ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we review and build on previous attempts to examine how luck is conceived in our daily lives, with a view to better understanding many of the psychological aspects associated with luck and how it is experienced. We go on to explore how ideas drawn from “positive psychology” may impact upon people’s perception and experience of luck. Our discussion focuses on links between luck and gratitude, positive emotions, optimism, and environmental mastery. We conclude that drawing out these links with key ideas from positive psychology helps researchers recognize that luck, in the way it is perceived and experienced in everyday life, might not be as uncontrollable as psychologists and philosophers have traditionally assumed.
