Happiness, Subjective Well-Beingand Positive Affect

Louise Cooper, Lynne Doran,Derek Laffan & Sarah McSweeney.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand definitions of Happiness, Subjective Well-Being (SWB) & Positive Affect

• Understand theories of Happiness• Be aware of the measures available for Happiness,

SWB & Positive Affect• Identify factors that influence happiness• Be aware of global happiness• Be aware of “happiness boosting” interventions and

be able to apply it into your everyday life

Activity: What is Happiness?

Brainstorm

Subjective Well-BeingHow people evaluate their own lives in terms of cognitive (life-

satisfaction) and affective explanations (Boniwell, 2008)

Positive AffectVarious positive emotions,

feelings and moods that we frequently experience and easily recognise (Boniwell,

2008)

Happiness

Video

• Sonja Lyubomirsky – What is Happiness?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HFL9MnGdrw

Three routes to happinessSeligman (2002)

• The Pleasant Life– Having many pleasures in life and the skills to amplify

them• The Good Life– Knowing your signature strengths, and recreating your

life (work, love, friendship, leisure, parenting) to use those strengths to have more ‘flow’ in life

• The Meaningful Life– Using your signature strengths to serve something that

you believe is larger than you are

Set-Point Model

50%

40%

10%

Set- point (genetics)

Voluntary Control

Circumstances

Adaptation Theory

• Strong reaction to recent events– High levels of happiness after winning the lotto– Returns to set-point (3 months)

• Linked to ‘zero-sum’ theory– Happy and unhappy periods are cyclical

• Brickman et al. (1978). Longitudinal study on “happiness among lotto winners”

• Hedonic Adaption Prevention Model

Discrepancy Theories

• Increase in wealth in the last 50 years but happiness levels have stayed the same, why?

• SWB is a function of comparison processes– Social, past-self, internalised standards

• Status anxiety & Materialism– Linked with lower SWB and depression

• Too much Choice– Satisficers V Maximisers

Global Measures of Happiness

1. Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999)

2. Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985)

3. PANAS Questionnaire (Watson et al., 1985)

4. Meaning of Life Questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006)

5. Flow Experience Scale (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988)

Global Measures of SWB

Strengths

• Psychometrically sound

• Valid

• Reliable

• Efficient

• Cost effective

Kurtz, J. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (in press).

Weaknesses

• Requires accurate reflection and unbiased assessment of one’s happiness

• Influence of immediate circumstances

• Sensitive to information accessed before measurement

• Social comparisons

Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

• More suitable (than global measures) for assessing the affective component– frequent positive affect and infrequent negative affect

• Aggregate of momentary affective experiences encountered throughout daily life

• Comes from Csikszentmihalyi’s work on ‘flow’• Costly & requires a great deal of participants’

time and co-operation

Day Reconstruction Method (DSM)

• Proposed by Kahneman et al., (2004)• Short-term daily diary of distinct episodes• Appropriate for large scale data collections of

SWB indicators• More cost-effective than ESM, but also requires

a lot of participants’ time• Provides unique and novel information about

what people do and how they feel in their everyday lives

Who is happy?

• It appears that most of us are indeed happy (Myers, 2000).

• Five ways to wellbeing – two recent studies, The Foresight Report and Gallup’s most recent world poll, have shown similar finding. The findings suggest that there are five necessary elements for wellbeing

The Foresight report

• Connect (relationships)

• Be active

• Take notice

– “stop to smell the roses”

• Keep learning

• Give (random acts of kindness)

The Gallup organisation

• Career wellbeing

• Social wellbeing

• Financial wellbeing

• Physical wellbeing

• Community wellbeing

Activity: What makes us happy?True or False

• Marriage• Children• Age• Income• Gender• Education• Religion

• True• False• False• True• False• True• True

Income and Happiness

• Does money make us happy? YES…well a little bit.

• Individuals who live in countries with high GDP, such as the USA, on average score higher on wellbeing measures than those living in countries with low GDP, such as Togo (Deaton, 2008)

Income and Happiness

• In order to maintain balanced levels of wellbeing, individuals must take home approximately $5000 per month, anything more will do little to enhance happiness.

• An extra $10,000 per annum will only bump up your happiness levels by approximately 2 per cent (Christakis & Fowler, 2009).

Relationships and Happiness

• Being around others enhances individual wellbeing.

• Spending time in social settings enhances levels of wellbeing among both introverted or extroverted, (Froh et al., 2007).

• Happier people are more likely to get married, while reporting a happy marriage as they stay together.

