By: Marina Krakovsky, New York Times Magazine
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Adjunct Professor Peter Ubel in the New York Times Magazine's Year In Ideas

From the article:

People often display a remarkable ability to adapt to adversity, bouncing back to their usual levels of happiness despite extreme hardships. But people don’t always rebound, and scientists have long wondered what factors might account for the difference. In a talk at Harvard in September, a team of researchers suggested that one obstacle to emotional recovery, oddly enough, is hope--the belief that your current hardship is temporary....

It might seem strange that patients who are better off objectively were less satisfied with their lives, yet the finding makes sense: “If your condition is temporary,” Ubel explains, “you’re thinking, I can’t wait until I get rid of this.” Ubel says thoughts like these keep you from moving on with your life and focusing on the many good things that remain.

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To read the entire article, visit the New York Times website at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09_23_hope.html?_r=2&ref=magazine&oref=slogin&oref=slogin.