"According to Leo Tolstoy's famous statement "all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way". Knud Larsen in his book on human happines proves the opposite. Summarizing the classical and recent research in successful human adaptation, adjustment and well-being of the soul and body he shows the many faces of individual human happiness. Moreover, the book opens the perspective into the directions of social, cultural and biological evolution. What I like most in the book, is its usefulness. Knud has many practical pieces of advice suggesting that we can improve our well-being if we try. I wish Anna Karenina had read this well-conceived, well written text.", Gyorgy Csepeli, Professor of Social Psychology, Chair of the Interdisciplinary Social Research Program of the Doctoral School of the Faculty of Social Science at ELTE, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Koszeg (iASK)





"This unique, reader-friendly volume covers psychological aspects of successful living with such diversity and depth that I have not encountered hitherto. It is essential reading for psychology undergraduates as well as more seasoned academics and practitioners", Howie Giles, Distinguished Professor Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA & Honorary Professor of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia





"This book by Professor Larsen is very enjoyable reading and covers the many challenges humans face across the lifespan. The focus is on positive psychology as supportive solutions are offered for the many challenges of living. This is also a relatively rare book that evaluates adaptation from a socio-cultural perspective since most books today emphasize cognitive aspects of coping and development. I especially appreciated how Professor Larsen weaved his salient knowledge of cross-cultural psychology into this important work on human adaptation. In the book the author discusses the issue of adaptation in its varying aspects of human life and through the prism of cultural influence on personality and behavior.", Askar Jumageldinov, Ph.D, Assistant Professor at Catholic Un