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The contribution of temperament, popularity, and physical appearance to children’s happi ness
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Transcript of The contribution of temperament, popularity, and physical appearance to children’s happi ness
RESEARCH PAPER
The contribution of temperament, popularity,and physical appearance to children’s happiness
Mark D. Holder Æ Ben Coleman
Published online: 7 April 2007� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007
Abstract The relation between the happiness of 9–12 year old children and their tem-
perament, popularity, and physical appearance was examined. Participants included 432
children and their parents and teachers. Happiness in children was assessed using a self-
rating scale, parents’ ratings, teachers’ ratings, and the Happiness and Satisfaction Sub-
scale of the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale 2 (Piers-Harris 2) [Piers, E. V., &
Herzberg, D. S. (2002). Manual for the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, 2nd
ed. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services]. Estimates of children’s temperament,
popularity, and physical appearance included parents’ ratings, individual items on the
Piers-Harris 2, and three domain scales from the Piers-Harris 2: the Freedom From Anxiety
Subscale, Popularity Subscale, and Physical Appearance and Attributes Subscale.
Children’s happiness was correlated with and predicted by ratings of their temperament,
popularity, and appearance. Demographic variables did not account for appreciable vari-
ance in children’s happiness. The results parallel the common finding that internal factors
(e.g., personality), but not external factors (e.g., demographics), predict adults’ happiness.
Keywords Happiness � Children � Temperament � Popularity � Attractiveness �Appearance � Anxiety � Satisfaction
M. D. Holder (&)University of British Columbia, Okanagan, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC,Canada V1V 1V7e-mail: [email protected]
B. ColemanOkanagan College, Kalamalka Campus, 7000 College Way (C 311),Vernon, BC, Canada V1B 2N5e-mail: [email protected]
123
J Happiness Stud (2008) 9:279–302DOI 10.1007/s10902-007-9052-7
1 Introduction
Though a recent study reported that adults in all 48 countries tested desired high levels of
happiness for their children (Diener and Lucas 2004), studies of factors that contribute to
children’s happiness are not common (Mahon and Yarcheski 2002). The present study
examined factors that may contribute to the happiness of children aged 9–12 years. The
happiness of these children is particularly suitable to study because they are old enough to
identify and use emotions in complex social environments (Schultz et al. 2004). Further-
more, they can comprehend that emotions, including happiness, can be experienced
simultaneously and they can attribute causal relations to these emotions in a way similar to
adults (Denham 1998; Whitesell and Harter 1989). Children in this age range typically
possess the ability to consider multiple sources of information when understanding emo-
tions and can comprehend a wide range of emotions (see Berk 1994, for a review).
The factors associated with happiness in children may differ from those in adolescents
and adults because children differ in their cognitive maturity (e.g., perspective-taking and
empathic development) and lack experiences that may influence happiness at older ages.
For example, factors that are related to adults’ well-being, such as job satisfaction (Tait
et al. 1989), marriage (Headey et al. 1991) and spousal happiness (Stull 1988) are not
applicable to children. Research suggests that the predictors of life satisfaction and hap-
piness do change with age. For example, adult men were found to define happiness in terms
of their family life when they have school-aged children, but look outside of the family for
happiness before and after this phase of the family life cycle (Harry 1976). For children,
academic test scores predict life satisfaction in Grade 2 but not in Grade 8 (Chang et al.
2003). By identifying the factors that contribute to happiness in children, we may better
understand individual differences in children’s happiness and identify children who may
benefit from interventions.
The literature on happiness indicates that demographic variables contribute relatively
little to happiness (see Myers 2000). However, personality variables are consistently and
strongly linked with happiness in adults (Furnham and Brewin 1990), and the roles of
physical appearance (Diener et al. 1995b) and popularity (Ostberg 2003) in happiness have
also been studied. The present paper examines the relations between happiness and vari-
ables related to personality, physical appearance, and popularity. Personality, physical
appearance, and popularity, all affect our social relationships and one of the most robust
predictors of happiness is the development of social relationships (Argyle 2001; Myers and
Diener 1995).
2 Correlates and predictors of happiness
2.1 Personality
Two personality variables consistently and strongly associated with happiness are extra-
version (a trait characterized by being social, assertive, lively, and sensation seeking
(Eysenck 1986)) and neuroticism (a trait characterized by anxiety, depression, emotionality
and having low self-esteem (Eysenck 1986)) (e.g., Cheng and Furnham 2001, 2003;
Francis et al. 1998; Furnham and Brewin 1990; Hayes and Joseph 2003; Hills and Argyle
2001a, b; Neto 2001; Pavot et al. 1990). For example, one study reported that extraversion
and neuroticism accounted for 42% of the variance in the happiness of adults (Brebner
280 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
et al. 1995) and extraversion and neuroticism predicted well-being over a decade later
(Costa et al. 1980). Similarly, both extraversion and neuroticism correlated with adults’
happiness, and neuroticism predicted it (Argyle and Lu 1990). Assertiveness also predicted
happiness and its mediating effects largely explained the contributions of extraversion and
neuroticism (Argyle and Lu 1990).
In addition to assertiveness, extraversion, and neuroticism, additional variables related
to personality and associated with happiness in adults include attributional style (Cheng
and Furnham 2001), emotional stability (Hills and Argyle 2001a), loneliness (Neto 2001)
and self-esteem (Cheng and Furnham 2003; Furnham and Cheng 2000; Hills and Argyle
2001).
Various dimensions of personality predict happiness in young adolescents as well. For
example, self-esteem and optimism (Mahon and Yarcheski 2002), and neuroticism and
introversion (Young and Bradley 1998), were found to predict happiness in adolescents.
Though the sample size was small, one study found that life satisfaction in children was
positively correlated with extraversion and negatively correlated with introversion (Hu-
ebner 1991).
2.2 Popularity
Popularity and happiness may be associated in both children and adults. For example, a
child’s status relative to his or her peers is positively correlated with well-being (Ostberg
2003). However, university students who highly valued popularity and personal image,
spent more time being unhappy, had lower levels of general happiness, and spent less time
being happy (Kasser and Ahuvia 2002).
Popularity and happiness correlate with similar variables. For example, increases in
adolescents’ suicidal ideation were associated with decreases in happiness and popularity
(Field et al. 2001). Children who were bullied tended to be less popular and less happy
(Slee 1993). Adolescents’ personality traits, particularly neuroticism and introversion,
were negatively correlated with both happiness and popularity (Young and Bradley 1998).
