Books like Authentic Happiness

01

Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

Martin E. P. Seligman · Psychology

Martin Seligman founded the positive psychology movement and published Authentic Happiness in 2002.

Shares positive psychology and meaning with Authentic Happiness.

02

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi · Psychology

Flow is Csikszentmihalyi's landmark study of optimal experience — those moments when people are so deeply absorbed in an activity that time warps, self-consciousness disappears, and effort feels effortless.

Both dig into happiness.

03

The Happiness Hypothesis

Jonathan Haidt · Psychology

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at NYU who spent the early part of his career studying morality and happiness, and this book — published in 2006, before his work on political psychology brought him wider attention — synthesizes ancient philosophical wisdom with modern psychological research.

Shares positive psychology and happiness with Authentic Happiness.

04

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

Martin E. P. Seligman · Psychology

Martin Seligman's research career began with learned helplessness — the discovery that animals and humans who experience uncontrollable events generalize the uncontrollability to subsequent situations where control is actually possible, becoming passive even when action would help.

A kindred psychology read.

05

Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert · Psychology

Daniel Gilbert is a Harvard psychologist whose central finding, after decades of studying affective forecasting, is that humans are systematically wrong about what will make them happy.

Shares happiness and well-being with Authentic Happiness.

06

The Happiness Advantage

Shawn Achor · Psychology

Shawn Achor's core claim inverts a common assumption about success and happiness.

Shares positive psychology and happiness with Authentic Happiness.

07

The Future of Happiness

Amy Blankson · Self-help

The Future of Happiness tackles a question that most positive psychology books sidestep: how do you cultivate well-being in an environment designed to capture your attention and monetize your anxiety?

Shares happiness and well-being with Authentic Happiness.

08

Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence

Rick Hanson · Psychology

Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and meditation teacher, and this book is his attempt to explain why wellbeing is so hard to sustain and what the brain science suggests you can do about it.

Both dig into happiness.

09

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology

Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.

Both dig into meaning.

10

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself

Kristin Neff · Psychology

Kristin Neff makes a claim that many readers initially resist: treating yourself with the same kindness you'd offer a good friend in distress is not self-indulgence, weakness, or an obstacle to high performance.

Both dig into well-being.

11

The Emotional Life of Your Brain

Richard J. Davidson and Sharon Begley · Psychology

Richard Davidson spent decades in a field where discussing emotions in relation to brain science was considered soft and suspect.

Both dig into well-being.

12

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Barry Schwartz · Psychology

Barry Schwartz argues that the expansion of consumer choice in wealthy societies has not produced the freedom and happiness it promised.

Both dig into happiness.