Happiness - Publications - Faculty & Research

2010
Chapter

Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-interested Charitable Behavior

By: L. Anik, L. B. Aknin, M. I. Norton and E. W. Dunn

While lay intuitions and pop psychology suggest that helping others leads to higher levels of happiness, the existing evidence only weakly supports this causal claim: research in psychology, economics, and neuroscience exploring the benefits of charitable giving has... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost vs Benefits; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Outcome or Result; Relationships; Research; Behavior; Happiness; Motivation and Incentives

Citation

01 Dec 2000
News

Opening Doors: Inside the World of Museum Management

be quite so literal, museums across the country are working hard to shed their stodgy images and appeal to a broader spectrum of visitors with blockbuster exhibitions, well-stocked gift shops, remodeled cafés, and, in some cases, even singles View Details

Keywords: Susan Young; museums; marketing; management; nonprofits; education; facilities; Internet; Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions; Arts, Entertainment; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services

20 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2018

and social posts in 2018. Tell us in the comment section below what you thought were the most interesting business trends of the year and what you expect in 2019. Kids of Working Moms Grow into Happy Adults In earlier research, Kathleen... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

13 Oct 2015
Blog Post

LGBTSA Spotlight: Alterrell Mills

decide to spend two years of your life. You want to know you can be happy and successful even if it’s not in cities like San Francisco, New York or Chicago, which have very large and vibrant LGBT communities. What has surprised you about... View Details

Student-Profile

Sarah Wolfolds

and friends has been instrumental in my happiness thus far. In addition, sometimes graduate school can be lonely - but it is important to remember to reach out to your cohort and all of the support systems that HBS provides during these... View Details

30 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Do Mergers Hurt Product Quality?

whether we should be happy or sad when companies merge." Quantifying Quality Sheen faced the challenge of tracking both product pricing and product quality before and after company mergers. As a finance scholar, he depends on... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

06 Jul 2020
Blog Post

A Letter from the Women in Investing Club

who did not have backgrounds in investing to effectively make a career switch. Looking back on the year, the strength of our community was consistently cited as a differentiator for our group. Over the course of the two semesters (including virtually!), we hosted View Details

Web

Diversity & Entrepreneurship: Race & Gender Gaps Persist - Race, Gender & Equity

included, seem to be happy with their career path: they are less likely than other employed alumni to be considering changing jobs. Likelihood of Alumni Leaving Their Current Organization They also report higher satisfaction than other... View Details

01 Sep 2003
News

These Are the Good Old Days

it was the right decision. When she was appointed CEO of Time Inc. in 2002, the rest of the world knew too. “I’ve always had a long-term view,” notes Moore. “You’ve got to choose a career you’ll be happy growing old in because time goes... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

25 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

For Migrant Workers, Homesickness Can Reduce Productivity

economic construct; it’s a psychological construct—the happiness one gets by being close to family and friends—and it needs to be taken into account.” By giving workers the flexibility to take vacation time when it is most meaningful to... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Around the World of Entrepreneurial Ventures

failed at Singulus it was unlikely that he could have bounced back to his former position or commanded a salary that was similar to the comfortable one he'd left behind. As it turned out, this business story had a happy ending. Singulus... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2023
News

Case Study: Power Nappy

Illustration by Alvaro Dominguez Before she had a baby of her own, Amrita Saigal (MBA 2014) kept hearing from friends that the “natural” diapers on the market didn’t hold up as well as the old standards, like Pampers. Trained as a mechanical engineer, Saigal knew her... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

25 May 2021
Blog Post

The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work

actually works. When people engage in nostalgia, they’re accessing personally meaningful autobiographical events typically shared with family, friends, and other close connections. It isn’t just a happy trip down memory lane — in fact,... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

01 Jun 2020
News

Keeping the Beat

darkness, and saying, what is it that I can actually leave behind in the past that no longer serves me? Now that I have the time to even confront these personal demons. All of us have a version of that, but I never drop into it because I’m like oh, I’m a View Details

Keywords: Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Information

01 Dec 1998
News

Managing the Business of Life

up there. Any one of them alone is taxing enough, but Monica Dodi has experienced all three in the past two years. Yet the unstoppable entertainment executive, now a single mom, is still smiling and upbeat. "I'm happy and where I want to... View Details

30 Apr 2018
Blog Post

Reflecting on AASU50: Advancing African American Business Leadership

go in terms of closing the wealth, education, and political participation gap.” Les reflected that the HBS eductation, “trained all of the attendees to analyze a situation and then make recommendations, so I was happy to witness a small... View Details

22 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Section Life: Your HBS Family

make HBS even more fun for the section. From going to my section mates’ homes to Bachelor-viewing parties to happy hours, nearly all of my favorite memories are with members of my section. I cannot point to anything at HBS that has had as... View Details

Web

Alumni-Authored Books | Baker Library

Michael: Redefining Success in America : A New Theory of Happiness and Human Development . Knoop, Carin: Compassionate Management of Mental Health in the Modern Workplace. Whitehurst, Jim: The open organization : igniting passion and... View Details

01 Apr 1999
News

A Random Sampling of HBS Graduates in the News

Williamsburg, Virginia. "Everybody says, 'Jeez, what a terrible thing,' " Houghton noted. "And I say, 'I'm so happy to be here, I can't tell you.' " Of her husband's rehabilitation, Maisie Houghton added, "He just behaved completely in... View Details

12 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Power to the People: The Unexpected Influence of Small Coalitions

Olson argued. "It became the dominant, unquestioned view," Trumbull says. Olson's beliefs have been popular with both liberals and conservatives, he observes. Liberals routinely believe that big banks and corporations control government policy, even if they're not... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

Publications