PB421 Half Unit
Happiness
This information is for the 2024/25 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Kate Laffan
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Economics and Climate Change) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Psychology of Economic Life, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology and MSc in Social and Public Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
This course is compulsory on the Wellbeing Specialism of the MSc in Behavioural Science.
Course content
This course aims to introduce students to the main concepts and tools of the growing science of happiness, with a focus on applicability across all sectors (government, business, and NGOs). To achieve this aim, the course is based on ten lectures covering concepts such as: 1) what is happiness?; 2) evaluations of happiness; 3) experiences of happiness; 4) attention and adaptation; 5) anticipation and mistakes; 6) relative comparisons; 7) happiness across individuals and societies; 8) designing for happiness; 9) a dark side to happiness?; 10) the frontier of happiness research.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the WT.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce one essay of 1,000 words in LT.
Indicative reading
Books
Dolan, P. (2014). Happiness by Design: Finding Pleasure and Purpose in Everyday Life. London: Penguin.
Dolan, P. (2019). Happy Ever After: Escaping the Myth of the Perfect Life. London: Allen Lane.
Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London: Penguin.
Journal articles
Adler, M. D., Dolan, P., & Kavetsos, G. (2017). Would you choose to be happy? Tradeoffs between happiness and the other dimensions of life in a large population survey. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 139, 60-73.
Bryson, A., & MacKerron, G. (2015). Are You Happy While You Work? Economic Journal, 127(599), 106-125.
Card, D., Mas, A., Moretti, E., & Saez, E. (2012). Inequality at Work: The Effect of Peer Salaries on Job Satisfaction. American Economic Review, 102(6), 2981-3003.
Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., & White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(1), 94-122.
Kahneman, D., & Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(38), 16489-16493.
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A Survey Method for Characterizing Daily Life Experience: The Day Reconstruction Method. Science, 306(5702), 1776-1780.
Killingsworth, M. A. (2021). Experienced well-being rises with income, even above $75,000 per year. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(4), e2016976118.
White, M. P., & Dolan, P. (2009). Accounting for the Richness of Daily Activities. Psychological Science, 20(8), 1000-1008.
Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2003). Affective forecasting. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 345-411.
Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). Explaining Away: A Model of Affective Adaptation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 370-386.
Assessment
Essay (100%, 3000 words) in the period between WT and ST.
Key facts
Department: Psychological and Behavioural Science
Total students 2023/24: 35
Average class size 2023/24: 12
Controlled access 2023/24: Yes
Value: Half Unit
Course selection videos
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