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Aired: 8/12/13

This week we\u2019re going to talk about happiness. So let\u2019s start with a true-false test. I\u2019ll tell you a supposed fact about happiness, and you decide whether you think it\u2019s true or false.

1. Unexpected pleasures are the most rewarding. True or false?

2. Novelty in a relationship has similar effects on our brain as a high from drugs. True or false?

3. Daily hassles impact our well-being more than major life events. True or false?

4. When it comes to sex, women require more novelty than men. True or false?

5. The genes that underlie who gets divorced are passed down from parents to children. True or false?

6. A smoking habit is not a bigger risk factor for heart disease as a troubled marriage. True or false?

7. Renters are happier than homeowners. True or false?

Okay, let\u2019s see how you did\u2026It turns out, according to today\u2019s guest, all seven statements are true. Yup, renters are happier and women want more novelty in sex than men. Where do I get off making those assertions? All based in science.

Today\u2019s guest, SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, is one of the nation\u2019s top students of happiness, and we\u2019re going to talk today about the findings in her new book, THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn\u2019t; What Shouldn\u2019t Make You Happy, but Does.

Originally from Russia, SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from Stanford University. Not too shabby. Her research has been awarded a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, a Science of Generosity grant, a John Templeton Foundation grant, and a million-dollar grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness. She is author of The How of Happiness, translated and published in 19 countries, and her newest, THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS.