Edward Diener was born in 1946 in Glendale, California. The Dieners’ son Robert has collected well-being data in collaboration with Dr. Diener. Because of the exotic groups involved in Robert’s research, including the African Maasai, Greenlandic Inuit, the Amish, and slum dwellers in Calcutta, Robert has been called the Indiana Jones of well-being research. He was branded in a rite of manhood by the Maasai. Two other daughters, Kia and Susan, are not psychologists.

Ed Diener is Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois. He has over 240 publications, and with over 12,000 citations is one of the most highly cited psychologists according to the Institute for Scientific Information. About 190 of these citations are in the area of the psychology of well-being. For more than a quarter of a century he has been doing research on happiness, which has earned him the nickname “Dr. Happiness”. Edward Diener is the founding editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science, and was formerly editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and the Journal of Happiness Studies. He is the president of the International Positive Psychology Association, and was formerly president of the International Society of Quality of Life Studies, and of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.

Edward Diener received his B.A. in Psychology in 1968 from California State University at Fresno. He received his doctorate at the University of Washington in 1974 and has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois for the past 35 years. Professor Diener’s research focuses on the measurement of well-being; temperament and personality influences on well-being; theories of well-being; income and well-being; and cultural influences on well-being. Ed Diener has six books in 2008-2009. One of these is a popular book on the science of well-being, authored with his son, Robert Biswas-Diener. The title is Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth. This volume was described by David Myers as “The most authoritative and informative book about happiness ever written.” The work provides an overview of scientific findings on well-being, including the benefits and optimum levels of well-being, as well as some causes such as temperament, money, attitudes, spirituality, and accurate forecasting. The book describes the evidence for the benefits of “happiness” for good health and longevity, social relationships, and work and income.

Edward Diener also has a book on Well-being and Public Policy (2009), which is authored with John Helliwell, Richard Lucas, and Ulrich Schimmack. The book argues the case for implementing national accounts of well-being for public policy. In addition, Diener has a three-volume collected works appearing in 2009, with Volume 1 including some of his major review and theory articles, Volume 2 including culture and well-being articles, and Volume 3 including articles on measurement and new measures of well-being. A final book in 2009 is one edited with Daniel Kahneman and John Helliwell: International Differences in Well-Being.

Professor Diener has educated a number of students who have gone on to become well-known scientists: Randy Larsen (Washington University), Robert Emmons (U California at Davis), Frank Fujita (IUSB), Shigehiro Oishi (U Virginia), Ulrich Schimmack (U Toronto), Richard Lucas (Michigan State U), Eunkook Suh (Yonsei U), and William Pavot (Southwest Minnesota State U), and many others. He has also worked with outstanding post-doctoral students and research students such as Carol Nickerson (UIUC), Richard Smith (U Kentucky), and Michael Eid (U Berlin). He has collaborated in his work with leading researchers such as Daniel Kahneman (Princeton), Martin Seligman (U Pennsylvania), and Joar Vitterso (U Tromso).

Edward Diener books
1 – Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71- 75.
2 – Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575.
3 – Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychology, 55(1), 34-43.
4 – Time magazine, January 17, 2005.
5 – Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2008). Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. (ISBN 1405146613)