Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar: Positive Psychology, "Happier," & Happiness at Harvard

"Positive Psych may be the one class at Harvard that every student needs to take." -- a Harvard junior quoted in the Boston Globe

It seemed only fitting for us to close*** our "How to Be Happy" Week with a feature on Tal Ben-Shahar, whose book "Happier" provided the foundation for our lessons and exercises (see posts one through five of this series).

From a 2006 interview:

So started Ben-Shahar's quest to figure out how to be happy. He shares what he has learned by teaching, consulting, writing books and public speaking.

As a positive psychologist, Ben-Shahar believes that you can learn to be happy. Positive psychology is a relatively new discipline that which focuses on what makes people happy, rather than just their pathologies. One of the reasons for the popularity of his positive psychology class at Harvard (reportedly the most popular class at the University) is its potential to enhance the quality of the lives of those who take the class. Historically, self-improvement has been the domain of pop-psychology (much charisma, but relatively little substance). The academia that addressed this area could be trusted much more but it was largely isolated from people's everyday lives. Positive psychology bridges the gap.

Tal Ben-Shahar

In his book "Happier," he talks about the link between graciousness and happiness. He should know, he practices what he preaches.

In a Podcast interview with LifeTwo, Tal discusses how he and his 3-year old son talk regularly about what they are thankful for.

And even more on gratitude in an article from the Guardian (UK):

Every evening since September 19 1999, religiously, Ben-Shahar has made a list in a notebook of five things for which he feels grateful ("it could be that fantastic sandwich I had, or it could be my family"), and keeping a gratitude diary is now part of the homework for the Harvard course. It all sounds desperately slushy - a terminal lack of coolness is, regrettably, endemic to happiness studies - but this is a kneejerk response it may be useful to try to suppress, as apparently it works: in 2002, a large-scale University of Miami study found a strong correlation between gratitude and overall levels of happiness.

In August 2007, Tal was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Stewart was amazed that he gets away with teaching happiness at Harvard. We asked Tal what it was like being on the show. "Difficult! I love Jon Stewart, but he’s so fast and witty — too fast and witty for me."

On the Daily Show's hot seat

More information on Tal Ben-Shahar:

His personal website

The complete 2006 interview excerpted above from the Guardian.

Interview with Positive Psychology Today.

LifeTwo's review of "Happier."

Tal on NPR's All Things Considered.

Tal on WGBH (audio and video interview).

Before saying goodbye to Tal, we asked him a few last questions:

The principles in your book seem logical. Why are the lessons lost on so many people? Why in 2007 are we still debating what makes us happy? Shouldn’t we know by now?

Because of cultural pressure to conform to the materialistic world view which is about the quantifiable as primary (money and prestige are quantifiable; happiness is not).

What one lesson of positive psychology do you think has helped you the most in increasing your own happiness?

The permission to be human and to simplify my life.

What's next?

I’m working on a book called "The Permission to be Human" about self-acceptance.

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***this was a poor choice of words since we will not stop posting articles on happiness. In fact we have several more queued up for next week.

Amazon link: Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment

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