happyology

English

Etymology

From happy +‎ -ology.

Noun

happyology (uncountable)

1. The study of happiness.
   • 1980, World Press Review - Volume 40, page 22:

     A leader in the multi-disciplinary field of happyology is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi of the University of Chicago, a psychology author and educator who has hunted optimal experiences as though they were butterflies.

   • 2008, Stephen F. Davis, William Buskist, 21st century psychology: a reference handbook - Volume 2, →ISBN, page 203:

     Positive psychology is not happyology. Although happiness is an important goal for humanity and a worthy topic of study, positive psychology does not focus exclusively on the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure.

   • 2012, Moshe Zeidner, Gerald Matthews, Richard D. Roberts, What We Know about Emotional Intelligence, →ISBN:

     Although Seligman (e.g., Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi 2000) has distanced himself from this position, there is a danger of positive psychology degenerating into happyology, addressing a naıve belief that the only important thing to life is being happy.

   • 2014, Joan Young, Encouragement in the Classroom, page 1416619216:

     This publication is not a cheat sheet, a “happyology” manual, or a Band-Aid that will fix that distressed kid and send him to a magical haven of learning.