2.3 Physical appearance
A meta-analysis of the literature concluded that physically attractive people are viewed by
others as being ‘‘more sociable, sexually warm, mentally healthy, intelligent, and socially
skilled than unattractive people’’ (Feingold 1992). The bias in perceiving attractive people
more favorably extends to children as well. For example, teachers rated attractive children
as more popular and intelligent even in a controlled experiment where the teachers’ per-
ception of the children’s performance was held constant (Clifford and Walster 1973).
Physical appearance is an important resource and contributes to variables related to
one’s happiness and well-being. Therefore, research has investigated the relation between
appearance and happiness. For example, young adults’ self-ratings of attractiveness were
strongly correlated with happiness (Neto 2001). Similarly, body image, including sexual
attractiveness, weight concern, and physical condition, of adult women over a wide age
span was correlated with happiness (Stokes and Frederick-Recascino 2003).
However, the relation between appearance and happiness and well-being may not be
strong. For example, though Umberson and Hughes (1987) reported positive correlations
between several measures of well-being (including happiness) and attractiveness, the
Children’s happiness 281
123
quality of their measures of attractiveness was questioned in a more rigorous study that
showed attractiveness and subjective well-being were only weakly correlated (Diener et al.
1995).
2.4 Present study
Research has investigated the relations between happiness and personality, physical
appearance, and popularity, but the majority of studies examined adults. Although hap-
piness and life satisfaction remain relatively constant throughout life (Inglehart 1990;
Latten 1989; Stock et al. 1983), the predictors of happiness vary with age (Herzog et al.
1982). Therefore, though personality, popularity, and physical appearance are associated
with happiness in adults, they may or may not be associated with happiness in children.
Given the consistency and strength of the relationship between personality and happi-
ness in adults and adolescents, the present study investigated whether a similar relationship
occurred in children. While personality may not be fully developed in children (Costa and
McCrae 1994), temperament may reflect the beginnings of personality. If these beginnings
are related to happiness as the analogous personality constructs are linked in adults, then
we should expect two findings. First, more outgoing, less shy children (akin to extraver-
sion) should be viewed as happier. Second, less anxious children (akin to being less
neurotic) should be reported as happier. By determining the relation between temperament
and happiness in children, we may better understand how temperament can help explain
individual differences in children’s happiness and predict which children are more likely to
experience lower levels of happiness.
Given that happiness is associated with popularity and physical appearance in adults,
the present study examined the relation between happiness and perceived popularity and
physical appearance in children.
3 Method
3.1 Participants
Students in Grades 4–6 in the public school system (N = 817) were given information
letters, letters of informed consent, and questionnaires to bring home to their parents/
guardians/caregivers (99.5% of these adults were the parents and, therefore, are referred to
collectively as ‘‘parents’’ throughout this paper). Five hundred and twenty-six (64.4%)
responses were received. Four hundred and thirty-two parents consented (86.1% women,
13.2 % men). Female parents ranged in age from 24 to 71 years (M = 40.6, SD = 5.1) and
the males ranged in age from 25 to 74 years (M = 43.9, SD = 8.7). The children (55.3%
girls, 44.4% boys) were from six schools and 30 classrooms. To help ensure a broader
sample, both rural and urban areas, and large and small schools, were included. Further-
more, a wide range of socioeconomic levels was included (see Table 3).
One parent did not report the sex of his or her child. The children ranged in age from 9
to 12 years (M = 10.25, SD = 0.9). Children who had a prior history of depression (e.g.,
were currently receiving treatment for depression) were excluded from the study.
Seventy-six percent of the parents were married, 8% were single, 6% were living
common law, 6% were divorced, and 1% were widowed or single-divorced. Three percent
did not report their marital status.
282 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
3.2 Materials
3.2.1 Questionnaires
Children completed three questionnaires: the Piers-Harris 2 Children’s Self-Concept Scale
2 (Piers and Herzberg 2002), the Faces Scale, and the Children’s Questionnaire. When an
item required a range of possible responses, Likert-type scales were used instead of visual
analogue scales because children aged 5–14 often do not understand these scales even with
help designed to increase their understanding (Shields et al. 2003). Furthermore, because
children prefer filling in circles and having more response options (Rebok et al. 2001), the
Likert-type scales used circles and multiple response options. Parents completed the
Parents’ Questionnaire, which also included Likert-type scales to maintain the similarity
between the formats used by adults and children.
3.2.2 Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale 2 (Piers-Harris 2)
The Piers-Harris 2 is a standardized self-report questionnaire that assesses overall self-concept
(Piers and Herzberg 2002). The Piers-Harris 2 is a modification of the original 1984 Piers-
Harris Children’s Concept Scale which provides a multidimensional assessment that is widely
adopted, has high test-retest reliability and internal consistency, is the most frequently used
and strongly recommended instrument for children in our age group, and can be administered
to an entire class at once (Marsh and Holmes 1990; Piers and Harris 1984; Piers and Herzberg
2002). The Piers-Harris 2 has sixty True-False items that express how children may feel about
themselves (e.g., ‘‘my classmates make fun of me’’). These items are combined to form six
subscales that assess specific components of self-concept: Behavioral Adjustment, Intellectual
and School Status, Physical Appearance and Attributes, Freedom From Anxiety, Popularity,
and Happiness and Satisfaction. The Happiness and Satisfaction Subscale (HapPH2) was used
as one estimate of children’s happiness. The item ‘‘I am unhappy’’ is most highly correlated
with it. The Freedom From Anxiety Subscale assesses anxiety and dysphoric mood. The items
‘‘I worry a lot’’ and ‘‘I feel left out of things’’ are most highly correlated with this scale. The
Popularity Subscale assesses a child’s evaluation of their social functioning. The item ‘‘I have
many friends’’ is most highly correlated with this subscale. The Physical Appearance and
Attributes Subscale reflects a child’s evaluation of their physical appearance as well as their
leadership and ability to express ideas. The item ‘‘I am good-looking’’ is most highly cor-
related with this subscale.
3.2.3 Faces Scale
The Faces Scale is similar to that reported by Andrews and Withey (1976) and was used to
assess children’s happiness (see Table 1 for an example of the Faces Scale). Children rated
their overall happiness by rating how happy they were ‘‘most of the time’’. Parents rated
their child’s happiness using the scale (i.e., ‘‘How would you rate your child’s overall
happiness?’’). Ratings of others’ personalities by knowledgeable people are one of the
most valid measures of personality (Funder 1991). Therefore, because many researchers
perceive personality variables as stable traits rather than as states (see Hartmann et al. 1979
for a review) and happiness is also considered a stable trait (e.g., Stones and Kozma 1986),
parents’ ratings of their children’s happiness may be a valid measure. Teachers rated each
child’s happiness in the class using two Faces Scales. One scale asked the teacher to rate
Children’s happiness 283
123
the children’s happiness ‘‘When in class doing fun activities’’. The second scale was used
to rate the children’s happiness ‘‘When in class doing work’’.
