The Results Happiness and Wealth The Traditional View Ive been rich and Ive been poor believe me rich is better Mae West Kahneman amp Deaton 2010 450000 US subjects in the Gallup ID: 760757
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Slide1
Happiness Research Part 2
The Results!
Slide2Happiness and Wealth
Slide3The Traditional View
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; believe me, rich is better”--Mae West
Slide4Kahneman & Deaton (2010)
450,000 U.S. subjects in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being IndexGHWBI asks about both subjective well-being (stress, “blue mood,” positive affect) but also life satisfaction (Cantril Ladder)
Slide5The Cantril Ladder
Think of a ladder. Now imagine that the best possible life for you is at the top of the ladder, a 10. The worst possible life for you is at the bottom, a 0.Where are you on the ladder?
Slide6Kahneman & Deaton (2010)
Subjective well-being scores satiate after about 75,000 USD (annual income).Life-satisfaction scores continue to increase (at least until ~120,000 USD).
Slide7Slide8Proposed Explanation
After a certain amount of income, more doesn’t allow you greater access to the emotionally important things: family, leisure, health….
Slide9The Easterlin Paradox
Richard Easterlin was the first economist to study happiness. The “Easterlin paradox” refers to a perplexing difference between happiness at a point in time and happiness across time.
Slide10The Easterlin Paradox
At one point in time: richer people are happier than poorer people; richer nations are happier than poorer nations.Over time: as the nation as a whole gets richer, the people don’t get happier.
Slide11The Easterlin Paradox
Slide12“Comparison is the Thief of Happiness”
Relative deprivation: lacking things that you are used to, entitled to, or are expected of you in society.When GDP goes up, you get richer, but so does everyone else. Relative to them, you are still where you were before.
Slide13Slide14Slide15Mo Money Mo Problems
Slide16Happiness and Family
Slide17Happiness and Marriage
“There is a comfortable consensus in the social sciences that marriage has a positive and enduring effect on well-being.”
Slide18Slide19Diener et al. (2000)
World Values Survey II (1990-1993)59,169 participants from 42 countries Median N: 1,027 per countryMedian age: 42 (sd 16.5)
Slide20Y/N Past Few Weeks: Have You Experienced?
So restless you couldn’t sit for long in your chair.
Very lonely or remote from other people.
Bored.
Depressed or very unhappy.
Upset because somebody criticized you.
Slide21Slide22Two Theories
Source of self-esteem/ escape from stress (e.g. job)
Companionship/ less likely to be lonely or bored
Slide23An Alternative
Slide24GSOEP
German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP).17 years: 1984-2000.133,952 observations from 15,268 different people
Slide25Metric
How satisfied are you with your life?0: completely dissatisfied 10: completely satisfied
Slide26Slide27Happiness and Health
Slide28Slide29Slide30Slide31Slide32Some Case Studies
Overweight/ obese women: less satisfied, also less likely to socialize, be mothers, and more likely to work at home/ be self-employed.
Erectile dysfunction: less satisfied with life, but successful treatment increases life satisfaction
Slide33Happiness and Religion
Slide34Francis Scale of Attitudes toward Christianity
24 statements to rate1-5 scale (5 more positive)Commonly used, translated into many languages
Slide35FSAC
Slide36FSAC & OHI
A number of studies have been done using the FSAC and the Oxford Happiness Inventory.Take a look at the correlations!
Slide37For Comparison
0.8
0.6
Slide38Some Concerns
Obviously, only looks at Christianity!
Weak correlations (but real ones!)
Significant correlations NOT found between FSAC responses and the Depression-Happiness scale
Confounding variables
Slide39Slide40Slide41Slide42Slide43Slide44Life expectancy past 65
Slide45Quality & Accessibility of Healthcare
Slide46Slide47Slide48The Lesson?
Religiosity is bound up with a bunch of things– in particular, many indicators of societal dysfunction.
The causal relationships are unclear!
One theory: Dysfunction causes religiosity, because religion offers substitutes for what’s missing (morality, community, etc.)
Slide49Slide50Happiness and Meditation
Slide51Some Concerns
Small sample sizes
Selection effects
Gaming the system
Michael’s Happiness Enrichment
Programme
Slide52Happiness and Hong Kong
Slide53Slide54World Happiness Report
Data from Gallup World Poll
156 total countries
~1,000 people per country per year
Happiness results based on
Cantril
ladder
Analysis looks at the contributions of six factors: levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption
These variables explain 75% of the national variation on the ladder
Slide55World Happiness Report (2016-2018)
Slide56What It Says
Hong Kong should rank higher than where it is, based on its scores for the six key features.
Slide57Where the Explanation Might Lie
“[M]
easures
of the
quality of the social context
, which have been shown in experiments and national surveys to have strong links to life evaluations and emotions, have not been sufficiently surveyed in the Gallup or other global polls, or otherwise measured in statistics available for all countries.”
Slide58Something Similar…
Slide59Final Thoughts