Enhance your understanding of happiness Anne Henderson, Analyst Michael Birkjær, Analyst The Happiness Research Institute, Copenhagen

Happiness Dynamics - The Paradox of Choice - Social Comparison of Utility Is it possible to develop environments at educational institutions which promote well-being (by limiting the negative impact of these dynamics)

Young adults spend more than six hours a day feeling “stressed out”

Paradox of Choice

DK SWITZERLAND In countries where people on average feel free to make life choices, average happiness levels are significantly higher UK IRAN C.A.R. Source: The Human Freedom Index 2015 and The World Happiness Report 2017

…but being exposed to too many choices makes us unhappy

“Autonomy and freedom of choice are critical to our wellbeing (…) Nonetheless, though we today have more choice than any group of people have had before, we don’t seem to benefit from it psychologically”1 Missed opportunities: People remember the sum of the lost utility rather than the gained utility 1 Barry Schwartz in The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less is a 2004

“With a hundred different kinds of options available, there is no excuse for failure. And so when people make decisions, and even though the results of the decisions are good, they feel disappointed about them; they blame themselves. (…) There's no question that some choice is better than none, but it doesn't follow from that that more choice is better than some choice. There's some magical amount. I don't know what it is. I'm pretty confident that we have long since passed the point where options improve our welfare.”1 1 Barry Schwartz in The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less is a 2004

1 in 5 regret their choice of university1 18% regret their choice of subject1 1 The Student Room, 2017

Hypothesis: Bounded ambition leads us to work joyfully and unbounded ambition leads us to sacrifice things of real value Discussion: Is it possible (or even desirable) to develop environments which promote more bounded ambition (and/or less choice) for students? What does this mean at an institutional level in terms of our policy and practice? What does this mean at a professional/practice level in terms of our approaches to learning and teaching and managing the wider student experience? How can we use this learning to better support students?

The social comparison of utility

Which world would you rather be born into? WORLD A) You make 50,000 dollars a year and everyone else makes 25,000 WORLD B) You make 100,000 dollars a year and everyone else makes 200,000

Which world would you rather be born into? WORLD A) You make 50,000 dollars a year and everyone else makes 25,000 71% WORLD B) You make 100,000 dollars a year and everyone else makes 200,000 29%

Which world would you rather be born into? WORLD A) You make 30,000 pounds a year and everyone else makes 15,000 71% WORLD B) You make 60,000 pounds a year and everyone else makes 120,000 29% Status matters

Which world would you rather be born into? WORLD A) You make 30,000 pounds a year and everyone else makes 15,000 71% WORLD B) You make 60,000 pounds a year and everyone else makes 120,000 29% Status matters When our basic needs are met, our well-being becomes more dependent on others’ status (relative utility) than our own achievements (absolute utility).

Status: A zero-sum game? Hypothesis: Status is a zero-sum (a positional good): One can only enjoy status at the expense of others. Thus, when status markers become very present within a given social environment, people are more likely to experience stress or even misery. The French case: Evidence suggest that one of the greatest predictors of misery for young people in France is the educational system – due to status markers1. 1The French Unhappiness Puzzle: The Cultural Dimension of Happiness

The Danish case: ‘The straight-A culture’ Percentage of young men and women who experience high stress levels Male Female Admission requirments Source: Den Nationale Sundhedsprofil Evidence for Enhancement: Improving the Student Experience

Discussion: Does the concept of ‘zero-sum’ status exist within an educational environment? And if so, how can we limit the negative impact of this dynamic? What does this mean at an institutional level in terms of our policy and practice? What does this mean at a professional/practice level in terms of our approaches to learning and teaching and managing the wider student experience? How can we use this learning to better support students?

Further reading: Layard (2018) Mental Illness Destroys Happiness And Is Costless To Treat: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ghc-2018/UAE/GHPR_Ch3.pdf   Seligman & Adler (2018) Positive Education https://s3.amazonaws.com/ghc-2018/UAE/GHPR_Ch4.pdf Schwartz (2004) The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less The Happiness Research Institute & The Nordic Council of Ministers (2018) The Shadow of Happiness (Coming out soon).

Thank you Contact: Michael: Birkjaer@lykkeforskning.dk Anne: Henderson@lykkeforskning.dk