This is the podcast all about the stories behind the studies of the happiness and wellbeing research world. Support the show at: researchinghappy.locals.com

This is episode 20 - a mini milestone - and really happy with the progress so far! It’s been an honour to chat with so many respected researchers all of whom are doing amazing things in the world. Thanks for all of the support for the show, feedback, and ideas - as I’ve said every episode - please keep it coming! 

Dr Jon Beale is a researcher, coach and educator whose research focuses on human flourishing, particularly in the workplace and education, and the science of learning. He's a Research Affiliate at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, a Peak Performance Coach for the Flow Research Collective, and co-host of Flourish FM: a podcast for the good life. He's previously held research posts at the University of Oxford and Eton College. He's co-editor of four books, including The Future of Education, forthcoming from Oxford University Press. He's published 30 research articles and book chapters in leading academic journals, book publishers and media outlets, including The New York Times.

Find out more at: https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/people/jonathan-beale and https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/team-members/dr-jonathan-beale.

If anyone watched the first episode of this podcast, I said I wanted to learn more about the issue of scientism - as defined by Jonathan as the "the pernicious manifestations of an excessive belief in the power of science". I was reading a book by Seraphim Rose just last night came across this passage: the unreflective scientific specialist sees no need need for any other kind of knowledge, occupied with the demands of his or her speciality, and has, perhaps, neither time nor inclination for “abstract” questions to inquire, for example, the basic presuppositions of that speciality. 

As we discuss, this issue of scientism can affect wellbeing research, a field that has so much input from alternative ways of knowing than just the scientific method. Now, Jonathan has done much more work than his focus on Scientism, and while we did focus on that, we also chat his other work on the future of Education, coaching, and wellbeing research. 

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This week Matt chats with Annalise Roache, Co-President of the NZ Association of Positive Psychology and a PhD Candidate at AUT Auckland. We walk through Annalise’s PhD work, focused on Lay Perspectives of wellbeing - put simply - Annalise asked over 1000 New Zealanders what wellbeing means to them. 

After an intense process of thematic analysis, Annalise constructed a model of two interwoven aspects of wellbeing, The Elements and The Golden threads, each working together yet unique and influential in their own right. 

GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK on Annalise’s work here: https://annaliseroache.com/research-publications/283-2/ 

Hear Annalise present this work at the IPPA World Congress in the last 20 minutes of the episode. 

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This week I am joined by Professor Paul Wong, Professor Emeritus of Trent University and Trinity Western University. 

At 86 years young, he has published eight books and 300+ journal articles and chapters; he is one of the most cited psychologists in areas related to existential positive psychology. 

This was a great conversation, and raises lots of interesting questions, top of the list is the role of a transcendent creator or God in happiness, compared with other humanistic ideals like science and reason… This is not something I know a lot about so if anyone has any suggestions for future guests please let me know! 

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Trying something different this week! Professor Gad Saad, Professor of Marketing at Concordia University has just released a book on 8 secrets of the good life. Love him or Hate him, this will be one of the best selling happiness books of all time.

On a 15 hour flight home from the IPPA World Congress in Vancouver, Matt reads and reviews the book, finding some really great insights from Professor Saad (AKA the Gadfather, AKA Dr Good Looks) who brings levity, fun, and playfulness whilst drawing on ancient tradition, evolutionary theory, and academic literature. As a result, there's something for everyone, even those fully across the wellbeing and positive psychology literature. The unexamined life is not worth living, and Professor Saad provides 8 timely prompts for introspection and reflection to live with intention towards a good life.

Let us know what you think! Accurate review or severe jet lag - you be the judge!

Coming to you LIVE from Vancouver BC. Hear some thoughts on the past 4 days of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) World Congress. Attached at the end are two of the presentations Matt gave at the conference. You can watch the slides in Spotify or on Youtube

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Dr Brendan Case joins the show this week. Brendan is the Associate Director of Research at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. He works to develop integrative research strategies that draw together explorations of human flourishing from across the social sciences and humanities. Brendan introduces us to the field of Theology and its relevance to investigation of human flourishing. We talk about the strength Theology and Philosophy bring to the multi-discipline team at the Human Flourishing Program, particularly ensuring that the other disciplines are not naive to the rich discourse on human flourishing that has occurred in the past 2000+ years. Finally, Brendan introduces us to his work on a theological account of Love, including love of neighbour, love of enemy, and love of God.

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This week we are joined by Professor Craig Hassed OAM from Monash University and the Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies. Hear Dr Hassed’s incredible experience on the topic of mindfulness, having introduced mindfulness into the Monash University medical program since 1992.  We discuss the differences between informal and formal mindfulness, and their relative merits in day-to-day life. Find out more on Prof Hassed’s work at https://www.monash.edu/medicine/sphpm/general-practice/our-people/craig-hassed 

As always, LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the show, send this episode to one other person and send through feedback! 

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This week’s guest is Nancy Hey, Executive Director of the ‘What Works Wellbeing’ centre in the UK, an independent body for wellbeing evidence, policy and practice. They collect well-being data, analyse it, and aim to communicate it to the public and make it consistent, robust, usable and accessible.