Two articles that provide overviews of the recent research on happiness and the happiness setpoint:
"Happy Hour," by Carlin Flora, at
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-3638.html "The New Science of Happiness," by Claudia Wallis, at
http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1015902,00.html