Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Trends. Psychology And False Consciousness: 2001 Update, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

A recent study in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reports that what makes people happy is not money, luxury, influence, or popularity. Instead, feelings of autonomy, competence, closeness to others, and self-esteem are the primary happiness pathways. Although one might applaud findings that suggest that material well-being is not a stairway to heaven, there is much in these findings that maintain exploitive relations in various social contexts.