The Psychology of Relationships: Humans are social animals dependent on others for their well-being. Humans have evolved the basic need for social connection because it is vital to our survival. Our relationships with family members, romantic partners, coworkers, and yes, animal companions, can affect endocrine function, immune function and nervous system activity. And those systems are linked to leading causes of illness and death, including cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases and cancer. Understanding relationships at the biological level could help give a clearer picture of the ways that social connections can impair or protect one’s health.

So many people want to be happy, and they don’t know how, Harris said. I’ve spent my life looking at the research behind it, really studying it, and getting to know what works and doesn’t. And we know that about, you know, around 40 percent of our happiness is from the choices we make, and 10 percent is circumstance. So whether you are going through a divorce or just won the lottery, that’s only about 10 percent. Then, about 50 percent is innate or genetic. And obviously, there’s variation with individuals.

Hidden Gems: Meet Melissa Harris of The Positive Psychology Wellness Lab. I arise with a deep sense of gratitude and carry happiness as my predominant emotion. My pathway to living with such joy was non-linear, and along the way, I realized there was a lot of discrepancy between societies expectation of happiness and the practices that create happiness. Fortunately, there is revolutionary science that can help us understand happiness and create more purpose and equanimity in our lives.