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An article in the New York Times Magazine profiled work by Barbara L. Fredrickson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, in partnership with Steven Cole, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, into the genomic effects of happiness.

The researchers revealed how the sense of well-being derived from “a noble purpose” may provide cellular health benefits, whereas “simple self-gratification” may have negative effects, despite an overall perceived sense of happiness, researchers found. The study, “A functional genomic perspective on human well-being”, was published July 29 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Read more at the New York Times. Icon indicating that a link will open an external site.