1. Cross-cultural comparability of HAPPINESS Ruut Veenhoven Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization Presentation at conference on Cross Cultural Understanding of Well-being Faculty of Social Sciences, Yogyakarta State University May11-12 2016, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2. Cross-cultural comparability of happiness 1.Concept of ‘happiness’ 2.Measurement of happiness 3.Cross-national pattern of happiness Level of happiness Trend of happiness Societal correlates 4.Cross-cultural comparability of happiness

3. Concept of ‘happiness’

4. Concept of happiness Four qualities of life (variants of well-being)

7. Concept of happiness Four kinds of satisfaction

10. Concept of happiness Variants Overall happiness Hedonic level Contentment Affective appraisalCognitive appraisal

11. Measurement of happiness

12. Measurement of happiness Options and usefulness Observation of.. Life situation– physiological functioning? non-verbal behavior ± Questioning Indirect+ direct++

13. Measurement of happiness Best practice in direct questioning global self estimate –single question for large scale surveys –multiple questions multi-moment average for small scale follow-up

14. Measurement of happiness Best practice in direct questioning global self estimate –single question for large scale surveys –multiple questions multi-moment average for small scale follow-up

15. Concept of happiness Variants Overall happiness Hedonic level Contentment Affective appraisalCognitive appraisal

16. Measurement of happiness Example of a single survey question Taking all together, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life as a whole these days? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dissatisfied Satisfied

17. Measurement of happiness Best practice in direct questioning global self estimate –single question for large scale surveys –multiple questions multi-moment average for small scale follow-up

18. Concept of happiness Variants Overall happiness Hedonic level Contentment Affective appraisalCognitive appraisal

19. Measurement of hedonic level Multi-moment assessment Experience sampling (ESM) Day Recall Method (DRM) – Internet application Yesterday’s Diary

20. Measurement of hedonic level Multi-moment assessment Experience sampling (ESM) Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) – Internet application Yesterday’s Diary

25. Cross-national pattern of happiness

26. Level in nations Trend over time Societal correlates

27. Measurement of happiness Example of a survey question Taking all together, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life as a whole these days? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dissatisfied Satisfied

28. Happiness in nations Switzerland 2007

29. Happiness in nations Zimbabwe 2008

30. Happiness in nations Indonesia 2006

31. Happiness in nations Average on scale 0-10 around 2007 Denmark8,4 Switzerland8,1 USA7,0 France6,5 Indonesia6,2 Japan6,2 Russia4,4 Zimbabwe2,8

34. Happiness in nations Trends Denmark, Netherlands and Russia

35. Happiness in nations Trend Indonesia

37. Cross-national pattern of happiness Societal correlates

38. Affluence and happiness in nations

39. Freedom and happiness in nations

40. Government effectiveness and happiness

41. Societal correlates of happiness in 135 nations around 2010 Good governance+.66 Economic prosperity+.63 Rule of law+.58 Democracy+.60 Gender equality+.58 Mental health care+.51 Income inequality+.07 Explained variance 75% Source: World Database of Happiness: Data file States of Nations

42. Cross-cultural comparability of happiness

43. Theoretical doubts: Cultural difference in evaluation of life Methodological doubts: Cultural bias in measurement of reports

44. Cross-cultural comparability of reported happiness Theoretical doubts Cultural difference in evaluation of life Happiness depends on comparison Standard of comparison differ across cultures Hence happiness incomparable

45. How do we assess how happy we are?

48. Cross-cultural comparability of reported happiness Methodological doubts Measurement bias due to differences in: meaning of words? response tendencies? desirability bias? familiarity with the concept?

49. Cross-cultural comparability of reported happiness Methodological doubts Measurement bias due to differences in: meaning of words?hardly response tendencies? desirability bias? familiarity with the concept?

50. Cross-cultural comparability of reported happiness Methodological doubts Measurement bias due to differences in: meaning of words?hardly response tendencies?hardly desirability bias? familiarity with the concept?

51. Cross-cultural comparability of reported happiness Methodological doubts Measurement bias due to differences in: meaning of words?hardly response tendencies?hardly desirability bias? hardly familiarity with the concept?

52. Cross-cultural comparability of reported happiness Methodological doubts Measurement bias due to differences in: meaning of words?hardly response tendencies?hardly desirability bias? hardly familiarity with the concept?no

53. Societal correlates of happiness in 135 nations around 2010 Good governance+.66 Economic prosperity+.63 Rule of law+.58 Democracy+.60 Gender equality+.58 Mental health care+.51 Income inequality+.07 Explained variance 75% Source: World Database of Happiness: Data file States of Nations

54. Conclusion Happiness comparable across nations Nations differ in livability

55. World Database of Happiness http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl