Can Happiness Ward Off Dementia?

Our surroundings affect our happiness in ways we often don’t notice. The layout of a room, the amount of clutter in our home, and even small changes to lighting can shape our mood, focus, and relationships. As The Happiness Lab continues its spring cleaning series, Dr. Laurie sit ...  Show more

Breaking bad habits often feels like a test of willpower. We tell ourselves we’ll stop scrolling, eat better, or exercise more — and then fall right back into the same routines. So why is lasting change so hard? As part of our spring cleaning series, we’re revisiting a powerful e ...  Show more

Over the past decade or so, there has been renewed interest in the question of happiness. Happiness studies, a multi-disciplinary field which combines insights from psychology, economics, politics and the natural sciences, has attempted to create a ‘science of happiness’. Althoug ...  Show more

You might think that ageing is all about decline and deterioration, but that’s not the whole story. In fact, there are many aspects of life that improve as we grow older, such as happiness, wisdom, relationships, and even some cognitive skills. “Our societal narrative is not base ...  Show more

While ageism may be one of the last socially acceptable biases, research shows that aging often comes with positive changes. And by believing in and propagating negative myths about aging, we can do ourselves real harm. Dr. Manfred Diehl, a lifespan developmental psychologist at ...  Show more

Conditions that last for a year or more and impair daily functioning are called chronic illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some of the most common include heart disease, depression, and arthritis. Living with a chronic illness can be isolating ...  Show more