3.2.4 Children’s Questionnaire
The Children’s Questionnaire contained nine items which, based on the adult literature
(Diener et al., 1999) were related to happiness (e.g., ‘‘How many hours of TV do you watch
per day?’’; ‘‘How many times a week do you visit with your friends outside of school?’’;
‘‘In terms of money, how rich do you feel your family is?). Using a Likert-type scale,
children filled in a circle representing one of five or seven response options for each item.
3.2.5 Parents’ Questionnaire
The Parents’ Questionnaire assessed factors related to the children and associated with
happiness. Many of the items on this questionnaire were similar to those on the Children’s
Questionnaire and provided demographic information (e.g., family income, marital status,
age, and sex).
3.3 Procedure
Informed consent was obtained from teachers and then parents. If their teachers and parents
consented, assent was then obtained from the children. Children were assessed approximately
10 days after the consent letters and Parents’ Questionnaires were distributed to the parents.
Only children whose parents completed the Parent’s Questionnaire were asked to par-
ticipate. Children were surveyed in classrooms and participation took an average of
30 min. Children were given the three questionnaires. Standardized instructions for each
questionnaire were provided and the researcher used a chalkboard to demonstrate how to
respond to the items.
For the Children’s Questionnaire, children were instructed to read the questions care-
fully, think about their answers, examine the response options, and then choose the option
that was most appropriate for them. The researcher explained that for Question 1, ‘‘How
many hours of TV do you watch per day?’’ the children needed to think about how many
hours they watch per day for the whole week and then take the average. For all the
questions, the researcher explained that the answers were arranged from least to most (e.g.,
for the question, ‘‘How many hours of TV do you watch per day?’’ the responses were
arranged from 0, the least, to 5+, the most) and children had to choose the answer that best
represented them.
Table 1 Percentage of respondents within each category of the Faces Scale
ChildOwnFace 1 0 1 8 11 43 36
ParentChildFace 0 0 1 3 21 58 17
TeacherChildFace 0 0 1 9 27 47 16
Note. Percentage of children’s self-ratings (ChildOwnFace), parents’ ratings of their children (Parent-ChildFace), and teacher’s ratings of the children (TeacherChildFace), in each of the seven response optionson the Faces Scale
284 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
For the Faces Scale, a researcher drew the Faces Scale on a chalkboard and
explained that children should put an X through the face that best represented their
own feelings.
All surveys were coded with participant numbers to help ensure confidentiality. To
answer children’s questions and distribute material, the researcher and at least one assistant
were present in each classroom. Teachers did not assist children with the questionnaires.
3.4 Data analysis
Four measures of happiness were used as the criterion measures in the regression analyses.
One measure was the Happiness and Satisfaction Subscale of the Piers-Harris 2 scale
(HapPH2), which provided a standardized score for each child. Three measures used the
Faces Scale: the children’s ratings of their own overall happiness (ChildOwnFace), the
parent’s ratings of their child’s happiness (ParentChildFace), and the teachers’ ratings of
their children’s happiness (TeacherChildFace). The teachers rated each child’s happiness
in two different settings (when in class doing fun activities, and when in class doing work).
A preliminary analysis showed that these two measures were correlated (r = .57, p < .01)
and shared similar predictors. Therefore, the two ratings were averaged together to form a
single teacher’s rating of each child’s happiness.
The happiness rating distributions based on the Faces Scale violated the normality
assumption. Improved distributions were found by reflecting the scores and computing
natural logarithms. Although 432 parents consented, six cases were excluded from the
following analyses because participants did not complete all happiness measures. An
additional nine cases were removed from the demographic analysis (N = 417), and another
two from the personality analysis (N = 415) because their responses to several questions
were very improbable.
Due to the exploratory nature of this study, we used multivariate regression with the
appropriate predictors (i.e., Demographic, Temperament, Popularity, & Physical
Appearance) to predict variance on the four measures of happiness. Individual items
were selected from the Piers-Harris 2 (Piers and Herzberg 2002) that reflected the
categories of interest (e.g., Temperament, Physical Attraction, and Popularity). These
items were used in the analyses to determine the relationship between these categories
and happiness. The significant multivariate predictors were then used in the multiple
regression analyses (stepwise) for each of the four measures of happiness. Where
appropriate, Bonferroni adjustments were used on the univariate tests. Finally, to avoid
artificially high correlations with the HapPH2, none of the predictors from the Piers
Harris 2 questionnaire were items that comprised the Happiness and Satisfaction
subscale.
4 Results
4.1 Measures of happiness
In general, using the Faces Scales, children were rated as happy by themselves (i.e.,
ChildOwnFace), their parents (i.e., ParentChildFace), and their teachers (i.e., Teach-
erChildFace). For all three groups, at least 90% of the responses were within the three
Children’s happiness 285
123
happiest categories (see Table 1). Children’s responses to each item of the Happiness
and Satisfaction Subscale (HapPH2) were within 10% of the reported standardized
norms for the Piers-Harris 2 (Piers and Herzberg 2002).
Each of the four measures of happiness (i.e., HapPH2, ChildOwnFace, ParentChild-
Face, & TeacherChildFace) was significantly correlated with the other three ratings of
happiness (see Table 2). Although these measures were correlated, the results did not
indicate singularity (e.g., r > .90; Tabachnick and Fidell 2001). Furthermore, though
similar variables accounted for variance in all four measures of happiness (see below),
the variables were not identical. Therefore, to compare ratings from the Faces Scales to
HapPH2, a multiple regression analysis was conducted. This analysis showed that ratings
from the Faces Scales were significantly related to items comprising the HapPH2. ‘‘I am
lucky’’ and ‘‘I am cheerful’’ were the only items from the HapPH2 that predicted
variance on the Faces Scales, Fs(3,384) > 3.28, ps < .05. On ChildOwnFace, ‘‘I am
cheerful’’ (r2 = .108, b = .29, p < .001), and ‘‘I am lucky’’ (r2 = .031, b = 18, p < .001),
accounted for a total of 14% of the variance, F(2,413) = 33.55, p < .001. However, ‘‘I
am cheerful’’ (rs2 � .04, bs = .20, ps < .001), was the only significant predictor,
Fs(1,409) = 17.26, ps < .001, of variance on ParentChildFace and TeacherChildFace.