Relationships and Happiness

• The relationship between children and marital satisfaction shows high levels of life satisfaction at marriage, and then drops at the birth of the first child

• The levels of life satisfaction also continue to drop throughout childhood and adolescence, then returns to high levels when the children leave the home

• Therefore, having children actually decreases levels of SWB (Heffernon & Boniwell, 2011)

Work and Happiness

• An individual’s job perception can influence wellbeing

• One third of employee’s perceive work as a ‘calling orientation’– Job orientation– Career orientation– Calling orientation

Health and Happiness• Diener and Biswas-Diener

(2008) have categorised the effects of SWB on physical health into 3 groups;– The likelihood a person

will contract a specific illness

– How long the person will live after contracting a life threatening illness

– How long a persons lifespan is

Religion and Happiness

• Religious people have reported having slightly higher levels of SWB than those who do not

– E.g. Belief in something higher, spirituality, afterlife

Other Factors and Happiness

• Age• Gender• Education– High levels of SWB were found in those with

higher educational status

• Take a break. Have a.....

Global Happiness

• Evidence indicates that SWB levels of given countries are stable (Inglehart & Klingemann, 2000)

• Social comparison theory– gains and losses of different individuals in a nation result in

no noticeable shifts in happiness levels for the society as a whole

• The SWB and happiness of Americans has been examined since 1946 (Inglehart, Foa, Peterson & Welzel, 2008)

Global happiness

• Inglehart et al. (2008) found that a sense of control over your life is conducive to happiness

• Democratic countries generally report higher happiness levels

• Happy people are more likely to successfully sustain a democracy

Activity: Happiest Countries

Answers for ActivityActivity 1

Costa Rica 1

Denmark 2

Mexico 8

Russia 73

India 115

China 125

Activity 2A) Costa Rica

B) Denmark

C) Russia

D) China

Happiest Places on Earth Country Score

1. Costa Rica 8.52. Denmark 8.343. Puerto Rico 8.324. Iceland 8.155. Switzerland 7.996. Canada 7.977. Finland 7.98. Mexico 7.879. Norway 7.8210. Sweden 7.8(World Database of Happiness, 2010)

Why is Denmark so Happy?

• For past 30 years research has consistently shown that Danes tend to be happier (Inglehart & Klingleman, 2000)

• Welfare state • High tax rates– people could pay between

50 and 70% tax• Social equality

Gross National Happiness

• Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an alternative to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a means of measuring progress within a country

• Increased wealth isn’t always an indicator of happiness or progress

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zqdqa4YNvI

Well-being and Global Policies

Set Point Theory

Brickman et al. (1978) Lykken and Tellegen (1996)

Set Point Theory

• Fujita and Diener (2005) found that there is a modest stability in life satisfaction but that around quarter of the population’s life satisfaction does change significantly

• A major flaw of the studies investigating the set point theory was that they were all carried out within a single country

Situational Factors

• People’s circumstances account for only 10% of their happiness levels

• Situational factors refer to one time changes that usually occur independently of effort and engagement (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006)– a person’s education level, the country they live in

and marriage

Intentional Activity

• Intentional activity (IA) involves continual effort and engagement in some intentional process (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006)– essentially this is what we do everyday

• Accounts for 40% of our happiness• IA allows for increases in happiness above the

levels set out by our circumstances and set point– i.e., it is the only aspect of our happiness within our

control

Intentional Activity

• Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade (2005) suggest that when choosing activities we should:

1. Find activities that fit our needs and personalities

2. They should vary, i.e., changing your exercise routine

3. Timing of activities should vary

Happiness BoostingIncreasing Your Happiness

Happiness Boosting Activity

• In Your Groups

• You will be assigned an Intervention and administered the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999)

• Score it and bring results to the top

Happiness Interventions

• Up until now, the focus has been on what exactly happiness is and the kinds of things that make us happy.

• Now, the focus is on how to INCREASE happiness or in other words; “Happiness Boosting”.

Happiness Boosting

• Happiness “Boosting” usually happens in the form of interventions

• Happiness Boosting interventions are important for two reasons:– to make people generally happier and,– to allow happy people to develop other positive

characteristics

• (Snyder & Lopez, 2005)

Past Happiness Interventions

• Fordyce (1977)

• Found that people tend to become happier when they mimic the positive characteristics of people they perceive are happier than them

Past Happiness Interventions

• Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox & Gillham (1995)

• Found that children who were at risk of developing depressive and mood disorders were significantly less depressed after training in optimistic thinking and problem solving

Recent Happiness Interventions

• Lyubomirsky (2007)

• The How of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting the Life You Want

