Can Happiness Change? An Interdisciplinary, Multi-Method Investigation of the Dynamics of Happiness

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Authors

None of the major basic questions social sciences are concerned with can satisfyingly be answered from the perspective of one discipline alone. Each of them proposes theories and perspectives that make unique and important contributions. At the same time theoretical perspectives in general inevitably do have their blind spots. This fundamental insight was the reason for us to choose as the motto for the 19th IACCP congress held in Bremen in 2008 “Crossing borders – (Cross-) Cultural Psychology as an Interdisciplinary, Multi-Method Endeavor”. In this chapter we first want to illustrate this motto and our reasons for choosing it by reviewing recent research on one exemplary basic question of the social sciences: Can happiness change? We will cover findings across the social science disciplines in order to illustrate the benefits of interdisciplinary, multi-method investigations. This review will also reveal that the recent evidence violates traditional mono-disciplinary views on the respective question. After that, we will briefly introduce the contributions of this volume
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRendering Borders Obsolete: Cross-Cultural and Cultural Psychology as an Interdisciplinary, Multi-Method Endeavor : Crossing Borders
EditorsFranziska Deutsch, Mandy Boehnke, Ulrich Kühnen, Klaus Boehnke
Number of pages9
Place of PublicationBremen
PublisherJacobs University Bremen
Publication date2011
Pages3-11
ISBN (print)978-0-9845627-2-5
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes
Event19th International Congress of the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology - IACCP2008 - Bremen, Germany
Duration: 27.07.200831.07.2008
Conference number: 19