From New Scientist…
Are your friends happy? What about their friends? These people, new research suggests, will have a profound impact on your own personal satisfaction.
Like an influenza outbreak, happiness - and misery too – spread through social networks, affecting people through three degrees of separation. For instance, a happy friend of a friend of a friend increases the [...]

From Her Active Life…
Stress and anxiety seem to be an all too common part of life – we take them for granted. Periods of depression are usually viewed as normal: “Everybody gets depressed from time to time”. All too often, we ignore our own happiness, assuming that we’re supposed to handle whatever comes our way. [...]

. . . but probably not in the way you imagined. Spending it on yourself may not do much for your spirits, but spending it on others will make you happier, according to a report from a team of social psychologists in the new issue of Science.
The researchers confirmed the joys of giving in three [...]

From a WebMD Feature from “Prevention” Magazine by Nancy Kalish…
Scientists know that positive people are happier, period. Tapping into your bright side is easier than you’d guess.
Joie de vivre. We all know people whose engagement with life can only be described as joyful. Fittingly, nature rewards these happy-go-lucky types: Being optimistic in middle age increases [...]