What really makes us happy?

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What really makes us happy?

More About Brock

Brock Bastian

is a social psychologist whose research focuses on pain, happiness, and morality.

In his search for a new perspective on what makes for the good life, Brock Bastian has studied why promoting happiness may have paradoxical effects; why we need negative and painful experiences in life to build meaning, purpose, resilience, and ultimately greater fulfilment in life; and why behavioural ethics is necessary for understanding how we reason about personal and social issues and resolve conflicts of interest. His first book, The Other Side of Happiness, was published in January 2018.

Book

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The Other Side of Happiness: Embracing a More Fearless Approach to Living

Our addiction to positivity and the pursuit of pleasure is actually making us miserable. Brock Bastian shows that, without some pain, we have no real way to achieve and appreciate the kind of happiness that is true and transcendent.

Featured Work

Recent Talk

Why We Need Pain to Feel Happiness

TEDxStKilda

In this talk, Brock asks us to reflect on the nature of pain, pleasure, and happiness. He urges us to reconsider what really makes us happy, and tells us why we need pain to experience any happiness in life at all.

In the News

Featured

Are Your Leaders Inadvertently Creating a Toxic Positivity Culture?

In a culture that values positivity above all else, negative feelings can seem inappropriate. But denying them can result in toxic positivity which leads to much bigger problems.

Emotionally Extreme Experiences, Not Just “Positive” or “Negative” Experiences, Are More Meaningful in Life

Peak emotional experiences are the most meaningful ones in our lives.

Trying to Be Happy Is Making You Miserable. Here’s Why

The research, published in the journal Emotion, found that overemphasizing happiness can make people more likely to obsess over failure and negative emotions when they inevitably do happen, bringing them more stress in the long run.