Science of Happiness Summary: Lectures and Articles + 16
practice questions
Robert Bunschoten
Week 1: Why happiness deserves scientific interest
Diener, E., Lucas, R.E., & Napa Scollon, C. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising
the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 305-314.
- Good and bad events affect happiness temporarily but eventually people adapt to
“hedonic neutrality”
- So interventions to increase happiness are doomed for failure
5 important revisions:
1. Individuals set points are not hedonically neutral
2. People have different set points which are partly dependent on temperament
3. A single person may have multiple happiness set points. Components such as
(un)pleasant emotions and life satisfaction can move in different directions
4. Most important, well-being set points can change under some conditions
5. Individuals differ in their adaptation to events
Lucas, R. E. (2018). Reevaluating the strengths and weaknesses of self-report measures of
subjective well-being. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.),
- Subjective well-being is subjective
o A person’s subjective evaluation of the quality of life as a whole
o Making objective lists is difficult because of controversy on importance of
certain domains
- Psychometric properties of self-report is often good
- Day-reconstruction method: Break down your day into distinct episodes: features and
affect
o Should be done relatively close in time to the actual experience.
- Experience sampling: Signaled multiple times per day
Norrish, J.M., & Vella-Brodrick, D.A. (2008). Is the study of happiness a worthy scientific
pursuit? Social Indicators Research, 87, 393-407.
- There is mounting evidence to suggest that with the use of appropriate measures and
specific interventions aimed at fostering strengths and virtues, happiness can be
increased
- Top-down holistic view of well-being, individuals can overcome challenges in life, is
beneficial for well-being
,Tov, W. (2018). Well-being concepts and components. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay
(Eds.), Handbook of well-being
- Hedonic well-being: Person’s evaluation of their own life, emotionally and cognitively
o Frequency of pleasant / unpleasant feelings and overall judgment if life is
satisfying
- Eudaimonic well-being: Certain needs or qualities are necessary for psychological
growth and development
o Autonomy, positive relations, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, purpose
in life and personal growth
Problem: wide range of constructs
Problem: Are these antecedents?
- Other conceptualizations of well-being:
o Flow is more closely related to EWB
o Optimism is strongly correlated with E and HWB but not synonymous
o Flourishing is high EWB and HWB
- Parts of HWB:
o Affective well-being: Valence, Frequency vs intensity, arousal, interpersonal
engagement
o Cognitive well-being: life satisfaction, life evaluation, domain satisfaction
- State vs trait well-being: trait is across a long time and state is more immediate
Lecture 1: Why happiness deserves scientific interest
Negativity bias:
- Negative events have a bigger impact than positive events
o Evolutionary explanations: Humans that are attuned to preventing bad things
thrive more than toward maximizing good things
A person who ignores danger may not live to see the next day
Evolution doesn’t want you to be happy or satisfied, we are supposed to
survive and reproduces
Most psychological research also has focused more on understanding ‘bad things’
- Until 2000, when the positive psychology movement was launched
The broaden-and-build theory of emotions
- Broadening of people’s momentary thought-action repertoires
Agenda:
- Does happiness deserve scientific interest?
- Definitions of happiness
- Measurement of happiness
- Some controversial issues
o Hedonic adaptation and happiness pie
Why does happiness deserve scientific interest?
- Many people want to be happy
- Governments want us to be happy
, - Nations thrive when people are happy
Benefits of happy population:
- Productiveness
- Healthier and live longer
- Contribute more to society
- Have better social relationships
Science of happiness also focusses on antecedents and consequences
- Do circumstances matter
- Do material conditions have influence
- Can you increase your level of happiness?
- Is happiness your responsibility
- Should the government create conditions that make you happy
Definitions of happiness: Is happiness an elusive concept?
- Jingle: The very same term refers to different underlying conceptions
o Happiness refers to life satisfaction, positive affect, well-being
- Jangle: Different terms are used to describe the very same underlying conceptions:
o Happiness, life satisfaction
2 main approaches: Hedonic and eudaimonic
Hedonic subjective well-being: a composite of 3 related but distinct facets (tripartite model)
- Cognitive life evaluation
- Positive affect
- Negative affect
Eudaimonic well-being: A sense of meaning and purpose in life, or good psychological
functioning
- Having a purpose in life, actualization of one’s potential by fulfilling one’s true self
Controversy: What is the best approach?
- Most research is hedonic
Measurement:
- Generally, we ask people to self-report happiness
- Other ways:
o Duchenne smiling
o Recording behaviors that involve gratitude
o Mapping conditions that will contribute to happiness
It is difficult to report happiness:
- Focusing illusion: Focus on something you don’t have
, o So happiness is a biased judgment
California dreaming
But even single item on satisfaction with life (Cantril’s ladder) produces reliable scores
comparable with multiple item scales
- But multiple items reduce random error from ambiguity
Positive and negative affect schedule: Momentary states
Not every happiness measure correlates (tutorial)
The case of objective happiness
- Remembering / retrospection is biased
o So day reconstruction method
Provides unique information about what people do and how they feel in
their everyday lives
- Discrepancy between real time experiences and our memories of the same experiences
Collect experiences vs collecting memories
- Photos
Correlation life satisfaction and experienced happiness: .36
- A satisfying life is not necessarily more enjoyable – or the other way around
o Life satisfaction is more related with life circumstances
- Has implication for the people responsible for our conditions
Hedonic adaptation:
- Who is happier? The paraplegic person or the lottery winner
o Paraplegic winner was still more happy than unhappy
o And expected to be equally happy compared to the other groups in a couple of
years
- Hedonic treadmill: We have a base-level of happiness
o Personality or genetic (controversial)
- But may change after lasting changes in life circumstances
What then determines happiness? Happiness pie
- 10% circumstances
- 50% genetic setpoint: can’t be changed (may even be genetic)
- 40% intentional activity
But this is at population level, not individual
- Formula: H(appiness) = S(etpoint) + C(ircumstances) + V(oluntary actions)
Voluntary actions:
- Kahneman is not in favour because it is in your own control
- People return to baseline faster with life circumstances than for voluntary actions
