If they say they are satisfied, or very satisfied, they are happy, rather than unhappy.

What seems clear from such research is that people do quite poorly at predicting what will make them happy or sad.

Of course, these are, as a rule, unfortunate people who have been abused by others, and the recruiters obviously do not feel the adversities of underdevelopment.

Our hearts go out to those unfortunate Americans and citizens of other countries who lost everything, including loved ones, in the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has wrought.

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we ll be miserable if we don t get what we want. Our psychological immune system lets us feel truly happy even when things don t go as planned.