Learning About Happiness Could Improve Economics Education

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: In a bold shift from traditional economics teaching, a group of researchers is calling on universities to bring happiness into the classroom.

Ori Heffetz, professor of economics at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, part of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and his co-authors argue that economics students shouldn't focus only on GDP and unemployment as economic indicators but also on what makes people happy. In the paper, " Teaching happiness (economics) in your dismal-science courses ," published in The Journal of Economic Education , the authors propose that asking students to reflect on how they feel about their own lives can make economics more engaging, relevant, and meaningful.

They offer practical ways to integrate happiness research into courses ranging from introductory macroeconomics to advanced electives. Heffetz's co-authors include Kristen B. Cooper, associate professor at Gordon College; John Ifcher, professor at Santa Clara University; Ekaterina Oparina, research economist at the London School of Economics, and Stephen Wu, Irma M. and Robert D. Morris Professor of Economics at Hamilton College. Find other details related to this topic: Check here