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Tal Ben-Shahar (, also known as Tal David Ben-Shachar) is a freelance speaker and writer.

He is on the faculty of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel. In the past, he was a non-tenured lecturer in the Psychology Department of Harvard University, from which he holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior. His dissertation, completed in 2004, is titled "Restoring Self-Esteem's Self-Esteem: The Constructs of Dependent and Independent Competence and Worth." His dissertation chair was Prof. Ellen Langer, the first woman ever to be tenured in psychology at Harvard University. Additionally, he also holds a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) from Harvard in Philosophy and Psychology. His undergraduate thesis, completed in 1996, is titled "Honesty Pays: Bridging the Gap Between Moral Theory and Practice."

Ben-Shahar is a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces and is the Scholar-in-Residence at The David Project, a non-profit educational organization on Israel.

In 2006, he taught a course at Harvard entitled "Positive Psychology." 855 students enrolled in the class, making it the most popular class of the spring semester.

Ben-Shahar has published several books:

• The Pursuit of Perfect: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Start Living a Richer, Happier Life (2009)
• Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (2007)
• The Question of Happiness: On Finding Meaning, Pleasure, and the Ultimate Currency (2002)
• A Clash of Values: The Struggle for Universal Freedom (2002)
• Heaven Can Wait: Conversations With Bonny Hicks (1998)

Ben-Shahar appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on August 9, 2007.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tal Ben-Shahar", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0