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Yet why do females, be they bowerbird or human, favour more intelligent males? Although the two species last shared a common ancestor tens of millions of years ago and humans tend to practice monogamy, while bowerbird males mate with as many females as possible, there may be a common explanation. Females could use intelligence as an indicator of the genetic quality of a potential mate and the genes he will pass onto her kids. "A male that has a well functioning brain is probably going to be good at surviving," Keagy says. "It's almost like a way of interpreting all this information about the genetic quality of a male." In two recent studies Geoffrey Miller of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and his wife Rosalind Arden of King's College in London have found provisional evidence for the same effect in humans.

"In the last 50 years, the U.S. population has seen an increase in their standard of living, such as having more money, owning more homes and cars and living longer. But our sense of meaning, purpose and satisfaction with life have not gone up, they have gone down,"

The effects can carry over to adulthood and cause early death, more health problems, less satisfaction with jobs and relationships and higher rates of depression

The PRP promotes optimism by teaching students to think more realistically and flexibly about the problems they encounter. PRP also teaches assertiveness, creative brainstorming, decision-making, relaxation and other coping and problem-solving skills.