PB421 Half Unit
Happiness
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Kate Laffan
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Economics and Climate Change) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology, MSc in Social and Public Communication and MSc in Societal and Environmental Psychology. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: All PBS 0.5-unit courses in Winter Term are controlled access and capped. Students enrolled on PBS programmes will be given priority.
Each course is available with permission as an outside option to students outside of PBS where regulations permit, providing there is space. All students must submit a short statement (around 100 words) outlining their motivation for enrolling on the course, which will be considered by the course convenor.
Deadline for application: Please apply as soon as possible after the opening of course selection for all courses.
For queries contact: Pbs.msc@lse.ac.uk
This course is compulsory on the Wellbeing Specialism of the MSc in Behavioural Science.
Course content
This course aims to introduce students to the main concepts and tools of the growing science of happiness, with a focus on applicability across all sectors (government, business, and NGOs). To achieve this aim, the course is based on ten lectures covering concepts such as: 1) what is happiness?; 2) evaluations of happiness; 3) experiences of happiness; 4) attention and adaptation; 5) anticipation and mistakes; 6) relative comparisons; 7) happiness across individuals and societies; 8) designing for happiness; 9) a dark side to happiness?; 10) the frontier of happiness research.
Teaching
10 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
Formative assessment
Students will be expected to produce one piece of formative work during WT
Indicative reading
Books
Dolan, P. (2014). Happiness by Design: Finding Pleasure and Purpose in Everyday Life. London: Penguin.
Dolan, P. (2019). Happy Ever After: Escaping the Myth of the Perfect Life. London: Allen Lane.
Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London: Penguin.
Journal articles
Adler, M. D., Dolan, P., & Kavetsos, G. (2017). Would you choose to be happy? Tradeoffs between happiness and the other dimensions of life in a large population survey. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 139, 60-73.
Bryson, A., & MacKerron, G. (2015). Are You Happy While You Work? Economic Journal, 127(599), 106-125.
Card, D., Mas, A., Moretti, E., & Saez, E. (2012). Inequality at Work: The Effect of Peer Salaries on Job Satisfaction. American Economic Review, 102(6), 2981-3003.
Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., & White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(1), 94-122.
Kahneman, D., & Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(38), 16489-16493.
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A Survey Method for Characterizing Daily Life Experience: The Day Reconstruction Method. Science, 306(5702), 1776-1780.
Killingsworth, M. A. (2021). Experienced well-being rises with income, even above $75,000 per year. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(4), e2016976118.
White, M. P., & Dolan, P. (2009). Accounting for the Richness of Daily Activities. Psychological Science, 20(8), 1000-1008.
Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2003). Affective forecasting. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 345-411.
Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). Explaining Away: A Model of Affective Adaptation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 370-386.
Assessment
Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Key facts
Department: Psychological and Behavioural Science
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 49
Average class size 2024/25: 16
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.