Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Originally from Russia, she received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from Stanford University. Lyubomirsky’s teaching and mentoring of students have been recognized with the Faculty of the Year Award (twice) and the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award.
Lyubomirsky’s research—on the possibility of lastingly increasing happiness via gratitude, kindness, and connection interventions—has been honored with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel, the Diener Award for Outstanding Midcareer Contributions in Personality Psychology, the Christopher J. Peterson Gold Medal, the UC Riverside Distinguished Research Lecturer Award, a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, a Science of Generosity grant, two John Templeton Foundation grants, a Character Lab grant, A Psychology & Philosophy grant, and a million-dollar grant (with Ken Sheldon) from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness. Her work has been written up in hundreds of magazines and newspapers and she has appeared in multiple TV shows, radio shows, and feature documentaries in North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. She has lectured widely to a variety of audiences throughout the world, including business executives, educators, physicians, entrepreneurs, military officers, mental health professionals, life coaches, retirees, students, and scholars. Lyubomirsky is the author of the best-selling The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Penguin Press) and The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, But Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You Happy, But Does (Penguin Press), published in 39 countries.
In her work, Lyubomirsky has focused on developing a science of human happiness. To this end, her research addresses three critical questions:
1) What makes people happy?
2) Is happiness a good thing?
3) How can we make people happier still?
For example, she is currently exploring the potential of happiness-sustaining activities – for example, expressing gratitude, doing acts of kindness, fostering connection, acting more extraverted, making someone else happier, affirming significant values, visualizing a positive future, and savoring positive experiences – to durably increase a person’s happiness level. She has been conducting research on happiness for almost 35 years and has published widely in the area.
Lyubomirsky lives happily in beautiful Santa Monica, California with her family.
To visit Lyubomirsky’s academic (UC Riverside) website, please click here. Download Lyubomirky’s CV here.
To arrange a speaking engagement for Sonja Lyubomirsky, please email sonja[at]ucr.edu or Francis[at]chartwellspeakers.com at Chartwell Speakers.