David Myers of the Hope College faculty will discuss happiness on a nationally-televised ABC News Special on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 10 p.m.
The program is subtitled "The Mystery of Happiness: Who Has It...How to Get It, with John Stossel," and West Michigan audiences can see it on WZZM, TV 13, and WOTV, TV 41. The special, which originally aired on April 15, 1996, includes Myers as well as other researchers on the topic.
According to the description published in "TV Guide," in the program Stossel "attempts to define happiness; questions if it can be attained through fame, money or love; and examines the idea that some people are predisposed to be happy."
Myers is the author of the book "The Pursuit of Happiness: Who Is Happy--and Why," which was published in 1992 and reviews the work of hundreds of social scientists and others, and identifies what predicts people's experiences of happiness and satisfaction with life. He has conducted further research into the topic with colleague Ed Diener of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, who is also interviewed on the program.
Myers is the John Dirk Werkman Professor of Psychology at Hope, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1967.