Robert Biswas-Diener

• Dr. Philos.
• Robert Biswas-Diener

Hospitality research has largely been confined to the tourism and hospitality industry. Fortunately, there is a growing interest in non-commercial hospitality. This chapter explores the attitudes and behaviors related to welcoming others. It traces the history of the concept, discusses the psychological aspects of hospitality, and reviews literatur...

India is the most populous nation in the world. It has the fifth largest economy, ranked by gross domestic product. It has the largest concentration of Hindus. It is a diverse nation with more than 20 national languages. This makes India an interesting and important topic of study for wellbeing researchers. In this chapter, we discuss happiness in...

There is a long-standing tradition in social science research on wellbeing, in which scientists create national rankings of happiness. Traditionally, Nordic countries such as Sweden and Denmark tend to top these lists. Such rankings are interesting as dinner table conversation and they are perennially reported on by the media. They also reflect a s...

Research on well-being has exploded in recent years, with over 55,000 relevant publications annually, making it difficult for psychologists—including key communicators such as textbook authors—to stay current with this field. Moreover, well-being is a daily concern among policymakers and members of the general public. It is relevant to the lives of...

Memorializes Ed Diener (1946-2021). Although academic articles on wellbeing are now commonplace, this has not always been the case. Ed Diener helped to establish this growing and important topic of research. Ed published the Psychological Bulletin article entitled "Subjective Well-Being" in 1984, launching subjective well-being (SWB) research. The...

Since the term “positive psychology coaching” was coined, in 2007, there has been increasing attention to and enthusiasm for this topic. Despite this, there is no consistent definition of positive psychology coaching nor is there sufficient clarity regarding the specifics of its practice or the standards for training. This chapter discusses these i...

Research on well-being has exploded in recent years, with over 50,000 relevant publications each year, making it difficult for psychologists—including key communicators such as textbook authors—to stay current with this field. At the same time, well-being is a daily concern among policymakers and members of the general public. The topic is also ext...

Coaching facilitates the learning, growth, and performance of clients. This process is a natural fit for positive psychology intervention because of a shared emphasis on positive topics such as optimism, strengths, and motivation. Over the past 15 years in the field, the author’s opinions about positive psychology coaching have evolved. This paper...

Abstract: Although hospitality is a valued social and cultural phenomenon, it has been largely overlooked in the psychology research literature. Our studies are designed to advance the understanding of hospitality by creating a brief measure of it that can be used across cultures. In Study 1, we employed a large sample of Americans to create and be...

In the post-material era, people are increasingly focusing on the pursuit of happiness. This popular interest has been met by a growing number of authors and interventionists who promise routes to happiness. In large part, these avenues to the good life are anchored in the results of scientific studies. Here, we offer the caution that there may be...

Aside from being expensive, traditional textbooks are also rigidly structured, environmentally unfriendly, and unnecessarily long. As a result, although most open textbook projects attempt to produce an openly licensed version of a resource that most faculty will find familiar, authors Ed Diener, Carol Diener, and Robert Biswas-Diener—all affiliate...

Forgiveness is an important psychological concept as it encourages better relationships and promotes higher well-being. In this article we discuss definitions and measurement strategies of forgiveness. In addition, we briefly review the research literature regarding the interpersonal and cultural functions of forgiveness as well as discuss characte...

Gross National Happiness (GNH) is often recommended as a new approach to assessing economic and social development, and the small nation of Bhutan has become known for advocating this measure of quality of life. Little has been published on actual wellbeing outcomes of GNH policy in Bhutan. The current study uses a demographically representative sa...

Few would deny that happiness arises from a complex interaction of internal and external factors, like optimism on the one hand and money on the other. Yet research, as well as practical strategies for promoting happiness, tends to focus narrowly on one side or the other. A typical study, for instance, might examine the correlation between happines...

Pleasure has long been implicated as an important aspect of happiness. Unfortunately, the study of pleasure in the science of happiness has largely been relegated to positive affective states. While pleasure and affect are difficult to disentangle there is, we argue, utility in examining pleasure on its own merits rather than using proxy measures s...

