Have you ever looked forward to a concert, beach vacation, or party only to find yourself not enjoying it as much as you thought you would?
You may be suffering from overly high expectations, says psychologist Robb Rutledge of Yale University. Rutledge and his colleagues have been using smartphone-based data collection (via a free app called Happiness Quest, where anyone can play short games and contribute to research) to see how our expectations affect our future happiness. Some of their findings point to novel approaches for increasing our enjoyment of everyday life. [Read more…] about Q&A with researcher Robb Rutledge on mental health, expectations, decision-making and, yes, holiday planning!