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Annotated Bibliography:
Haidt, Jonathan. The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. Basic
Books, 2006.

Jonathan David Haidt is a social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership

at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. His academic specialization
is the psychology of morality and the moral emotions.
This is a Primary Source: Haidt sifts Eastern and Western religious and
philosophical traditions for other nuggets of wisdom to substantiateand
sometimes critiquewith the findings of neurology and cognitive psychology.
The Buddhist-Stoic injunction to cast off worldly attachments in pursuit of
happiness, for example, is backed up by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's studies into
pleasure. And Nietzsche's contention that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger is
considered against research into post-traumatic growth. An exponent of the
"positive psychology" movement, Haidt also offers practical advice on finding
happiness and meaning. Riches don't matter much, he observes, but close
relationships, quiet surroundings and short commutes help a lot, while meditation,
cognitive psychotherapy and Prozac are equally valid remedies for constitutional
unhappiness. Haidt sometimes seems reductionist, but his is an erudite, fluently
written, stimulating reassessment of age-old issues.
This book relates to my topic because it gives an in-depth knowledge of
psychology of happiness. It provides information on different research on
happiness that helped understand my topic more clrealy.
McCandless, Carine. The Wild Truth. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Carine McCandless is an entrepreneur, activist, and mother. She is the sister of
literary icon Chris McCandless and consulted closely with Jon Krakauer on his
bestselling book Into the Wild. She also worked as a direct advisor and script
contributor to Sean Penn for his film adaptation of the book.
This is a Primary Source: The Wild Truth is an significant book because it sets
the record straight about a story that has touched thousands of readers. The
missing pieces of Chris McCandlesss story are publicized in The Wild Truth.
Carine was Chris's sister who witnessed firsthand the dysfunctional family.
This book relates to my topic because it focuses on Chriss violent family
dynamic that made Chris willing to embrace the harsh wilderness of Alaska.
The book gives the specific details of the motivational force behind Chriss
ultimately fatal journey which was in large to escape his parents. It also provides
very intimate supporting evidence of the violence that was part of Chriss
childhood. It gave me the missing significant pieces of Chriss life that helped me
understand his story better. It relates to my topic because it shows the important
role family plays in our life.

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Zink , Robyn. Asking Who are you? when going into the wild: moving beyond an
individualized form of outdoor education. Journal of Adventure Education and
Outdoor Learning. Vol. 10, Iss. 1, 2010
The story of Chris McCandless, as told by Jon Krakauer, and more recently by
Sean Penn, tells a familiar tale of going alone into the wilderness in search of the
truth of oneself. Chris's story provides a parable to explore some of the motifs that
inform contemporary outdoor education. In this paper I draw on the work of
Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to examine the relationship between going
into the wild and the construction of knowledge about oneself and others. Of
particular interest is Chris's realization that coming to know himself is less of an
individual project than a process that involves other people. I suggest that a
reading of Chris's story may facilitate a more nuanced engagement with
contemporary critiques that outdoor education has become a highly individualized
experience.
Furnham, A., and H. Cheng. "Perceived Parental Behaviour, Self-esteem and Happiness."
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 35.10 (2000): 463-70. Web.
This study set out to determine to what extent recalled parental rearing styles
(authoritarian, authoritativeness, permissiveness), personality (extraversion,
neuroticism, psychoticism, lie), and self-esteem predicted self-rated happiness in a
normal, non-clinical, population of young people in their late teens and early 20s.
Methods: Each participant completed a few questionnaires: the Eysenck
Personality Questionnaire (revised), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the
Parental Authority Questionnaire and the Oxford Happiness Inventory. It was
predicted that sex, extraversion, neuroticism, self-esteem and both maternal and
paternal authoritativeness would be significant predictors of happiness. Results:
Regressional and path analysis showed self-esteem to be the most dominant and
powerful predictor of happiness. The effect of sex on happiness was moderated by
neuroticism, which related to self-esteem, which directly influenced happiness.
Stability, extraversion and maternal authoritativeness were significant predictors
of self-esteem accounting for one-third of the variance. Conclusion: The results
are considered in terms of the distinct literature on the relation between
personality and happiness and on the relation between parental styles and selfesteem. Self-esteem was both a direct and a moderator variable for young people's
self-reported happiness. Extraversion had both direct and indirect predictive
power of happiness, whereas neuroticism predicted happiness mediating through
self-esteem. Maternal authoritativeness was the only direct predictor of happiness
when paternal and maternal rearing styles were examined together, suggesting
that a reasonable discipline exercised by mothers towards their children was
particularly beneficial in enhancing the off-springs' self-esteem.
Kam , Tanya Y. Forests of the Self: Life Writing and Wild Wanderings. Life Writing.

Studying ecocritical life writing shows how travel into the wilderness can be
therapeutic to the self during periods of malaise and alienation. Jon Krakauer's
biography, Into the Wild (1996), explores the life, death and psyche of
Christopher McCandless who seems to deliberately lose himself in the Alaskan

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bush, succumbing to a death by starvation that is strangely triumphant. Krakauer
as biographer romanticises McCandless's experience in a manner that imagines
and projects his life and death in an idealistic light. In her memoir, Wild: From
Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012), Cheryl Strayed describes how a
deep depression prompts her to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Alone and
inexperienced, Strayed struggles to survive, and her feminist narrative records
how hiking the PCT helps her to regain her emotional footing and redefine her
identity. Emotionally estranged from others and at critical junctures in their
respective lives, the two explorers seek meaning on the path less travelled. The
concept of the wilderness as a recuperative force is offset by the extent to which it
is depicted as life threatening: interpretations of McCandless's and Strayed's
respective journeys range from admiration for their independent spirits to
condemnation for solipsistic stupidity.
North, Rebecca J., et al. "Family support, family income, and happiness: a 10-year
perspective." Journal of Family Psychology 22.3 (2008): 475.
This study examined the role of 2 central aspects of family life--income and social
support--in predicting concurrent happiness and change in happiness among 274
married adults across a 10-year period. The authors used hierarchical linear
modeling to investigate the relationship between family income and happiness.
Income had a small, positive impact on happiness, which diminished as income
increased. In contrast, family social support, measured by 3 subscales, Cohesion,
Expressiveness, and Conflict, showed a substantial, positive association with
concurrent happiness, even after controlling for income. Furthermore, family
income moderated the association between family social support and concurrent
happiness; family social support was more strongly associated with happiness
when family income was low than when family income was high. In addition,
change in family social support was positively related to change in happiness,
whereas change in family income was unrelated to change in happiness. These
findings suggest that happiness can change and underscore the importance of
exploring more deeply the role that family relationships play in facilitating such
change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families. Washington, DC: Pew Research
Center, 2010. Web.