Publications
Publications
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- Faculty Publications (19)
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- November–December 2024
- Article
Retire Without Regrets
By: Teresa M. Amabile, Lotte Bailyn, Marcy Crary, Douglas T. "Tim" Hall and Kathy E. Kram
This article explores the significant transition of retirement and offers insights into creating a satisfying postcareer life. It highlights the contrasting experiences of Irene and Lawrence, two retirees who navigated this change differently. Irene embraced retirement... View Details
- November 2022
- Article
The Sharp Spikes of Poverty: Financial Scarcity Is Related to Higher Levels of Distress Intensity in Daily Life
By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Erin L. Frey, Sandra C. Matz, Bertus F. Jeronimus and Adam D. Galinsky
Although income is an important predictor of life satisfaction, the precise forces that drive this relationship remain unclear. We propose that financial resources afford individuals a path to reducing the distressing impact of everyday hassles, in turn increasing... View Details
Keywords: Distress; Affect; Control; Financial Scarcity; Life Satisfaction; Income; Poverty; Well-being
- 2022
- Article
The Ordinary Concept of a Meaningful Life: The Role of Subjective and Objective Factors in Third-Person Attributions of Meaning
By: Michael Prinzing, Julian De Freitas and Barbara L. Fredrickson
The desire for a meaningful life is ubiquitous, yet the ordinary concept of a meaningful life is poorly understood. Across six experiments (total N = 2,539), we investigated whether third-person attributions of meaning depend on the psychological states an agent... View Details
- 2022
- Book
From Strength to Strength: Finding Meaning, Success, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life
By: Arthur C. Brooks
Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our... View Details
Keywords: Aging; Meaning In Life; Purpose; Personal Development and Career; Success; Happiness; Satisfaction
- September 2021
- Article
Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness
By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Ruo Mo, Adam Eric Greenberg, Bertus Jeronimus and Ashley V. Whillans
There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income... View Details
- July 2021 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
Sarah Robb O'Hagan: The Rocky Road of Passion
By: Jon M. Jachimowicz and Francesca Gino
In November 2018, Sarah Robb O’Hagan is reeling from an unceremonious exit as CEO of Flywheel, a chain of indoor cycling studios. In the past, Robb O’Hagan had led transformational change across companies throughout the sports and fitness industry, including as... View Details
- June 2021
- Case
Chris Ernst: Purpose, People, Progress
By: Boris Groysberg, Robert Cross, Robin Abrahams and Katherine Connolly Baden
Executive Chris Ernst uses a unique personal strategy to define his six life roles (spiritual explorer, natural being, development pioneer, global/local citizen, thriving family, true friend) and achieve harmony among them. View Details
- January 25, 2021
- Blog Post
Lower Income Translates to Fewer Happy Experiences—Here Is How We Can Fix It
By: Jon M. Jachimowicz and Adam Eric Greenberg
Can money actually buy happiness? Research shows that having more money makes people evaluate their lives more favorably (what researchers call “life satisfaction”). Surprising as it may seem, whether money leads to greater life satisfaction because it makes people... View Details
- 2019
- Article
Preferences for Experienced Versus Remembered Happiness
By: Cassie Mogilner and Michael I. Norton
Consider two types of happiness: one experienced on a moment-to-moment basis, the other a reflective evaluation where people feel happy looking back. Though researchers have measured and argued the merits of each, we inquired into which happiness people say they want.... View Details
Keywords: Well-being; Life Satisfaction; Experience; Retrospective; Time; Happiness; Satisfaction; Welfare; Perception
- 2018
- Working Paper
Status Inconsistency: Variance in One's Status Across Groups Harms Well-being but Improves Perspective-taking
By: Catarina Fernandes and Alison Wood Brooks
Most people belong to many different groups. While some people experience consistently high or low status across all of their groups, others experience wildly different levels of status in each group. In this research, we examine how status inconsistency – the degree... View Details
- 2018
- Chapter
Time, Money, and Subjective Wellbeing
By: Cassie Mogilner, A.V. Whillans and Michael I. Norton
Time and money are scarce and precious resources: people experience stress about having insufficient time and worry about having insufficient money. This chapter reviews research showing that the ways in which people spend their time and money, the tradeoffs that... View Details
- August 8, 2017
- Article
Buying Time Promotes Happiness
By: A.V. Whillans, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Paul Smeets, Rene Bekkers and Michael I. Norton
Around the world, increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity. We provide evidence that using money to buy time can provide a buffer against this time famine, thereby promoting happiness. Using large, diverse samples... View Details
- Article
Reclaim Your Commute: Getting To and From Work Doesn't Have to be Soul Crushing
By: Francesca Gino, Bradley Staats, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Julia J. Lee and Jochen I. Menges
Every day, millions of people around the world face long commutes to work. In the United States alone, approximately 25 million workers spend more than 90 minutes each day getting to and from their jobs. And yet few people enjoy their commutes. This distaste for... View Details
- 2014
- Working Paper
Amount and Diversity of Emotional Expression on Facebook Predicts Life Satisfaction around the World
By: A. Kogan, F. Zhang, R. Sun, E. Simon-Thomas, P. Piff, S. Fan, J. Gruber, J. Quoidbach, M. I. Norton, C. Gronin, P. Fleming, D. Keltner and A.W. Brooks
- 2012
- Chapter
An Assessment of How Urban Crime and Victimization Affects Life Satisfaction
By: Carlos Medina and Jorge Tamayo
We use data for Medellín, Colombia, to assess the effect of the homicide rate, individual’s perception of security in their neighborhood of residence, and of the effect of their having been victimized, on life satisfaction. We find a negative effect of the homicide... View Details
- Article
Is Life Nasty, Brutish, and Short? Philosophies of Life and Well-Being
By: Michael I. Norton, Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin and Elizabeth W. Dunn
Three studies examine the extent to which laypeople endorse Thomas Hobbes' (1651) view of life as "nasty, brutish, and short" and explore the relationships between this philosophy and well-being. We asked participants to answer two binary choice questions: Is life... View Details
- Article
From Wealth to Well-Being? Money Matters, but Less than People Think
By: Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn
While numerous studies have documented the modest (though reliable) link between household income and well-being, we examined the accuracy of laypeople's intuitions about this relationship by asking people from across the income spectrum to report their own... View Details
- Research Summary
Emotional Experience, Expression, and Regulation
Once considered irrational, emotions often exert a more profound influence on decision-making and workplace outcomes than logic or reason. Professor Brooks studies emotional experience, emotional expression, and how individuals can regulate their emotions... View Details
- 2024
- Book
Retiring: Creating a Life that Works for You
By: Teresa M. Amabile, Lotte Bailyn, Marcy Crary, Douglas T. (Tim) Hall and Kathy Kram
Retirement, as a major life transition, can be both thrilling and challenging in unexpected ways. Written by acclaimed authors in the fields of business leadership, careers, and work, this book goes beyond the typical financial and health-related advice on retirement,... View Details