About the Book
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.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: From Helplessness to Optimism: Martin Seligman and the Development of Positive Psychology
Chapter 2: Misery and Pleasure in the Origins of Happiness Studies, 1945-70
Chapter 3: Crisis of Confidence? 1970-83: Providing the Groundwork for the Study of Positive Happiness
Chapter 4: Morning in America, 1984-98: Assembling Key Elements in the Study of Happiness and
Positivity
Chapter 5: Drawing (and Crossing) the Line: Academic and Popular Renditions of Subjective Well-Being, 1984-98
Chapter 6: Building A Positively Happy World View
Chapter 7: The Future in Here: Positive Psychology Comes of Age
Chapter 8: The Business of Happiness
Coda: The Happiest Place on Earth
About the Author :
Daniel Horowitz is the Mary Huggins Gamble Foundation Chair and Professor of American Studies Emeritus at Smith College. He is a historian whose work focused on the history of consumer culture and social criticism in the U.S. during the 20th century. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Among his publications are a biography of Betty Friedan and three books on
how American and European writers, from the 1830s to the late twentieth century wrestled with the consequences of affluence.
Review :
"Mr. Horowitz's straightforward, comprehensive history of the positive-psychology movement follows the money wherever it leads--and it leads everywhere. He presents every controversy, representing defenders of positive psychology as fully as its critics . . . Daniel Horowitz's history deftly reveals the eternal lessons that underlie all its incarnations: Money can't buy happiness; human beings need social bonds, satisfying work and strong communities; a life
based entirely on the pursuit of pleasure ultimately becomes pleasureless. "
--Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal
"Especially compelling is the discussion of the relationship between positive psychology and other contemporary developments."
--Library Journal
"Horowitz explores the history of the relatively new and surprisingly pervasive discipline of happiness studies and positive psychology... a thorough and thoughtful introduction to an influential discipline."
--Publishers Weekly
"An astonishing work of cultural analysis on changes in the field of psychology."
--Spirituality & Practice
"Daniel Horowitz has accomplished an impressive feat. Happier? is a thorough
and judicious history of positive psychology--a movement both influential and
controversial."
--Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education,
Harvard Graduate School of Education
"Kudos to cultural historian Daniel Horowitz for comprehensively chronicling the
emergence of positive psychology--'a cultural movement of tremendous reach and
power.' Thanks to its impressive scholarship and lucid story-telling, Happier? is
the go-to book for anyone seeking to understand the roots and fruits of modern
happiness research."
--David G. Myers, Professor of Psychology, Hope College;
author of The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy--and Why
"Daniel Horowitz has done a Herculean job of compiling an exhaustive history of the
conceptualization and study of happiness, from the early 1940s through the present
day. His work will gently lead the casual reader interested in happiness into the issues
raised by our assumptions about its role in a life well-lived, while experts are sure
to discover new sources and ideas to enrich their own thinking."
--Julie K. Norem, Margaret Hamm Professor of Psychology, Wellesley College; author of The Positive Power of Negative Thinking
"In an impressive work of historical synthesis, Daniel Horowitz shows how academic
and commercial interests have shaped contemporary views of happiness and created
a happiness industry. Horowitz's reach is broad, his judgments are exact, and his
material is entertaining. Hubris and foolishness are constant themes, as even quite
sober researchers seem seduced by the promise--intellectual and financial--of a
topic whose payoff seems always just out of reach."
--Peter D. Kramer, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University; author of Ordinarily Well
"In this comprehensive, well-researched, engaging book, Horowitz (emer., American studies, Smith College) traces the history and development of positive psychology and happiness studies in the US...a highly readable historical meditation on happiness."
--CHOICE
"Horowitz's study is primarily an intellectual one, and he ends it by calling for an investigation into the sociology and social history of the happiness movement's users and consumers. Indeed, now that he has laid the groundwork with this thorough intellectual history of the movement, scholars can turn their efforts to understanding how Americans used what they learned in happiness-oriented therapies, training, and books."
--The American Historical Review
"Horowitz helps us see the extensive reach of psychology into American lives. And he raises the provocative question of whether happiness studies have really made us happier or whether they have lulled us into the false sense that social reforms are unnecessary."
--Journal of American History
"Happier contributes to a rethinking of how to periodize the history of psychology. [Horowitz's] analysis suggests psychology underwent an effective revolution around the turn of this century. The history of this effective revolution remains unwritten, but Happier along with other recent titles is suggestive of its broad contours. As such, the book is essential reading for historians of psychology."
--Journal of The History of the Behavioral Sciences
