HAPPINESS: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE
Evolutionary psychology provided important insights into a number of research domains within psychology, including the science of happiness. Some barriers to happiness are identified : discrepancies between modern and ancestral environments and psychological mechanisms that have been shaped by selection to induce subjective distress (by example, jealousy). Few psychological features are hypothesized to serve as psychological reward, signaling that an adaptive problem has been, or is in the process, of being solved successfully. Finally, some suggestions are provided to promote positive affect from an evolutionary perspective and avenues for future research are proposed.