This report explores the complex ethical, political, psychological, and economic questions that arise from developments in medical genetics. It reviews research in applied genetics at the interface of the social and bio-medical fields, including the counseling and study of birth control, as well as the active treatment and selection of individual genetic attributes.

James R. Sorenson was chair of the Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Human Behavior at the University of North Carolina.

A volume of the Russell Sage Foundation's Social Science Frontiers, occasional publications reviewing new fields for social science development. This paper explores the links between the social and biomedical sciences concerning the prolongation and termination of life, with the aim to stimulate scholars, foundations, and government agencies to further study death and dying in American society.

DIANA CRANE is associate professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.

How do people decide whether to sacrifice now for a future reward or to enjoy themselves in the present? Do the future gains of putting money in a pension fund outweigh going to Hawaii for New Year's Eve? Why does a person's self-discipline one day often give way to impulsive behavior the next? Time and Decision takes up these questions with a comprehensive collection of new research on intertemporal choice, examining how people face the problem of deciding over time.

Economists approach intertemporal choice by means of a model in which people discount the value of future events at a constant rate. A vacation two years from now is worth less to most people than a vacation next week. Psychologists, on the other hand, have focused on the cognitive and emotional underpinnings of intertemporal choice. Time and Decision draws from both disciplinary approaches to provide a comprehensive picture of the various layers of choice involved.

Shane Frederick, George Loewenstein, and Ted O'Donoghue introduce the volume with an overview of the research on time discounting and focus on how people actually discount the future compared to the standard economic model. Alex Kacelnik discusses the crucial role that the ability to delay gratification must have played in evolution. Walter Mischel and colleagues review classic research showing that four year olds who are able to delay gratification subsequently grow up to perform better in college than their counterparts who chose instant gratification. The book also delves into the neurobiology of patience, examining the brain structures involved in the ability to withstand an impulse.

Turning to the issue of self-control, Klaus Wertenbroch examines the relationship between consumption and available resources, showing, for example, how a high credit limit can lead people to overspend. Ted O'Donoghue and Matthew Rabin show how people's awareness of their self-control problems affects their decision-making. The final section of the book examines intertemporal choice with regard to health, drug addiction, dieting, marketing, savings, and public policy.

All of us make important decisions every day-many of which profoundly affect the quality of our lives. Time and Decision provides a fascinating look at the complex factors involved in how and why we make our choices, so many of them short-sighted, and helps us understand more precisely this crucial human frailty.

GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN is professor of economics and psychology, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University.

DANIEL READ is reader in operational research, London School of Economics and Political Science.

ROY F. BAUMEISTER is the Eppes Professor of Psychology, Florida State University.

The nature of well-being is one of the most enduring and elusive subjects of human inquiry. Well-Being draws upon the latest scientific research to transform our understanding of this ancient question. With contributions from leading authorities in psychology, social psychology, and neuroscience, this volume presents the definitive account of current scientific efforts to understand human pleasure and pain, contentment and despair.

The distinguished contributors to this volume combine a rigorous analysis of human sensations, emotions, and moods with a broad assessment of the many factors, from heredity to nationality, that bear on our well-being. Using the tools of experimental science, the contributors confront the puzzles of human likes and dislikes. Why do we grow accustomed and desensitized to changes in our lives, both good and bad? Does our happiness reflect the circumstances of our lives or is it determined by our temperament and personality? Why do humans acquire tastes for sensations that are initially painful or unpleasant? By examining the roots of our everyday likes and dislikes, the book also sheds light on some of the more extreme examples of attraction and aversion, such as addiction and depression.

Among its wide ranging inquiries, Well-Being examines systematic differences in moods and behaviors between genders, explaining why women suffer higher rates of depression and anxiety than men, but are also more inclined to express positive emotions. The book also makes international comparisons, finding that some countries' populations report higher levels of happiness than others. The contributors deploy an array of methods, from the surveys and questionnaires of social science to psychological and physiological experiments, to develop a comprehensive new approach to the study of well-being. They show how the sensory pleasures of the body can tells us something about the higher pleasures of the mind and even how the effectiveness of our immune system can depend upon the health of our social relationships.

DANIEL KAHNEMAN is Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and professor of public affairs at Princeton University.

ED DIENER is professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

NORBERT SCHWARZ is professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and senior research scientist at the Survey Research Center and the Research Center for Group Dynamics of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

CONTRIBUTORS:  Michael Argyle, Jorge Armony, Howard Berenbaum, Kent Berridge, Ian A. Brodkin,  John T. Cacioppo, Nancy Cantor.  Anuradha F. Chawla, Martin W. DeVries, Aric Eich,  Shane Frederick, Barabara L. Fredrickson,  Nico H. Frijda,  PPaul Frijters,  Jose Gomez, Heidi Grant,  E. Tory Higgins,  Bartley G. Hoebel,  Tiffany A. Ito, Micheal Kubovy,  Randy J. Larsen,  Huynh-Nhu Le,  Joseph LeDoux,  George Loewenstein,  Richard E. Lucas,  Gregory P. Mark,  William N. Morris,  David G. Myers,  Susan Nolen-Hoeksema,  Christopher Peterson,  Emmanuel N. Pothos,  Pedro V. Rada,  Chitra Raghavan,  John L. Reeves,  Paul Rozin,  Cheryl L. Rustig,  Catherine A. Sanderson,  Robert M. Sapolsky, David Schkade,  James Shah,  Saul Shiffman, Peter Shizgal,  Arthur A. Stone,  Fritz Strack,  Eunkook Mark Suh,  Bernard M. S. van Praag,  Laura Vernon,  Peter Warr.   

Makes a major contribution to current research on children by providing a broad view of up-to-date, authoritative material in many different areas. Contributors have selected and interpreted the relevant material in reference to the practitioner's interests and needs. The chapters, written by prominent specialists, cover various topics in child development from early periods of socialization to the development of higher mental processes, and include two chapters dealing with genetic and neurophysiological bases of behavior.

MARTIN L. HOFFMAN is professor of psychology and chairman of the doctoral program in developmental psychology at the University of Michigan.

LOIS WLADIS HOFFMAN has been research associate at the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the University of Michigan, and is currently associated with the Society for Research in Child Development.

Makes a major contribution to current research on children by providing a broad view of up-to-date, authoritative material in many different areas. Contributors have selected and interpreted the relevant material in reference to the practitioner's interests and needs. The chapters, written by prominent specialists, cover various topics in child development from early periods of socialization to the development of higher mental processes, and include two chapters dealing with genetic and neurophysiological bases of behavior.

MARTIN L. HOFFMAN is professor of psychology and chairman of the doctoral program in developmental psychology at the University of Michigan.

LOIS WLADIS HOFFMAN has been research associate at the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the University of Michigan, and is currently associated with the Society for Research in Child Development.