In an article in the August submission of Psychology Today, authors Kashdan and Biswas-Diener attempt to tackle the question of happiness. Interestingly enough, the question of happiness is not uniquely an American ideology. Psychologists Ed Diener of the University of Illinois at Urbana and Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia studied more than 10,000 participants from 48 countries. They discovered that individuals from all over the world rated happiness as being more important than other personal outcomes, such as having meaning in life, becoming rich, and getting into heaven. The article mentions that true happiness is probably better described as a sense of peace or contentment. It also includes cognitive reflections, a state of mind, and as such, can be intentional and strategic. And not surprisingly, certain choices you make throughout the day can push you toward increased well-being – or not. Happy people, it turns out, engage in some counterintuitive habits that seem downright unhappy! So stay tuned for a collection of findings that researchers have found increase a sense of well-being!