Psychologists, quality of life and well-being researchers have grown increasingly interested in understanding the factors that are associated with human happiness. Although twin studies estimate that genetic factors account for 35-50% of the variance in human happiness, knowledge of specific genes is limited. However, recent advances in molecular genetics can now provide a window into neurobiol...

The association between happiness and social relationships was examined in 9to 12-year-old children. Participants included 432 children and their parents. Children’s happiness was assessed using self-rating scales, parent’s ratings, and the Happiness and Satisfaction Subscale from the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, Second Edition (Piers and Herzberg 2002). Children’s social relatio...

The aim of this study (N = 24,012) was to explore sex and age differences in a Taiwanese national sample. We found that women, married, middle-aged, belowaveragely and very-highly educated people reported higher happiness. In addition, sex interacted with marital status and education, while age interacted with marital status. Specifically, (1) men were worse off than women when widowed or divor...

OBJECTIVE To determine the reliability and validity of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) with 14 items (short form) in Iranian population. METHODS The English version of the RDAS was translated into Persian. Then, Persian version was retranslated to English. To study factor structure 338 questionnaires were filled out by parents of elementary students. Other measurement tools were Th...

This study utilized observational and self-report data from 57 happily married couples to explore assumptions regarding marital happiness. Suggesting that happily married couples are not a homogeneous group, cluster analyses revealed the existence of three types of couples based on their observed behaviors in a problem-solving task: (1) mutually engaged couples (characterized by both spouses' h...

What Creates Happiness? The economy and the economic policies of government are major concerns for people today. Upon reflection, however, many would agree that the ultimate goal in life should be happiness and satisfaction with life, rather than economic growth, high personal income or a colorful career itself. No doubt, income and consumption (which are what economists normally analyze as pro...

As they move into and through the retirement years women’s advantage over men in happiness is reversed. Although the happiness of both sexes is affected similarly by retirement from work, marital disruption, and changes in income and health, the difference between men and women in the life cycle occurrence of retirement and widowhood results in different trends in happiness. Men who survive to ...

I use data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the durationdependence of relationship quality for cohabitors and marrieds and to evaluate whether the presence of children or prior union experience account for or moderate the effect of duration. The present study demonstrates that despite their short length, the quality of cohabiting unions varies with time. Cohabitors...