The remaining eight items that comprised HapPH2 (‘‘I am a happy person’’, ‘‘my looks
bother me’’, ‘‘I like being the way I am’’, ‘‘I wish I were different’’, ‘‘I am unhappy’’,
‘‘I have a pleasant face’’, ‘‘I am easy to get along with’’, and ‘‘I am a good person’’),
were not significant predictors of the three Faces Scales (ps > .05). These results suggest
that HapPH2 and the Faces Scales are related, but mostly assess different aspects of
children’s happiness.
4.2 Demographic variables and happiness
In general, the demographic items were not highly correlated with children’s happiness.
Table 3 shows the twelve items selected to help assess the role of demographic
variables in children’s happiness. Pearson product–moment correlations and descriptive
statistics were used to describe the relationship between the happiness measures and
items taken from the Children’s and the Parent’s Questionnaires (see Table 4). The
most consistent finding was that the two measures of family income (Family Wealth
and Gross Income) were each significantly and positively correlated with three of the
four measures of happiness. Children’s estimates of Family Wealth correlated with
parents’ estimates of Gross Income (r = .32, p < .05) suggesting that children have an
understanding of their family’s affluence.
Table 2 Pearson product–moment correlations between the four measures of happiness
HapPH2 COF PCF
COF .37* – –
PCF .17* .34* –
TCF .27* .17* .15*
*p < .05 (two-tailed)
HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2 sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings;PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
286 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
The amount of time that children watched television, whether estimated by the children
or the parents, was negatively correlated with happiness, and was similar to the results
reported in the adult literature (e.g., Lu and Argyle 1993). However, these correlations
were only significant between the parents’ estimates and ParentChildFace and Teacher-
ChildFace, and between the children’s estimates and HapPH2 and TeacherChildFace (see
Table 4). The correlation between parents’ and children’s estimates of the amount of TV
watched by the children was significant (r = .50, p < 0.05), suggesting that these measures
were valid.
Table 4 also shows that the age of the mother was correlated with ParentChildFace
and TeacherChildFace. The age of the child was correlated with TeacherChildFace, and
the sex of the child was correlated with ChildOwnFace and TeacherChildFace. Who the child
mostly lived with was correlated with HapPH2 and TeacherChildFace and the marital status
of the parents was correlated with TeacherChildFace ratings. No other correlations between
the measures of happiness and the demographic items were significantly correlated.
Table 3 Averages and standard deviations (SD) of demographic items
Questionnaire Item name Question/statement Scale Average SD
Child Child TV How many hours of TV do youwatch per day?
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,5+
2.1a 1.2
FamilyWealth
In terms of money, how rich do youthink your family is?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 3b 0.6
Parent GrossIncome
What is the gross household incomeof your child’s primary residence?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7
3b 1.6
Mother’sAge
How old is your child’s mother? 40.6a 4.6
Father’sAge
How old is your child’s father? 43.0a 5.5
Child’sAge
How old is your child? 10.2a 0.9
Parent–childTV
On average, how many hours ofTV does your child watch per day?
1.7a 0.9
Child Sex Child’s gender 1, 2 1b 0.5
Parent Sex Your gender: person completing the form 1, 2 1b 0.3
CaregiverSex
What is the gender of the child’s primarycaregiver?
1, 2 1b 0.7
Child Live Who does your child mostly live with? 1, 2, 3, 4 3b 0.8
ParentMaritalStatus
What is the marital status of your child’sprimary caregiver?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8
3b 0.7
a Meanb ModeFamily wealth: 1 = Very poor; 2 = Poor; 3 = Average; 4 = Rich; 5 = Very RichChild, Parent, Caregiver Sex: 1 = Female; 2 = MaleChild Live: 1 = Mom; 2 = Dad; 3 = Both; 4 = NeitherGross Income: 1 = $0–$20,000; 2 = $21,000–$40,000; 3 = $41,000–$60,000; 4 = $61,000–$80,000; 5 =$81,000–$100,000; 6 = $101,000–$150,000; 7 = $ > $150,000Parent Marital Status: 1 = Single; 2 = Common Law; 3 = Married; 4 = Divorced; 5 = Widowed; 6 = Single& Divorced; 7 = Common Law with someone else & divorced; 8 = Divorced & married to someone else
Children’s happiness 287
123
4.2.1 Regression analyses of the demographic items
The multivariate regression analysis using Wilks’Lambda with the four measures of
happiness showed two significant demographic predictors: Family Wealth,
F(4,317) = 5.09, p < .01, and Child Sex, F(4,317) = 5.26, p < .001. Therefore, these were
the only two predictors entered into the multiple regression analysis. This analysis showed
that Family Wealth accounted for 4% (b = .19) of the variance on HapPH2,
F(1,402) = 15.17, p < .001, and 2% (b = .15) of the variance on ChildOwnFace,
F(2,401) = 9.90, p < .001. Family wealth did not account for any significant variance on
ParentChildFace or TeacherChildFace, Fs(2,401) < 1. Child Sex accounted for 3%
(b = �.17) of the variance on TeacherChildFace, and 2% (b = �.15) of the variance on
ChildOwnFace, Fs(2,402) > 9.5, ps > .01. Child Sex did not account for any significant
variance on ParentChildFace or HapPH2, Fs(2,401) < 1.
The present results parallel the adult literature (e.g., Cheng and Furnham 2001;
Csikszenmihalyi and Hunter 2003; Diener and Fujita 1995; Huebner and Dew 1996; Lu
and Lin 1998; Myers 2000; Pinquart and Sorensen 2001) and the adolescent literature (e.g.,
Gilman et al. 2000; Grob et al. 1999) that reports that age, gender, and socioeconomic
factors account for little of the variation in self-reported happiness.
Because Gross Income (reported by parents), Family Wealth (estimated by children), and
Child Sex were the demographic variables most closely related to the children’s happiness,
and previous studies report that a modest amount of variance in well-being and happiness is
accounted for by income (see Diener et al. 1999; Myers 2000), where appropriate, Gross
Income, Family Wealth, and Child Sex were controlled in the following analyses.
