The Happiness Advantage
Harvard-trained researcher Shawn Achor argues that the common sense order of things, in which hard work produces success, which in turn produces happiness, is backward. Drawing on a decade of positive psychology research and his experience coaching Fortune 500 workforces and Ivy League undergraduates, he proposes that happiness is a cause rather than a reward, and that a positive brain outperforms a neutral or stressed one on almost every measurable axis. From that premise he builds seven practical principles: the Tetris Effect, falling up from failure, the twenty-second rule for building habits, and others, backed by experiments and workplace case studies. Published in 2010, the book became one of the most popular crossover titles from the positive psychology movement into mainstream business and self-help.
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Former Harvard teaching fellow Shawn Achor argues that happy brains outperform stressed brains at work and lays out seven principles drawn from positive psychology research. Each chapter walks through one principle with studies and short routines used in his Fortune 500 trainings.
The Happiness Advantage was written by Shawn Achor and published in 2010. Achor is a former Harvard teaching fellow whose research on positive psychology in the workplace led to the book.
The Happiness Advantage popularizes positive psychology research. Some specific claims have been challenged by replication studies, particularly around the strength of correlations between happiness and performance. The broad framework remains widely cited.
The Happiness Advantage is 246 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Happiness Advantage takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
The Happiness Advantage is a standalone novel by an unknown author, not part of a series.
The Happiness Advantage is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