This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: Human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). In Study 1, survey data from 136 countries were examined and showed that prosocial spending is associated with greater happiness around the...

Despite the growing number of cross-cultural studies focusing on well-being, little is known about social support outside of western civilization, particularly among people in Middle Eastern cultures. The current study examined the relationships between perceived social support and components of subjective well-being (i.e. positive and negative aff...

How does friendship affect judgments of physical attractiveness? Two studies confirmed that friends and strangers rate the physical attractiveness of the same individuals differently-with friends providing higher ratings-and examined the sources of such discrepancies. Study 1 revealed that when rating the physical attractiveness of tribal Maasai, a...

This study examined self-perceived strengths among 116 people who were homeless. Those who had experienced a longer period of current homelessness tended to report fewer personal strengths (r = -0.23). Nonetheless, in spite of their marginalized position in society, the vast majority of participants (114 out of 116) perceived personal strengths. A...

We examined the extent to which satisfaction with life, with one’s self, and with one’s day are predicted by pleasure, purpose in life, interest, and mood. In a sample of 222 college students we found that both satisfaction with life and self-esteem were best predicted by positive feelings and an absence of negative feelings, as well as purpose in...

India is an interesting test case for happiness. It is a unique society because of its unusual history, rapid economic growth, large population and its ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity. In this chapter we explore happiness as both an “outside-in” and “inside-out” phenomenon and place this discussion in the Indian context. From the outside...

What are Strengths?How Might Strengths Be Used Therapeutically?The Case of LindaCase Summary and DiscussionFinal Discussion

Discover proven strategies for applying positive psychology within your coaching practice. Written by Robert Biswas-Diener, a respected researcher, psychologist, life and organizational coach, and expert in positive psychology, Practicing Positive Psychology Coaching presents a wide range of practical interventions and tools you can put to use righ...

How to Talk about a PPC PracticeCertificationHow to Prepare for a PPC SessionThe Future

Positive psychology is not only a science, but an applied science as well. As such, the undergraduate classroom can act as a laboratory in which students can personally experience the interventions associated with this field. In this article, we argue that an experiential approach to teaching positive psychology is, potentially, the most impactful...

Maria Montessori is best known for her legacy as an educator. She is the founder of a system of schools that has achieved worldwide success. Instrumental to her teaching method is the idea of fostering engagement by offering children individual choice and harnessing intrinsic motivation. For this reason, she is nominated as a noteworthy felicitator...

Many practitioners working with clients from a strengths perspective largely rely on ad hoc interventions and employ a simplistic ‘identify and use’ approach. In this article, we suggest that clients can extract greater benefits when practitioners adopt more sophisticated approaches to strengths intervention. We introduce an alternative approach th...

Researchers are at a crucial turning point in the evolution of positive psychology. The initial period in which it was necessary for apologists of positive psychology to establish the validity and effectiveness of this new science is past. Now, they have reached the point where they can begin expanding research, assessments, and interventions to re...

For millennia scholars have given attention to the relationship between material resources and the Good Life. The findings from a large body of research literature suggest that income and related aspects of material life influence well-being at both the individual and national levels. Much of the popular and some of the academic understanding of th...

This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). Analyzing survey data from 136 countries, we show that prosocial spending is consistently associated with greater happiness. To test for ca...

Although income and happiness have been linked at both the individual and national levels of analysis, few studies have specifically examined the different relationships between these two variables in affluent nations. This study investigates various measures of well-being in both the United States and Denmark. Respondents in both countries reporte...

Measures of well-being were created to assess psychological flourishing and feelings—positive feelings, negative feelings, and the difference between the two. The scales were evaluated in a sample of 689 college students from six locations. The Flourishing Scale is a brief 8-item summary measure of the respondent’s self-perceived success in importa...

Objective: In recent years there has been a growing interest in research related to the use of strengths. Although results from past research have consistently suggested that the use of strengths is associated with higher performance and greater well-being there is, as yet, no clear theory describing how using strengths might contribute to greater...

