Prof Carol Graham (Brookings) argued for measurement of human hope to be added to standard wellbeing metrics at the latest of the Wellbeing Research Centre’s Seminar Series.
Her work, published in new book The Power of Hope: How the Science of Well-Being Can Save Us from Despair, examines the knock-on effects of hope on different groups, and its power for combatting human despair.
Watch the full presentation on the Centre’s YouTube channel.
Brookings Institution
Financial Times
Misery has other ramifications, too. A new study, “(Un)Happiness and voting in US Presidential elections”, finds that the best predictor of voting for Donald Trump in 2016 was being unhappy or dissatisfied with your lot. That makes sense: if establishment politicians have failed to protect you from misery, it seems less crazy to roll the dice on a reality TV star, at least while he is the challenger rather than an incumbent.
