Dr. Haidt is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. His studies have included ancient philosophies, Eastern cultures, and the roots of Positive Psychology. In The Happiness Hypothesis, the author describes what he calls “the moral emotions,” including universal experiences of beauty, pleasure, excellence, love, awe, elevation, purpose, and other virtues of life. The book looks at questions like Are happy people kinder, more honest, more helpful, more satisfied, more altruistic, richer, more creative, and more spiritual than unhappy people?

Haidt introduces a “Happiness Formula” wherein Happiness H = S (some individual biological/genetic set point) + C (the conditions of your life) + V (voluntary activities). The more positive C conditions and the more V activities, the more likely one will achieve happiness. He integrates psychological studies that relate to the formula, including the findings that the more people perceive control over the conditions of life, the greater their sense of satisfaction, health, connection, energy, progress, and happiness. The greater one’s strengths and participation in relationships over time, and the more meaningful activities and voluntary pursuits become, the more opportunities one will have to experience happiness.

The author discusses how we may understand and break though levels of adaptation with a caution that too much of any one activity (e.g., eating, sex , seeking prestige, acquiring material wealth) can become boring, disgusting, and degrading. He believes in the flow that can emerge from physical activity (e.g., dancing, running, playing, singing, listening to music), that can be expressed when deeply engaged in friendly conversation, that can occur when absorbed in painting, writing, or coping with medical issues and adversity. These kinds of scenarios can move people into meaningful states of happiness, courage, and self transformation.

Haidt offers an interesting three-dimensional model for the social worlds of all cultures with 1) liking or closeness on the horizontal level 2) hierarchy or status on the vertical level, and 3) perceived elevation, i.e., the feeling of being “lifted up” or inspired by something greater than one’s self. The third dimension transcends levels one and two, and its cultural development historically has been attributed to God, sacred sources, divine objects, cleanliness, food handling, chanting, and pollution prohibitions and rituals.

With happiness, the author proposes variable elements likely to be included in a psychological definition capable of measurement and study. He reviews studies he believes describe and support connections to and within the happiness concept. Interestingly enough, Haidt often appears to reduce these complex, variable elements to underlying physiological structures, brain and nervous system functions. For example, according to Haidt,

“[T]he vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms people down, and undoes the arousal caused by the sympathetic (fight or flight) system, so if people feel something in the chest, the vagus nerve is the main suspect.”

“vagus nerve works with the hormone oxytocin to create feelings of calmness, love, and desire for contact that encourage bonding and attachment.”

One ingenious study reported that when nursing mothers viewed a film clip of an adult musician expressing gratitude for a music teacher who saved him from gang violence and who also received from his students their appreciation and gratitude in person on The Oprah Winfrey Show, fifty percent of the lactating mothers nursed more and played warmly with their young children during this elevation condition. The lactating mothers in the non-elevation condition (e.g., who viewed a film clip of a funny comedian) did not experience these effects. Haidt concluded oxytocin stimulated lactation in nursing mothers when elevated. The condition caused mothers to demonstrate more bonding behavior with their children which may have generated feelings of love, trust, and openness in them.

The Happiness Hypothesis is an interesting collection of great ideals, teachings, and psychological studies the author analyzes for positive connections to happiness within our personal, social, and cultural life experiences. Do people become happier pursuing their self-interests, material wealth, power, and position or will people find more happiness working with a set of implicit, virtuous rules that require more consensus, active cooperation, and reciprocity with others? Are there ways to voluntarily flow “between” and balance out liberal and conservative positions, human rights issues, moral responsibilities, and improved settings for human kind? The author does a laudable task by providing historical context and ancient wisdom. He plows new moral ground with research questions about the elements and relationships to consider when in pursuit of happiness within life today rather than after life.