Reviews the book, Rational and irrational beliefs: Research, Theory, and clinical practice , edited by Daniel David, Steven Jay Lynn, and Albert Ellis (see record 2009-13412-000 ). This book is a comprehensive look at cognitive therapy, with special attention paid to Ellis’s rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). It is not intended to be a how-t...

Participants included 46 European American, 33 Asian American, 91 Japanese, 160 Indian, and 80 Hispanic students (N = 416). Discrete emotions, as well as pleasant and unpleasant emotions, were assessed: (a) with global self-report measures, (b) using an experience-sampling method for 1 week, and (c) by asking participants to recall their emotions f...

In an earlier paper (Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, & King, 2008), we outlined a critique of the distinction being made between eudaimonic and hedonic forms of happiness. That paper seems to have had the desired effect in stimulating discourse on this important subject as evidenced by a number of responses from our colleagues. In this paper, we address th...

Personal coaching is a relatively new and unlicensed profession aimed at helping functioning individuals set and achieve goals, overcome obstacles, and maintain motivation. Coaching is increasingly merging with psychology as evidenced by new journals, academic programs, and research symposia. Although coaching has traditionally been used with non-c...

Eighty-three people in the slums of Calcutta, India were interviewed, and responded to several measures of subjective well-being. The respondents came from one of three groups: Those living in slum housing, sex workers (prostitutes) residing in brothels, and homeless individuals living on the streets. They responded to questions about life satisfac...

We present new measures of well-being to assess the following concepts: 1. Psychological Well-Being (PWB); 2. Positive Feelings, Negative Feelings, and the balance between the two (SPANE-P, N, B); and 3. Positive Thinking. The PWB scale is a short 8–item summary survey of the person’s self-perceived functioning in important areas such as relationsh...

Utilizing sophisticated methodology and three decades of research by the world's leading expert on happiness, Happiness challenges the present thinking of the causes and consequences of happiness and redefines our modern notions of happiness. shares the results of three decades of research on our notions of happiness covers the most important advan...

Work as a CallingHappy Workers Are Good WorkersBest Places to WorkJob Fit and ChallengeConclusions

A Hotel in Pennsylvania, Room 305Three Types of HealthThe Pathways from Happiness to HealthOptimal HappinessA New Healthy Life ChecklistConclusions

Happy Are Those …Varieties of Religious ExperienceTypes of Religious Beliefs and HappinessThe Search for the Active IngredientSpirituality and Positive EmotionsConclusions

Measuring Your Satisfaction With LifeThe Causes of Life SatisfactionMeasuring Your Emotional Well-BeingThe Causes of Emotional Well-BeingPsychological Flourishing ScaleYour Happiness ProfileYour Overall True Wealth

Toward the Happy Society: National Well-Being AccountsThe Happiness RecipeLiving as Though Happiness is a Process, Not a PlaceChanging Your Set PointConclusions

Most People Are Mildly HappyThe Happiest Countries on EarthHow Cultures Differ in HappinessConclusions Postscript from Ed

Science, Happiness, and RelationshipsWhy Relationships MatterMarriageLoveChildrenThe Bad NewsIncreasing Psychological WealthYour Social Relationships ScoreConclusions

Happiness is a Process, Not a PlaceCaveat Emptor: Bad Stuff Happens … Even to PrincessesNeeding the Rigors of the GameThe Lessons of Part IIIHappiness is BeneficialBroaden and BuildRegulating Negative EmotionsChallenges Look Easier When You Are HappyComing Chapters on Happiness and Psychological Wealth

Too Nice in the Big AppleProblems of Being a “Happiness Ten”Life Outcomes of Extremely Happy PeopleMagic EightsWhat Do You Mean By Being Happy?Do Worry, Be HappyConclusions

Attention: Gorillas in Our MidstInterpretationMemoryConclusions Measuring Your AIM

Money Makes the World Go RoundWealthy PeopleWealthy NationsLottery WinnersThe Case That Money Does Not Equal HappinessBenefits of Money (Besides Having Stuff)Making Sense of the ParadoxConclusions

