so unbearable. The Myths of Happiness offers the perspective we need to make wiser choices, sharing how to slow the effects of this adaptation after a positive turn and find the way forward in a time of darkness.

In The Myths of Happiness , Sonja Lyubomirsky turns an empirical eye to the biggest, messiest moments, providing readers with the clear-eyed vision they need to build the healthiest, most satisfying life. A corrective course on happiness and a call to regard life’s twists and turns with a more open mind, The Myths of Happiness shares practical lessons with life-changing potential.

丈量幸福的夢想傢

索尼婭•柳博米爾斯基

Sonja Lyubomirsky

 美國加州大學河濱分校心理學教授。她先後就讀於兩大世界頂級名校哈佛大學和斯坦福大學，師從著名社會心理學傢、衝突和談判領域頂級專傢李•羅斯。

 積極心理學領域最具值得關注的心理學傢。柳博米爾斯基關於幸福的研究成果豐碩，榮膺2002年度坦普頓（Templeton）積極心理學大奬，獲得美國國傢心理健康研究所特彆資助。

 最受大眾媒體歡迎的心理學者。柳博米爾斯基關於幸福的研究結論常成為大眾媒體熱議話題，《奧普拉脫口秀》、《紐約時報》、《時代周刊》、《華爾街日報》、《悅己》、《時尚》、《大觀》、《商業周刊》、《衛報》、《波士頓環球報》、《經濟學人》、《人物》、《新科學傢》、《福布斯》等國際主流媒體爭相報道。