Research

The Pursuit of Happiness

Project Description

Most famously formulated in the American Declaration of Independence, "the pursuit of happiness" theme is an ancient and enduring Western ideal grounded in various Hebrew, Greco-Roman, Christian, and Enlightenment sources. Recent developments in positive psychology have brought the idea of happiness back to public attention with a flurry of books and undergraduate courses. By putting religion and science in conversation, and by focusing on the relation between altruistic love and happiness, our project will retrieve some of the rich traditional teachings captured in this ideal and reconstruct them for our day in light of the new findings of the human and social sciences and of the new liberties of constitutional democracies.

Project Accomplishments
  • Roundtable, October 13-15, 2006
  • Roundtable, April 20-22, 2007
  • Roundtable, October 12-14, 2007
  • Roundtable, April 11-13, 2008
  • Roundtable, April 17-19, 2009
  • Roundtable, October 16-18, 2009
  • Roundtable, April 16-18, 2010
Sponsors

The John Templeton Foundation and an anonymous donor

Directors
Senior Advisors
CSLR Participants

Project Publications

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"An Adaptation for Altruism? The Social Causes, Social Effects, and Social Evolution of Gratitude," Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 17, No. 4 (2008): 281-285 New Michael E. McCullough, M.B. Kimeldorf, A. Cohen   
Becoming Happy, Becoming Holy, Orbis Books Forthcoming Sidney Callahan   
Better to Give than to Receive: Service, Virtue and Happiness in Christian Ethics Forthcoming Stephen J. Pope   
Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, Jossey-Bass, 2008 New Michael E. McCullough   
The Bible and the Pursuit of Happiness Forthcoming Brent A. Strawn   
"The Black-White Paradox in Health: Flourishing in the Face of Inequality," Journal of Personality Forthcoming Corey L.M. Keyes   
Choose Life: God and the Art of Happiness, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Forthcoming Ellen T. Charry   
"The Effects of Experiential Avoidance and Rumination on Depression," International Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy Forthcoming W. Edward Craighead, A. Bjornsson, M. Hauser, A. Karris, V. Kaufmann, E.S. Sheets   
Family Stories and Adolescent Well-Being Forthcoming Robyn L. Fivush   
Flourishing and Positive Mental Health: An International Perspective, Springer Publishing Company Forthcoming Corey L.M. Keyes   
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In Their Own Words

"We learned that although they are religious and personal, marriage and family issues are often a lot like driving an automobile, meaning that you regulate them because there are big material, psychological, and health issues at stake. Philosophy and law have been concerned about these issues because if you let them fall apart big social issues emerge. "

–Don S. Browning