4.3 Temperament, Popularity, and Physical Appearance as predictors of happiness
Standardized scores were calculated for Piers-Harris 2 for three subscales (i.e., Free-
dom from Anxiety, Popularity, and Physical Appearance and Attributes) according to
Table 4 Pearson product–moment correlations between happiness measures and demographics
Questionnaire Items HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
Child Child TV (hr) �.12* �.09 �.04 �.14*
Family Wealth .19* .14* .11* .07
Parent Gross Income .16* .05 .13* .18*
Mother’s Age (years) .02 .09 .10* .16*
Father’s Age (years) .00 .06 .02 .09
Parent–child TV (hr) �.01 �.06 �.11* �.11*
Child Age (years) �.04 .01 .03 .11*
Child Sex �.05 �.15* �.05 �.17*
Parent Sex �.02 �.04 �.05 �.02
Caregiver Sex .08 .06 .05 �.05
Child Live .13* .02 .02 .11*
Parent Marital Status .05 .04 .00 .16*
*ps < .05 (two-tailed)
HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2 sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings;PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
288 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
the test’s manual (Piers and Herzberg 2002). These subscales were related to the four
measures of happiness (see Table 5) suggesting that estimates related to temperament,
popularity, and physical appearance, are related to children’s happiness. Regression
analyses were used to investigate the relations between these four measures and the
individual items from these subscales. The multivariate regression analyses reported
below indicated that the four measures of happiness were differentially related with the
three subscales of the Pier Harris 2. The multiple regression analysis further showed
that Freedom From Anxiety predicted variance on HapPH2, ChildOwnFace, and Par-
entChildFace. Popularity predicted variance on ChildOwnFace, ParentChildFace, and
TeacherChildFace. Physical Appearance predicted variance only on HapPH2.
4.4 Temperament predictors of happiness
The Freedom from Anxiety Subscale of the Piers-Harris 2 reflects measures of anxiety
and dysphoric mood. Children with domain scores above 55 are considered relatively
free from dysphoric moods, children with scores between 40 and 55 have some
acknowledged mood difficulties, and children with scores less than 40 have dysphoric
moods (Piers and Herzberg 2002). Using this criterion, children with domain scores
above 55 were categorized as free from dysphoria (Free), between 40 and 55 as rational
about their dysphoria (Rational), and less than 40 as anxious about their dysphoria
(Anxious). These three categories formed a variable, we labeled as Neurotic, which was
composed of 191 children categorized as Free, 194 as Rational, and 32 as Anxious. The
neurotic variable was included as a temperament predictor of happiness in children and
was significantly correlated with all four measures of happiness (see Table 7). Fur-
thermore, fourteen items related to temperament contributed to the Piers-Harris 2
Freedom from Anxiety Subscale. However, four of these items were omitted because
they also contributed to the Happiness and Satisfaction Subscale. Table 6 shows the
means and standard deviations of the items used to assess the role of temperament in
children’s happiness and Table 7 shows the correlations between these items and the four
measures of happiness.
Table 5 Regression analysis on the relation between the Piers-Harris Subscales and the four measures ofhappiness using semipartials (sr2), R, R2, and standardized regression coefficients (b)
Piers-Harris 2 Subscales MVR HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b
Freedom from anxiety p < .001 .35* .42 .02* .18 .08* .19 ns ns
Physical appearance p < .001 .09* .35 ns ns ns ns ns ns
Popularity p < .001 ns ns .16* .28 .02* .16 .07* .27
R = .66* R = .42* R = .32* R = .27*
R2 = .44* R2 = .18* R2 = .10* R2 = .07*
MVR = multivariate regression
*Multiple regression result significant at p < .05
ns = Multiple regression result not significant; HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings; PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
Children’s happiness 289
123
In addition to the items from the Piers-Harris 2, an item was selected as a temperament
predictor from the Parent’s Questionnaire: ‘‘I would describe my child as ... (very shy, a
little shy, a little outgoing, very outgoing)’’. On this item, labeled Describe Child, 3%,
23%, 41%, and 32% of the parents rated their child as very shy, a little shy, a little
outgoing, and very outgoing, respectively (1% of the parents did not respond). With only
Table 6 Means and standard deviations (SD) of temperament items
Questionnaire Item name Question/statement Scale Mean SD
Piers-Harris 2 Sad I am often sad 0 = Yes; 1 = No .92 .27
Shy I am shy 0 = Yes; 1 = No .68 .47
Nervousteacher
I get nervous when theteacher calls on me
0 = Yes; 1 = No .75 .43
Worried tests I get worried when wehave tests in school
0 = Yes; 1 = No .59 .49
Give up I give up easily 0 = Yes; 1 = No .94 .24
Nervous self I am nervous 0 = Yes; 1 = No .80 .40
Worry lots I worry a lot 0 = Yes; 1 = No .77 .42
Left out I feel left out of things 0 = Yes; 1 = No .78 .41
Often afraid I am often afraid 0 = Yes; 1 = No .87 .34
Cry easily I cry easily 0 = Yes; 1 = No .83 .37
Neurotic 1 = Free (0–39),2 = Rational (40–55)
1, 2, 3 – –
3 = Neurotic (56–65) (T-score) (54) (8.33)
Parent Describe child I would describemy child as
1, 2, 3, 4 – –
Neurotic: Individual temperament t-scores were calculated and participants classified according to the Piers-Harris 2 manual (Piers and Herzberg 2002)
Describe Child: 1 = Very shy, 2 = A little shy, 3 = A little outgoing, 4 = Very outgoing
Table 7 Pearson–product moment correlations between happiness and temperament items
Questionnaire Items HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
Piers-Harris 2 Sad .44* .31* .16* .09
Shy .09 .15* .16* .10*
Nervous teacher .14* .11* .11* .07
Worried tests .13* .09 .12* .10*
Give up .21* .14* .05 .05
Nervous self .21* .19* .13* .10*
Worry lots .31* .24* .21* .13*
Left out .49* .29* .23* .15*
Often afraid .26* .21* .15* .14*
Cry easily .26* .23* .17* .11*
Neurotic �.54* �.33* �.24* �.20*
Parent Describe child .09 .16* .29* .19*
* p < .05 (two-tailed)
HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2 sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings;PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
290 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
3% describing their child as ‘‘very shy’’, we combined these responses with the ‘‘a little
shy’’ group. Describe Child was significantly correlated with ChildOwnFace, Parent-
ChildFace, and TeacherChildFace (see Table 7).
All the individual items from the Piers-Harris 2 were positively correlated with the four
measures of happiness and most of these correlations were significant (see Table 7).
4.4.1 Regression analyses of temperament items
Wilks’ lambdas for the multivariate regression with all four measures of happiness indi-
cated several significant temperament predictors of happiness: Sad, Worried Tests, Afraid,
Describe Child, and Neurotic. These significant multivariate predictors were then used in
the multiple regression analyses for each measure of happiness.
Research has consistently shown that extraversion is strongly related to adult and ado-
lescent happiness and well-being (e.g., Argyle and Lu 1990; Brebner et al. 1995; Costa et al.
