"Recently, an interest in our understanding of well-being within the context of competition and cooperation has re-emerged within the biological and neural sciences. Given that we are social animals, our well-being is tightly linked to interactions with others. Pro-social behavior establishes and sustains human contact, contributing to well-being. Adaptation and Well-Being is about the evolution and biological importance of social contact. Social sensibility is an essential feature of our central nervous systems, and what have evolved are elaborate behavioral ways in which to sustain and maintain the physiological and endocrine systems that underlie behavioral adaptations. Writing for his fellow academics, and with chapters on evolutionary aspects, chemical messengers and social neuroendocrinology among others, Jay Schulkin explores this fascinating field of behavioral neuroscience"--

Knowing how to live a long, happy and healthy life is a universal desire of humankind. Adaptation and Well-Being is a narrative of the human journey from the formation of identity and developing a healthy self-concept, to end of life issues of death and dying. Combining psychological, evolutionary and sociological approaches, the author interprets research from various stages of human development and adaptation. The focus of the book is on how to meet the challenges of life and achieve optimal health and well-being. It is valuable reading for students on life-span courses in counselling and therapy, developmental psychology and social gerontology, tertiary courses such as social work/ social welfare and nursing, and practitioners in these fields.

Recently, an interest in our understanding of well-being within the context of competition and cooperation has re-emerged within the biological and neural sciences. Given that we are social animals, our well-being is tightly linked to interactions with others. Pro-social behavior establishes and sustains human contact, contributing to well-being. Adaptation and Well-Being is about the evolution and biological importance of social contact. Social sensibility is an essential feature of our central nervous systems, and what have evolved are elaborate behavioral ways in which to sustain and maintain the physiological and endocrine systems that underlie behavioral adaptations. Writing for his fellow academics, and with chapters on evolutionary aspects, chemical messengers and social neuroendocrinology among others, Jay Schulkin explores this fascinating field of behavioral neuroscience.

The Sandvik, Diener, and Seidlitz (1993) paper is another that has received widespread attention because it documented the fact that self-report well-being scales correlate with a number of other methods of measuring the same concepts, such as with reports by knowledgeable “informants” (family and friends), expe- ence sampling measurement, and the memory for good versus bad life events. A single factor was found to underlie measures using different methods, and a n- ber of different well-being self-report measures were found to correlate with the non-self-report measures. Thus, although the self-report measures of well-being are imperfect, and can be in uenced by response artifacts, they have substantial validity as shown by their correlations with measurements based on alternative methods. Whereas the Pavot and Diener article reviewed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Lucas, Diener, and Larsen (2003) paper reviews various approaches to assessing positive emotions. As we wrote in the chapter in this volume in which we present new measures, we do not consider any of the existing measures of positive affect to be entirely acceptable for measuring subjective well-being in the affect area, and that is why we have created and validated a new measure.

Few publications have changed the landscape of contemporary psychology more than Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman's landmark work, Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Its publication in 1984 set the course for years of research on the dynamic processes of psychological stress and coping in human beings.Now more than a quarter-century later, The Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping pushes the field even further with a comprehensive overview of the newest and best work in this dynamic subject. Edited by Susan Folkman and comprising chapters by the field's leading scientists, this new volume details the expanded knowledge base that has emerged from extensive research on stress and coping processes over the last several decades.Featuring 22 topic-based chapters -- including two by Folkman -- this volume offers unprecedented coverage of the two primary research topics related to stress and coping: mitigating stress-related harms and sustaining well-being in the face of stress. Both topics are addressed within their relevant contexts, including chronic illness, calamity, bereavement, and social hardship.The Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping is an essential reference work for students, practitioners, and researchers across the fields of health psychology, medicine, and palliative care.

This authoritative volume reviews the breadth of current scientific knowledge on subjective well-being (SWB): its definition, causes and consequences, measurement, and practical applications that may help people become happier. Leading experts explore the connections between SWB and a range of intrapersonal and interpersonal phenomena, including personality, health, relationship satisfaction, wealth, cognitive processes, emotion regulation, religion, family life, school and work experiences, and culture. Interventions and practices that enhance SWB are examined, with attention to both their benefits and limitations. The concluding chapter from Ed Diener dispels common myths in the field and presents a thoughtful agenda for future research.

"According to Leo Tolstoy''s famous statement "all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way". Knud Larsen in his book on human happines proves the opposite. Summarizing the classical and recent research in successful human adaptation, adjustment and well-being of the soul and body he shows the many faces of individual human happiness. Moreover, the book opens the perspective into the directions of social, cultural and biological evolution. What I like most in the book, is its usefulness. Knud has many practical pieces of advice suggesting that we can improve our well-being if we try. I wish Anna Karenina had read this well-conceived, well written text.", Gyorgy Csepeli, Professor of Social Psychology, Chair of the Interdisciplinary Social Research Program of the Doctoral School of the Faculty of Social Science at ELTE, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Kőszeg (iASK) "This unique, reader-friendly volume covers psychological aspects of successful living with such diversity and depth that I have not encountered hitherto. It is essential reading for psychology undergraduates as well as more seasoned academics and practitioners", Howie Giles, Distinguished Professor Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA & Honorary Professor of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia "This book by Professor Larsen is very enjoyable reading and covers the many challenges humans face across the lifespan. The focus is on positive psychology as supportive solutions are offered for the many challenges of living. This is also a relatively rare book that evaluates adaptation from a socio-cultural perspective since most books today emphasize cognitive aspects of coping and development. I especially appreciated how Professor Larsen weaved his salient knowledge of cross-cultural psychology into this important work on human adaptation. In the book the author discusses the issue of adaptation in its varying aspects of human life and through the prism of cultural influence on personality and behavior.", Askar Jumageldinov, Ph.D, Assistant Professor at Catholic University in Lyon "This book uniquely ties together the author''s personal experiences with in-depth research on human adaptation. What strikes the reader is the very personal narrative that illustrates the many points of struggling with the challenges of being human. The book combines the best of classical literature along with very current and meaningful research. The whole human journey is evaluated from identity and finding meaning, through optimizing health in midlife to facing the final existential questions related to both death and longevity. A very thoughtful book.", Sven Morch, Ph.D , Professor, University of Copenhagen "An enlightened and enlightening story of the challenges we meet through our life course. Although the general reader may find useful information to the journey of life it is also a volume packed with research-based information from the psychological and social sciences with implications for how we can grow as human beings and live satisfying lives together.", Reidar Ommundsen, Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo "I have found the work of Knud Larsen to dove-tail with my own work on behalf of indigenous and third world peoples since I first became acquainted with him in the context of supporting the People of Cuba. Dr. Larsen, as manifest in this career-capping work, has the ability - rare among non-ethnologist academics - to be engaged in the inner cognitive world of people inside other cultures while viewing their society in his own unique perspective. This broad and deep treatment will deepen and broaden my own view of the peoples that I have engaged with on the cognitive level. It also broadens my view of the challenges of my own life and how to live a happy life.", John Allison, Cognitive ethnologist and author