Lara Aknin | |
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 Lara Aknin in 2014 | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | BA., MA., PhD, University of British Columbia |
| Thesis | From wealth to well-being: spending money on others promotes happiness. (2008) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Simon Fraser University |
Lara Beth Aknin is a Canadian professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University,and associate editor of the World Happiness Report. [1]
After earning her PhD from the University of British Columbia,Aknin joined the faculty of psychology at Simon Fraser University in 2012. [2] That year,she published "Giving Leads to Happiness in Young Children" with J. Kiley Hamlin and Elizabeth Dunn,which supported the idea that humans may have evolved to find giving rewarding. [3]
In 2014,Aknin,Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn co-published a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and CIHR funded review of whether spending money had a positive effect on people's happiness. [4] The following year,her contributions to the field of social psychology earned her the President’s New Researcher Award from the Canadian Psychological Association [5] and a fellowship at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. [2] By 2019,she received a SSHRC grant for her project,“Can Repeated and Reflective Giving Nurture Canada's Next Generation of Philanthropists?” [6] She was also honoured by the university for her research and contributions to social Psychology with the title "Distinguished SFU Professor." [7]
During the COVID-19 pandemic,she served as chair of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Task Force of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission. [8]
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Altruism is the principle and practice of concern for the well-being and/or happiness of other humans or animals above oneself. While objects of altruistic concern vary, it is an important moral value in many cultures and religions. It may be considered a synonym of selflessness, the opposite of selfishness.
Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Moments of happiness may be triggered by positive life experiences or thoughts, but sometimes it may arise from no obvious cause. The level of happiness for longer periods of time is more strongly correlated with levels of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. In common usage, the word happy can be an appraisal of those measures themselves or as a shorthand for a "source" of happiness. As with any emotion, the precise definition of happiness has been a perennial debate in philosophy.
Positive psychology studies the conditions that contribute to the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."
Work design is an area of research and practice within industrial and organizational psychology, and is concerned with the "content and organization of one's work tasks, activities, relationships, and responsibilities" (p. 662). Research has demonstrated that work design has important implications for individual employees, teams, organisations, and society.
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction.
Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form.
An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves emotional or physical closeness between people and may include sexual intimacy and feelings of romance or love. Intimate relationships are interdependent, and the members of the relationship mutually influence each other. The quality and nature of the relationship depends on the interactions between individuals, and is derived from the unique context and history that builds between people over time. Social and legal institutions such as marriage acknowledge and uphold intimate relationships between people. However, intimate relationships are not necessarily monogamous or sexual, and there is wide social and cultural variability in the norms and practices of intimacy between people.
Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness is a feeling of appreciation by a recipient of another's kindness. This kindness can be gifts, help, favors, or another form of generosity to another person.
Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms within the same species, and encompasses any behavior in which one member affects the other. This is due to an interaction among those members. Social behavior can be seen as similar to an exchange of goods, with the expectation that when you give, you will receive the same. This behavior can be affected by both the qualities of the individual and the environmental (situational) factors. Therefore, social behavior arises as a result of an interaction between the two—the organism and its environment. This means that, in regards to humans, social behavior can be determined by both the individual characteristics of the person, and the situation they are in.
Evolutionary developmental psychology (EDP) is a research paradigm that applies the basic principles of evolution by natural selection, to understand the development of human behavior and cognition. It involves the study of both the genetic and environmental mechanisms that underlie the development of social and cognitive competencies, as well as the epigenetic processes that adapt these competencies to local conditions.
Prosocial behavior, or intent to benefit others, is a social behavior that "benefit[s] other people or society as a whole", "such as helping, sharing, donating, co-operating, and volunteering". Obeying the rules and conforming to socially accepted behaviors are also regarded as prosocial behaviors. These actions may be motivated by empathy and by concern about the welfare and rights of others, as well as for egoistic or practical concerns, such as one's social status or reputation, hope for direct or indirect reciprocity, or adherence to one's perceived system of fairness. It may also be motivated by altruism, though the existence of pure altruism is somewhat disputed, and some have argued that this falls into philosophical rather than psychological realm of debate. Evidence suggests that pro sociality is central to the well-being of social groups across a range of scales, including schools. Prosocial behavior in the classroom can have a significant impact on a student's motivation for learning and contributions to the classroom and larger community. In the workplace, prosocial behaviour can have a significant impact on team psychological safety, as well as positive indirect effects on employee's helping behaviors and task performance. Empathy is a strong motive in eliciting prosocial behavior, and has deep evolutionary roots.
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve on an as-needed basis, such as in response to a natural disaster.
Warm-glow giving is an economic theory describing the emotional reward of giving to others. According to the original warm-glow model developed by James Andreoni, people experience a sense of joy and satisfaction for "doing their part" to help others. This satisfaction - or "warm glow" - represents the selfish pleasure derived from "doing good", regardless of the actual impact of one's generosity. Within the warm-glow framework, people may be "impurely altruistic", meaning they simultaneously maintain both altruistic and egoistic (selfish) motivations for giving. This may be partially due to the fact that "warm glow" sometimes gives people credit for the contributions they make, such as a plaque with their name or a system where they can make donations publicly so other people know the "good" they are doing for the community.
Subjective well-being (SWB) is a self-reported measure of well-being, typically obtained by questionnaire.
Michael Irwin Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is also known for identifying and naming the IKEA effect.
Well-being is a multifaceted topic studied in psychology, especially positive psychology. Biologically, well-being is highly influenced by endogenous molecules that impact happiness and euphoria in organisms, often referred to as "well-being related markers". Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life.
Elizabeth Warren Dunn is a Canadian social psychologist and a Professor of Social Psychology at the University of British Columbia (UBC). In 2015, Dunn was elected a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists within the Royal Society of Canada.
Wendy Marion Craig is a Canadian clinical-developmental psychologist known for her research and advocacy in the field of childhood bullying. She is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen's University at Kingston in Ontario, Canada.
Cassie Mogilner Holmes is a professor of marketing and behavioral decision making at UCLA Anderson School of Management and author of Happier Hour. Best known for her research on time and happiness..
In organizational behavior and psychology, Economic evaluation of time refers to perceiving of time in terms of money.
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