1980). Our findings parallel these results. ParentChildFace and TeacherChildFace ratings of
happiness increased for children rated by their parents as more outgoing and less shy (akin
to extraversion). An ANOVA revealed that children who were reported as ‘‘very outgoing’’
by their parents were also rated by their parents as happier (M = 6.14, SE = .07) than children
viewed by their parents as ‘‘a little outgoing’’ (M = 5.80, SE = .06). Furthermore, children
who were ‘‘a little outgoing’’ were also rated as happier by their parents than children
reported as ‘‘shy’’ (M = 5.55, SE = .08), F(2,399) = 16.08, p < .001. Similarly, on the
TeacherChildFace scale, children who were reported by their parents as ‘‘very outgoing’’
were rated by their teachers as happier (M = 6.08, SE = .07) than children reported by their
parents as being ‘‘shy’’ (M = 5.66, SE = .08). However, teacher’s happiness ratings of ‘‘very
outgoing’’ children were not significantly different from teacher’s ratings of ‘‘a little out-
going’’ children (M = 5.88, SE = .06), F(3,395) = 7.54, p < .01.
Researchers also report that neuroticism is consistently and negatively related to hap-
piness and well-being in adults and adolescents (e.g., Brebner et al. 1995; Costa et al. 1980;
Argyle and Lu 1990). Similarly, our variable Neurotic was negatively correlated to all four
measures of happiness; higher happiness scores were associated with lower estimates of
neuroticism (see Tables 7 and 8).
Wilks’ lambdas for the multivariate regression analysis indicated that the remaining
temperament predictors; Shy, Nervous Teacher, Give Up, Nervous Self, Worry Lots, and
Cry Easily, were not significantly related to any of the measures of happiness,
Fs(4,320) = 1.60, p > .05. Furthermore, of the demographic variables, Gross Income and
Child Sex were significant predictors of variance on the different measures of happiness,
Fs(4,320) > 3.04, ps < .05, but Family Wealth was not, F(4,320) = 1.35, p > .05.
4.5 Popularity predictors of happiness
All 12 items that contribute to the Popularity Subscale of the Piers-Harris 2 questionnaire
(Piers and Herzberg 2002) were selected to assess the role of popularity in children’s
happiness. In general, as ratings on these items indicated greater popularity, ratings of
happiness increased. The means and standard deviations for these items are presented in
Table 9. All of the popularity items correlated significantly with all four measures of
happiness, except Shy with HapPH2, Observer with ParentChildFace, Pick on Me with
TeacherChildFace, and Different from Others with ChildOwnFace, ParentChildFace and
TeacherChildFace (see Table 10).
Children’s happiness 291
123
4.5.1 Regression analyses
The multivariate results are summarized in Table 11. In these analyses, the demographic
variable Child Sex was significant, F(4,321) = 3.24, p < .05, but Gross Income and
Family Wealth were not, Fs(4,321) < 2.18, ps > .05. The Wilks’ lambdas for the
multivariate regression with the four measures of happiness revealed five significant
predictors of happiness related to popularity: Make Friends, Left Out, Last Chosen, Good
Ideas, and Pick on Me, Fs(4,321) > 3.0, ps > .05. The remaining multivariate predictors
did not show multivariate significance on any of the four measures, Fs(4,321) < 2.15,
ps > .05.
The significant multivariate predictors were used in the multiple regression analyses,
which indicated that HapPH2 ratings were higher for children who indicated that they had
good ideas, were not chosen last for games or sports, were not picked on by others, and did
not feel left out of things. Likewise, ChildOwnFace ratings were higher for children who
indicated that they were not chosen last for sports and games, and not left out of things.
ParentChildFace ratings were higher for children who reported that they were not left out
of things, and were not picked on by others. Finally, TeacherChildFace ratings were lower
for children who agreed with the statements ‘‘It is hard for me to make friends’’ and ‘‘I am
among the last chosen for games and sports’’. Together, these results suggest that children
with greater popularity are viewed by adults (i.e., parents and teachers) and themselves as
happier.
Table 8 Regression analysis on the relation between the temperament items and the four measures ofhappiness using semipartials (sr2), R, R2, and standardized regression coefficients (b)
Questionnaire Items MVR HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b
Piers Harris 2 Sad p < .001 .05* .25 .02* .16 ns ns ns ns
Shy p = .18 – – – – – – – –
Nervous teacher p = .19 – – – – – – – –
Worried tests p < .01 ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns
Give up p = .29 – – – – – – – –
Nervous self p = .32 – – – – – – – –
Worry lots p = .62 – – – – – – – –
Left out p = .14 – – – – – – – –
Often afraid p < .05 ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns
Cry easily p = .41 – – – – – – – –
Neurotic p < .001 .28* �.42 .11* �.25 .03* �.17 .02* �.15
Parent Describe child p < .001 ns ns ns ns .08* .24 .03* .15
R = .57* R = .36* R = .33* R = .22*
R2 = .33* R2 = .13* R2 = .11* R2 = .05*
MVR = multivariate regression
*Multiple regression result significant at p < .05
ns = Multiple regression result not significant; HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings; PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
292 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
Table 9 Means and standard deviations (SD) of popularity items
Questionnaire Item name Question/statement Scale Mean SD
Piers-Harris2
Fun of me My classmates makefun of me
0 = Yes;1 = No
.90 .30
Make friends It is hard for me tomake friends
0 = Yes;1 = No
.88 .32
Shy I am shy 0 = Yes;1 = No
.68 .47
Unpopular I am unpopular 0 = Yes;1 = No
.67 .47
Left out I feel left out of things 0 = Yes;1 = No
.78 .41
Last chosen I am among the last to bechosen for games and sports
0 = Yes;1 = No
.81 .39
Good ideas My classmates in school thinkI have good ideas
1 = Yes;0 = No
.72 .45
Many friends I have many friends 1 = Yes;0 = No
.85 .36
Pick on me People pick on me 0 = Yes;1 = No
.88 .33
Observer In games and sports,I watch instead of play
0 = Yes;1 = No
.86 .35
Popular with girls I am popular with girls 1 = Yes;0 = No
.57 .49
Different from others I am different fromother people
0 = Yes;1 = No
.32 .47
Table 10 Pearson–product moment correlations between happiness and popularity items
Questionnaire Items HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
Piers-Harris 2 Fun of me .27* .14* .13* .11*
Make friends .27* .17* .12* .26*
Shy .09 .15* .16* .10*
Unpopular .36* .25* .19* .19*
Left out .43* .29* .23* .15*
Last chosen .44* .34* .15* .21*
Good ideas .48* .27* .14* .15*
Many friends .38* .16* .12* .10*
Pick on me .37* .27* .21* .06
Observer .20* .11* .08 .21*
Popular with girls .25* .23* .11* .18*
Different from others .17* .05 .04 .01
*p < .05 (two-tailed)
HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2 sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings;PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
Children’s happiness 293
123
4.6 Physical appearance predictors of happiness
Nine items that contribute to the Physical Appearance and Attributes Subscale of the
Piers-Harris 2 questionnaire (Piers and Herzberg 2002) were selected to assess the role of
physical appearance in children’s happiness. Though eleven items contribute to this
subscale, two items were omitted because they also contribute to the Happiness and
Satisfaction Subscale. The means and standard deviations for the included items are
presented in Table 12. In general, ratings of children’s happiness were higher if the
children agreed that they possessed positive attributes. All of the items were positively
and significantly correlated with all four measures of happiness, except Popular with
Boys with ChildOwnFace, Smart, Strong, Nice Hair, Good Looking, and Popular with
Boys with ParentChildFace, and Leader and Popular with Boys with TeacherChildFace
(see Table 13).
