Well-being: A life worth living Week 14

Disclaimer I am not Robin Sharma I am not Dalai Lama I am a scientist. This is a session on the science of happiness—with data

Caution Some mega-data you will see are correlational, and as such, the all limits of inferring causality from correlation apply But some questions are not easily addressed experimentally, hence correlational evidence is the best evidence we have. Be aware of country-level vs. individual-level comparisons Science is a leap of faith, even with the “best” data.

Extrapersonal factors Things beyond your control Extrapersonal factors

Note: This is different from Diener & Diener’s (1996) Most people are happy article. One key difference is the measurement. In that article, they analyzed SWB in -3 to +3 scale, and figures above zero are taken as evidence of being happy (one-sample t-test). In this article, SWB is on 0 to 10 scale. Schwarz (1994) has already studied why bipolar scales can produce different responses to unipolar scales.

Governance and happiness World Bank ratings about technical quality of government with the “Failed State Index”  loss of physical control of territory, loss of monopoly on the legitimate use of force erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions inability to provide reasonable public services inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community. 

World Bank (2006)

Income inequality and happiness Maarten Berg and Ruut Veenhoven Income inequality and happiness in 119 nations . In: BentGreve (Ed.) ‘Social Policy and Happiness in Europe’, Edgar Elgar Cheltenham UK, chapter 11, pp 174-194 , worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl

Social security and happiness

“Happiness is 50 percent genes and 50 percent under our control” Identical twins reared apart are more similar in subjective well-being than fraternal twins reared together! Lykken (1999). Happiness: What studies on twins show us about nature, nurture, and the happiness set-point.

Heritability percentages are not about how much we can control! Why is it a myth? 50 percent? No, it varies by study – some show 30%, some show 80% 50 percent? No, it varies by environmental variation. Heritability is not a fixed number 50 percent within? No, heritability is about differences between people, not within them 50 percent under your control? No, it says NOTHING about controllability! Heritability percentages are not about how much we can control!

You choose how happy you are Personal factors

Spending time with friends Will this make you happier in the long run? - + Spending time with friends Exercising regularly Studying Meditating regularly Writing down, every week, what you are grateful for Regularly buying a present for someone else Being disabled Earning 30 L a year rather than 20 L Losing a couple of kilograms Moving to a low pollution country Regularly giving a compliment to someone else Living in a city with lots of culture Engaging in a hobby Winning first prize in the lottery Buying a nice laptop for yourself SWB .24 Level of education .32 Religiousness -.24

r = .82

Caution: Log data ≠ Raw data Declining marginal utility

Not how much you have, but how you spend? 632 Americans surveyed Personal spending Prosocial spending Correlational evidence Bills & expenses Gifts for yourself Donations to charity Gifts for others β(amount, happiness) -.02 β(amount, happiness) .11 Dunn et al. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science.

Experimental evidence Dunn et al. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science.

Not how much you have, but what you spend it on? Van Bovich & Gilovich. (2005). Experientialism, materialism, and the pursuit of happiness. Rev Gen Psy.

Van Bovich. (2005). Experientialism, materialism, and the pursuit of happiness. Rev Gen Psy.

Do this daily, for 9 weeks. Gratitude Hassles Events There are many things in our lives, both large and small, that we might be grateful about. Think back over the past week and write down on the lines below up to five things in your life that you are grateful or thankful for. Gratitude Hassles are irritants—things that annoy or bother you. They occur in various domains of life, including relationships, work, school, housing, finances, health, and so forth. Think back over today and, on the lines below, list up to five hassles that occurred in your life. Hassles What were some of the events or circumstances that affected you in the past week? Think back over the past week and write down on the lines below the five events that had an impact on you. Events Emmons & McCullough (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens. J Pers Soc Psy.

“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get”. Maximizers Getting what you want Satisficers Wanting what you get Maximizers may be less satisfied than satisficers and experience greater negative affect with the jobs they obtain because their pursuit of the elusive ‘‘best’’ induces them to consider a large number of possibilities, thereby increasing their potential for regret or anticipated regret, engendering unrealistically high expectations, and creating mounting opportunity costs. Such effects may be integral to identifying maximizing as a goal, and may detract from the satisfaction that maximizers ultimately derive from their decisions. You realize that you can never attain the best, because the “best” doesn’t exist. Yet you try hard (evidence by the more number of job applications sent out for maximizers). You are constantly disappointed, rejected, etc. But the reality probably isn’t so simple. It probably also has to do with how maximizers make sense of their “failure”. Why? Iyengar et al. (2006). Doing better but feeling worse: Looking for the ‘‘best’’ job undermines satisfaction. Psy Sci.

Does parenthood make you happier? US Sample of World Values Survey: 1982, 1990, 1995, 1999 Serious Question Anyone wants to do cross-national, cross-time periods WVS for an ISM? Nelson et al (2013). In defense of parenthood : Children are associated with more joy than misery. Psy Sci.

Affective forecasting People often predict what makes them happy Don’t believe? Find me an event you did where suffering was the only goal you had Gilbert & Wilson (2005). Affective forecasting: Knowing what to want. Curr Dir Psy Sci.

Our predictions about our future affective intensities are horribly inaccurate Focalism Immune neglect

Dweck (2012). Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential. No large scale evidence, but many “small” experiments, both lab and field Dweck (2012). Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential.

All the needs are there (and necessary) all the time, and contribute to SWB

Science | Philosophy finale

Science | Philosophy There are a lot of things you can’t change (e.g., government pension schemes, social instability, caste system, etc.). But there are things that you can change.

[you decide] Meaning in life Be grateful Social relationships Helping others Money maximizes happiness by allowing you to buy experiences, not things Money (to some extent) Simplicity Having children

What makes my life happy? You