Book
Haidt J. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. New York: Basic Books; 2006. 320 p.
Why we cite it
Tests ancient philosophical ideas about the good life against modern psychological research. Introduces the rider-and-elephant metaphor — reason cannot simply command emotion; change requires training the automatic mind, not just instructing the conscious mind. The happiness formula (H = S + C + V) and the emphasis on relationships, meaning, and engagement over direct pleasure-seeking connect to the project’s whole-person approach.
About the author
Jonathan Haidt, PhD is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU Stern School of Business. BA in philosophy from Yale University (magna cum laude, 1985); PhD in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania (1992). Previously professor at the University of Virginia (1995-2011), where he won four teaching awards. Leading researcher in moral psychology and developer of moral foundations theory. Author of The Happiness Hypothesis (2006), The Righteous Mind (2012, NYT bestseller), The Coddling of the American Mind (2018, with Lukianoff), and The Anxious Generation (2024, #1 NYT bestseller). Over 100 academic articles cited nearly 100,000 times. Four TED talks. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019). Co-founder of HeterodoxAcademy.org and EthicalSystems.org.
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