Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

9-2022

Abstract

Research on well-being has exploded in recent years to more than 55,000 relevant publications annually, making it difficult for psychologists—including key communicators such as textbook authors—to stay current with this field. Moreover, well-being is a daily concern among policymakers and members of the general public. Well-being science is relevant to the lives of students—illustrating the diverse methods used in the behavioral sciences, presenting highly replicated findings, and demonstrating the diversity of individuals and cultures. Therefore, in this article, we present eight major findings that teachers and authors should seriously consider in their coverage of this field. These topics include processes such as adaptation, influences such as income, the benefits of well-being, and cultural and societal diversity in well-being and its causes. We also examine how much these topics were covered in 15 of the most popular introductory psychology textbooks. Although some topics such as social relationships and well-being were discussed in nearly all textbooks, others were less frequently covered, including the validity of self-reported well-being, the effects of spending on happiness, and the impact of culture and society on well-being. We aim to ensure more complete coverage of this important area in psychology courses.

Keywords

Well-Being, Happiness, Subjective Well-Being, Teaching of Psychology

Discipline

Applied Behavior Analysis | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Perspectives on Psychological Science

Volume

17

Issue

5

First Page

1452

Last Page

1471

ISSN

1745-6916

Identifier

10.1177/17456916211046946

Publisher

SAGE Publications (UK and US)

Embargo Period

4-24-2022

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211046946

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