Happiness - Lecture notes 4 PDF

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Summary

What is happiness? This lecture looks at happiness in the context of the world....

Description

Happiness Overview • • • • • • •

What is happiness? Political agenda How do we measure happiness? What determines our happiness? The social psychology of happiness Practical applications of research Actions to improve personal well-being

What is happiness? • Argyle (2001): feelings of satisfaction, positive affect and absence of negative affect • Franklin (2010): previously defined by feelings of pleasure, wealth and religion but now increasingly • defined by fulfilment of human potential Martin Seligman • • • • •

“Authentic happiness” A developmental phenomena consisting of three key phases which need to be cultivated, The pleasant life (pleasures) The good life (engagement) The meaningful life (flourishing)

Political Agenda • • •

Historically policy makers have focused on a nations GNP (gross national product) to assess quality of life 2010 Cameron launched a programme to Measure National Well-Being on an annual basis 2011 UN formally recognised the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental human goal (and identified GDP as an inaccurate measure)

Measuring National Well-Being • • •

The programme aims to develop and publish an accepted and trusted set of national statistics which help people understand and monitor well-being Enabling policy makers to avoid assuming what is best for people in UK society Data will be able to inform policy design and contribute to policy appraisal

Practical applications • • •

Enhancing happiness of individuals Enhancing happiness of communities Measuring subjective well-being in different countries

Measuring National Well-Being 2014 • Personal well-being • Our relationships • Health • What we do • Where we live • Personal finance • Economy

• • •

Education and skills Governance Natural environment

How do we measure happiness? • Social Surveys o “How happy are you?” o “How satisfied are you with your life?” • Satisfaction With Life Scales (Diener et al 1985) • Oxford Happiness Inventory (Argyle et al 1989) Evaluating measures • • • • • • • • •

Response bias (too obvious) Single-item measures unable to measure internal validity (nothing to correlate with) Cultural differences in report – in collectivist cultures happiness is reliant on others happiness Stable over time? Subject to known biases (sunny day, England football team winning) Assume we are capable of introspection Reliant on memory (but memory not a mirror) Reliant on reflective awareness

Theoretical models • • • • •

General theory Lyubomirsky H = f (G, C, A) Seligman H = S + C + V Set point theory Multiple discrepancy theory

Social Psychology of Happiness • • • • •

People adapt hedonically to both positive and negative conditions (hedonic treadmill) Negative stimuli are more powerful than positive stimuli Culture is very important Memory is reconstructive rather than an exact replica of the original experience The importance of social relationships

Income and happiness •

Five broad areas of agreement: o Income matters relatively little in comparison with other resources o Income affects cognitive wellbeing more strongly than affective wellbeing o Income strongly correlated with negative affect o The desire for money influences happiness o How people spend money matters more than how o much they have

What determines happiness? • Work • Leisure • Social Relationships • “good relationships with other people are the most critical determinant of how people experience a variety of subjective wellbeing on a daily basis”

Five ways to well-being • • • • •

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