What's Love Got to Do with It? Loneliness, Relationships and Wellbeing

Loneliness is one of the giant issues we are facing as a society today. Our relationships with other people are fundamental to our wellbeing, but what kinds of relationships make us happy or miserable? How should individuals decide when to ‘make or break’ a relationship? Why is the term love often misunderstood and misconstrued? How do social policies influence people’s relationships, such as by encouraging marriage and discouraging divorce – and how should they, if at all?

Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE, Director of Executive MSc Behavioural Science and Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. There are two main themes to Paul’s work: Developing measures of happiness and subjective wellbeing that can be used in policy and by individuals looking to be happier; and considering ways in which the lessons from the behavioural sciences can be used to understand and change individual behaviour, and to add to the evidence base in this regard. He uses a range of data and methods to address these issues, and to better integrate them e.g. surveys, big data, lab studies, and field experiments. He is author of the Sunday Times best-selling book, Happiness by Design and the forthcoming The Narrative Trap, in which he talks about how the stories we tell about how we ought to live our lives harm us.

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEBeveridge #LSEFestival

This event is part of the LSE Festival: Beveridge 2.0 running from Monday 19 to Saturday 24 February 2018, with a series of events rethinking the welfare state for the 21st century and the global context.