A Psychological Wealth PrimerPart I: Understanding True WealthPart II: Happy People Function BetterPart III: Causes of Happiness and Genuine WealthPart IV: Putting It All Together

The Minnesota Twins and Genetic HappinessAdaptation: The Force Pulling Us Back to BaselineLimits to Adaptation and Set Point ChangeThe Natural Process of Adaptation is a Vital Component of Psychological WealthThe Set Point Can ChangeConclusions

Reasons People Incorrectly Predict Their Future HappinessNot Seeing the Big Picture: The Focusing IllusionImpact Bias: Forgetting About AdaptationNot Using Personal ExperienceSatisficing, Not MaximizingThe Cute Puppy Error: Wanting Versus LikingConclusions

Positive psychology and coaching psychology share a number of common themes and fundamental assumptions. Blending positive psychology, strengths approaches and coaching psychology, our work in strengths coaching with leaders enhances both leadership and organisational capability. In this article, we explore the role of leaders as climate engineers...

In recent years, well-being researchers have distinguished between eudaimonic happiness (e.g., meaning and purpose; taking part in activities that allow for the actualization of one's skills, talents, and potential) and hedonic happiness (e.g., high frequencies of positive affect, low frequencies of negative affect, and evaluating life as satisfyin...

People have long argued over the relation of income and material well-being to happiness. A variety of studies have examined the happiness of those living at the lowest economic levels as well as those living in relatively affluent nations. Taken together, this body of research suggests that income is correlated with subjective well-being (SWB), bu...

Introduction Is it good to be empathic? Even taking into account the wide spectrum of definitions associated with the term ‘empathy’, people are generally in favour of the concept. Psychological research and anecdotal evidence suggest that empathy is widely valued. Hogan's (1969) individual difference measure of empathy has items which suggest that...

Recently, psychologists have begun to shift their research attention to positive topics historically overlooked by the profession. The study of character strengths is a major research interest of positive psychologists. A classification of 24 character strengths, called the Values in Action (VIA) Classification, has recently been developed, and the...

The current study assessed the subjective well-being of a broad spectrum of homeless people. One-hundred-and-eighty-six homeless people from the streets of Calcutta (India), California, and a tent camp in Portland (Oregon) were interviewed, and responded to measures of subjective well-being. They answered questions about life satisfaction, satisfac...

E. Diener and C. Diener (1996; Psychological Science 7: 181–185) suggested that most people are happy, and offered support for this claim from surveys in industrialized societies. We extend their findings to include people who lead materially simple lives and live in cultures far removed from those of typical survey respondents. We found that the K...

Cultural differences in response to the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) items is investigated. Data were fit to a mixed Rasch model in order to identify latent classes of participants in a combined sample of Norwegians (N = 461) and Greenlanders (N = 180). Initial analyses showed no mean difference in life satisfaction between the two subsample...

The present study examined whether the relation between pleasant and unpleasant emotion varies across cultures and level of analysis (i.e., within-person vs. between-person). A total of 386 participants included European Americans, Asian Americans, Japanese, Indian, and Hispanic students. Momentary mood was assessed up to 7 times daily for one week...

This study examined cross-situational consistency of affective experiences using an experience-sampling method in Japan, India, and the United States. Participants recorded their moods and situations when signaled at random moments for 7 days. The authors examined relative (interindividual) consistency and absolute (within-person) consistency. They...

Four replicable findings have emerged regardingthe relation between income and subjectivewell-being (SWB): 1. There are largecorrelations between the wealth of nations andthe mean reports of SWB in them, 2. There aremostly small correlations between income andSWB within nations, although these correlationsappear to be larger in poor nations, and th...

Four replicable findings have emerged regarding the relation between income and subjective well-being (SWB): 1. There are large correlations between the wealth of nations and the mean reports of SWB in them, 2. There are mostly small correlations between income and SWB within nations, although these correlations appear to be larger in poor nations,...

,,Abstract In recent years the science of happiness has been accepted as a legitimate field of study