4.6.1 Regression analyses
The multivariate results are summarized in Table 14. In the multivariate regression anal-
ysis, the Wilks’ lambdas indicated that the demographic variable Child Sex contributed to
the variance, F(4,321) = 2.65, p < .05, but Gross Income and Family Wealth did not,
Fs(4,321) < 2.19, ps > .05. The multiple regression analyses showed that Child Sex did not
contribute any significant variance on HapPH2 or ParentChildFace ratings. Child Sex did
account for 2% and 3% of the variance on ChildOwnFace and TeacherOwnFace ratings,
respectively, Fs(3,404) < 3.30, ps < .05.
Table 11 Regression analysis on the relation between the popularity items and the four measures ofhappiness using semipartials (sr2), R, R2, and standardized regression coefficients (b)
Questionnaire Items MVR HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b
Piers Harris 2 Fun of me p = .66 – – – – – – – –
Make friends p < .01 ns ns ns ns ns ns .07* .22
Shy p = .20 – – – – – – – –
Unpopular p = .29 – – – – – – – –
Left out p < .01 .02* .17 .02* .17 .05* .18 ns ns
Last chosen p < .05 .10* .21 .09* .22 ns ns .02* .15
Good ideas p < .01 .23* .32 ns ns ns ns ns ns
Many friends p = .13 – – – – – – – –
Pick on me p < .01 .04* .18 ns ns .02* .14 ns ns
Observer p = .07 – – – – – – – –
Popular with girls p = .81 – – – – – – – –
Different from others p = .24 – – – – – – – –
R = .62* R = .33* R = .27* R = .30*
R2 = .39* R2 = .11* R2 = .07* R2 = .09*
MVR = multivariate regression
*Multiple regression result significant at p < .05
ns = Multiple regression result not significant; HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings; PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
294 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
The multivariate regression with the four measures of happiness also revealed three
significant predictors of happiness related to physical appearance and attributes: Smart,
Classmates Like Ideas, and Good Looking, (Wilks’lambdas: Fs(4,321) > 3.70, ps < .01).
The significant multivariate predictors used in the multiple regression analyses indicated
that on the HapPH2 and ChildOwnFace scales, the best predictors were Classmates Like
Ideas and Good Looking. Classmates Like Ideas was the only significant predictor of
ParentChildFace ratings. Smart and Good Looking were the only significant predictors of
TeacherChildFace. For all these predictors, happiness ratings were higher for children who
indicated that these items applied to them. The remaining multivariate predictors were not
significant on any of the four measures, (Wilks’lambdas: Fs(4,321) < 1.76, ps > .05).
Together, these results suggest that children who ascribe positive attributes to themselves,
including being good looking, were viewed by adults (i.e., parents and teachers) and
themselves as being happier.
Table 12 Means and standard deviations (SD) of physical attraction items
Questionnaire Item name Question/statement Scale Mean SD
Piers-Harris 2 Smart I am smart 1 = Yes; 0 = No .92 .27
Leader I am a leader in games and sports 1 = Yes; 0 = No .40 .49
Strong I am strong 1 = Yes; 0 = No .80 .40
Friend like ideas My friends like my ideas 1 = Yes; 0 = No .88 .33
Nice hair I have nice hair 1 = Yes; 0 = No .83 .38
Classmates like ideas My classmates in school thinkI have good ideas
1 = Yes; 0 = No .72 .45
Good looking I am good looking 1 = Yes; 0 = No .70 .46
Popular with boys I am popular with boys 1 = Yes; 0 = No .50 .50
Popular with girls I am popular with girls 1 = Yes; 0 = No .57 .50
Table 13 Pearson–product moment correlations between happiness and physical attraction items
Questionnaire Items HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
Piers-Harris 2 Smart .20* .12* .03 .22*
Leader .13* .16* .15* .09
Strong .19* .21* .08 .12*
Friend like ideas .36* .21* .15* .12*
Nice hair .28* .11* .03 .14*
Classmates like ideas .48* .27* .14* .15*
Good looking .41* .25* .09 .19*
Popular with boys .17* .08 .09 .07
Popular with girls .25* .23* .11* .18*
*p < .05 (two-tailed)
HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2 sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings;PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
Children’s happiness 295
123
5 Discussion
The present study assessed happiness in children using four different measures. The
relationship between these measures and temperament, popularity, physical appearance,
and demographic variables, were then examined. In general, variables related to temper-
ament, popularity, and physical appearance were related to children’s happiness
but demographic variables did not account for any appreciable variation in children’s
happiness.
5.1 Temperament
Both theoretical (Averill and More 1993; see Diener et al. 1999) and empirical (Argyle and
Lu 1990; Furnham and Brewer 1990) work has suggested that personality characteristics
are associated with happiness. Research has found that extraversion and neuroticism
account for significant variance in the happiness of adults and adolescents (Brebner et al.
1995; Francis et al. 1998; Furnham and Brewin 1990; Hayes and Joseph 2003). Our results
suggest a parallel relation in children. For all four measures of children’s happiness, the
variable Neurotic (derived from the Freedom From Anxiety Subscale of the Pier Harris 2)
accounted for a significant proportion of the variance. For two measures of children’s
happiness (i.e., ParentChildFace and TeacherChildFace), parents’ ratings of their chil-
dren’s temperament on a scale from ‘‘very outgoing’’ to ‘‘very shy’’ were also significant
predictors of children’s happiness.
