Art-of-Living: A Concept to Enhance Happiness

This volume examines the questions of what constitutes a good life and how one can achieve happiness and well-being, and analyses different ways in which people can strive for a good life. First, it presents an overview on important concepts in psychology that are related to living a good life. Then, a new approach is introduced: the concept of art-of-living as a holistic way to reach happiness. Empirical studies are reported involving a questionnaire for measuring art-of-living, and the validity of the questionnaire is demonstrated with respect to a wide range of concepts. In addition, the volume provides results from empirical studies, showing that, and how, art-of-living and happiness can be enhanced. Several intervention studies are described in detail, which have been performed with different groups of subjects, including pupils, university students and employees. Also, results of interviews are summarized, which were held with people who had been nominatedas exemplary artists-of-living. The volume concludes with a description of art-of-living in autobiographies, and presents suggestions for further research with respect to art-of-living.