12 Happiness Activities: Lyubomirsky (2007)

• Expressing Gratitude• Cultivating Optimism• Avoiding Overthinking and Social Comparison• Practicing Acts of Kindness• Nurturing Social Relationships• Developing Strategies for Coping• Learning to Forgive• Increasing “Flow” Experiences• Savoring Life’s Joys• Committing to your Goals• Practicing Religion and Spirituality• Taking Care of your Body (Meditation/ Acting like a Happy Person)

Recent Happiness Interventions

• Live Happy iPhone application (Signal Patterns & Lyubomirsky, 2008)

• Designed based on positive psychological research findings in the area of happiness boosting

™

Live Happy™ and Signal Patterns

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGrwPnXdtJM

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSaOnWquols

Recent Happiness Interventions

• Walls (2010) launched a marketing campaign about sharing to the world the link of ice cream and happiness

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5bs_pIFuto

Ice Cream and Happiness

Van Oudenhove et al. (2011)• 12 healthy, non-obese

volunteers had their brains scanned using FMRI

• Each had a gastric feeding tube positioned

• Listened to pieces of sad or neutral classical music while they viewed images of human facial expressions depicting either sad or neutral emotion

Van Oudenhove et al. (2011)

• The brain's responses to sadness were significantly reduced when the fatty solution was infused into the stomach

• Respondents also reported less hunger and a better mood when the fatty solution was given

Discussion

• Think, Pair, Share

Q . What did you find most interesting/importantwhile learning about happiness?

– Write down one or two points

– Discuss with the person beside you

– Share with the class

Questions to Think About

1. What is happiness, SWB & Positive Affect?2. Can happiness be measured? Give examples.3. Is happiness signified by an individual’s global

evaluation of his or her life, or is it the aggregate of many moments, as measured by ESM?

4. What factors influence happiness?5. Can happiness be acquired?6. What happiness interventions are available?

Further Reading

• Articles– Cohen et al. (2003). Emotional Style and the Susceptibility

to the Common Cold. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65(4):652-7• Books– Heffron, K. and Boniwell, I. (2011). Happiness and

Subjective Wellbeing across Nations. In: Positive Psychology Theory, Research and Applications. p44 - 75.

• Websites– www.authentichappiness.org– http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/65/4

/652.full.pdf+html

ReferencesBoniwell, I. (2008). Positive psychology in a nutshell (2nd Ed). London: PWBC.

Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 36, 917-927.

Diener, E. and Biswas-Diener, R. (2008) Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth. Boston, MA:Blackwell Publishing.

Fordyce, M.W. (1977). Development of a program to increase personal happiness. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 24, 511-521.

Fujita, F., & Diener, E. (2005). Life satisfaction set point: Stability and change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 158-164.

Heffron, K, and Boniwell, I. "Happiness and Subjective Wellbeing Across Nations." Positive psychology: Theory, Research and Applications.Buckingham: Open University Press, 2011. 44 - 75

Inglehart, R. and Klingemann, H-D. (2000) ‘Genes, culture, democracy and happiness’, in Diener and Suh (2000).

Inglehart, R., Foa, R., Peterson, C., & Welzel, C. (2008). Development, freedom and rising happiness. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3,264-285.

Kristoff, N. D. (2010). The happiest people. The New York Times. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/opinion/07kristof.html

Kurtz, J. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (in press). Positive psychology. In M. R. Mehl & T. S. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods for studying daily life.New York: Guilford Press.

ReferencesLykken,D. & Tellegen, A. (1996). Happiness is a stochastic phenomena. Journal of Psychological Sciences, 7, 186-189.

Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: Penguin Press.

Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of GeneralPsychology, 9, 111-131

Seligman, M.E.P., Reivich, K., Jaycox, L., and Gillham, J. (1995). The Optimistic Child. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Seligman, M. E. (2006). Pleasure, Meaning & Eudaimonia. Retrieved from http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/newsletter.aspx?id=54

Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). Achieving sustainable gains in happiness: Change your actions, not your circumstances. Journal ofHappiness Studies, 7, 55–86.

Signal Patterns and Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Live Happy. Pleasantville, NY.

Snyder, C.R., & Lopez, S. J. (2002). Handbook of Positive Psychology (Eds). New York: Oxford University Press.

Unilever. (2010). Ice cream served with a smile. Retrieved from http://www.unilever.com/mediacentre/news/icecreamsmile.aspx

Van Oudenhove, L., McKie, S., Lassman, D., Uddin, B., Paine, P., Coen, S., Gregory, L., Tack, J. and Aziz, Q. (2011). Fatty acid–induced gut-brainsignalling attenuates neural and behavioral effects of sad emotion in humans. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 121(8), 30943099.

White, A. (2007). A global projection of subjective well-being: A challenge to positive psychology? Psychtalk :56, 17-.20

Thank you for listening!

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