Though personality may continue to develop until past the mid-twenties (Costa and
McCrae 1994), our results suggest that the early underpinnings of factors that may be
related to aspects of neuroticism and extraversion are associated with happiness. Future
research should assess several dimensions of children’s temperament, including factors
Table 14 Regression analysis on the relation between the Physical Attraction items and the four measuresof happiness using semipartials (sr2), R, R2, and standardized regression coefficients (b)
Questionnaire Items MVR HapPH2 COF PCF TCF
sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b sr2 b
Piers Harris 2 Smart p < .01 ns ns ns ns ns ns .05* .21
Leader p = .33 – – – – – – – –
Strong p = .23 – – – – – – – –
Friend like ideas p = .16 – – – – – – – –
Nice hair p = .14 – – – – – – – –
Classmates like ideas p < .01 .23** .40 .05* .19 .02* .14 ns ns
Good looking p < .01 .08* .30 .02* .14 ns ns .02* .15
Popular with boys p = .48 – – – – – – – –
Popular with girls p = .41 – – – – – – – –
R = .56* R = .26* R = .14* R = .26*
R2 = .31* R2 = .07* R2 = .02* R2 = .07*
MVR = multivariate regression
*Multiple regression result significant at p < .05
ns = Multiple regression result not significant; HapPH2 = Happiness/satisfaction ratings on Piers-Harris 2sub-scale; COF = ChildOwnFace ratings; PCF = ParentChildFace ratings; TCF = TeacherChildFace ratings
296 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
related to neuroticism and extraversion, and determine their relations to happiness. It is
possible that the relation between happiness and extraversion may be stronger in younger
people (Hills and Argyle 2001a, b).
Though previous work (Mahon and Yarcheski 2002) suggested that enabling variables
(e.g., vigor, social support, and openness to change) were better predictors of young ado-
lescents’ happiness than personality characteristics, neuroticism and extraversion were not
assessed. In another study (Cheng and Furnham 2001), though personality factors were
found to predict happiness, attributional style, which was correlated with extraversion and
neuroticism, was important in explaining happiness. Future research might assess the role of
attributional style in conjunction with personality-related variables, in children’s happiness.
5.2 Popularity
Extensive research suggests that the acceptance or rejection by peers is a critical factor in
whether or not children exhibit conduct problems and go on to develop lasting antisocial
problems as adults (Coie and Lenox 1994; Moffitt 1993). We found that popularity was
related to happiness in children. An association between happiness and popularity was
previously demonstrated using emotional expressions (Hubbard 2001). Children’s
expressions of happiness varied with how much they were liked by their peers.
The relation between happiness and popularity in children may be explained by a theory
that claims that children who are rejected by others (i.e., not popular) place a stronger
emphasis on achieving instrumental goals than social goals (Renshaw and Asher 1983).
Achieving strong social relationships is one of the strongest predictors of happiness (Ar-
gyle 2001; Myers and Diener 1995).
5.3 Physical appearance
Physical attractiveness and subjective well-being were found to be positively correlated in
adults, though only weakly (Diener et al. 1995b). Similarly, physical appearance accounted
for a modest amount of the variance in children’s happiness in the present study. For example,
children who agreed with the statement ‘‘I am good-looking’’, were rated by themselves, their
teachers, and the Piers-Harris 2 (but not by their parents) as happier. A meta-analysis con-
cluded that physically attractive people are perceived as having more desirable traits (Fein-
gold 1992) and this perceptual bias extends to children (Clifford and Walster 1973).
Physically attractive people, including children, may be happier because of this bias.
However, based on our results we cannot conclude that children’s physical attractive-
ness is associated with children’s happiness. First, physical attractiveness was not assessed
independently in our sample; ratings of physical attractiveness were based on the chil-
dren’s self-ratings. It would be more accurate to conclude that self-perceived attractiveness
is associated with happiness in children. This is similar to the finding that young adults’
happiness is related to their self-ratings of attractiveness (Neto 2001). Furthermore, the
Piers-Harris 2 Physical Appearance and Attributes Subscale not only assesses a child’s
appraisal of their physical appearance but it also assesses additional attributes such as
leadership and the ability to express ideas (Piers and Herzberg 2002). The Physical
Appearance and Attributes Scale includes the item ‘‘My classmates in school think I have
good ideas’’. Children who agreed with this statement tended to be happier, and responses
to this item accounted for more variance in children’s happiness than items seemingly
Children’s happiness 297
123
more directly related to appearance (e.g., ‘‘I am good-looking’’ and ‘‘My looks bother
me’’). It is possible that physical appearance may contribute little to happiness in children.
Instead, aspects of self-esteem may be more important to children’s happiness and items
from the Piers-Harris 2’s Physical Appearance and Attributes Scale assess this. Research
with adults has shown that self-esteem is related to subjective well-being (Lucas et al.
1996) and self-concept predicts life satisfaction in children and young adults (Chang et al.
2003).
5.4 Demographic variables
Research has consistently shown that demographic variables representing a wide range of
dimensions (e.g., income, sex, and age) do not account for an impressive proportion of the
variance in the happiness and well-being of adults and adolescents (e.g., Andrews and
Withey 1976; Cheng and Furnham 2001; Csikszentmhihalyi and Hunter 2003; Diener and
Fujita 1995; Gilman et al. 2000; Grob et al. 1999; Huebner and Dew 1996; Lu and Lin
1998; Pinquart and Sorenson 2001). For example, a meta-analysis of 300 studies found that
gender accounts for less than 1% of the variance in the well-being of adults (Pinquart and
Sorenson 2001). Similarly, in the present study, for two measures of happiness (HapPH2 &
ParentChildFace) gender did not account for a significant amount of the variance in
children’s happiness, and for the other two measures (ChildOwnFace and Teacher Child
Face) it accounted for less than 3%.
Research on demographic variables and adult happiness has influenced theories to
suggest that happiness may be more associated with internal factors (e.g., personality) than
external factors (e.g., experience and demographics) (Diener 1984; Diener et al. 1999). Our
research suggests that a similar theoretical approach may be fruitful in understanding
happiness in children. A wide range of demographic variables failed to explain more than a
small amount of children’s happiness, whereas variables related to temperament, popu-
larity, and physical appearance accounted for much more.
5.5 Limitations
The present study begins to address the scarcity of research on happiness in children, but it
has several limitations. These limitations include that our sample only represented a single
culture. Happiness levels and the predictors of happiness vary across cultures (Diener et al.
1995a; Inglehart 1990). Additionally, we deliberately studied 9–12 year old children, and
our results may not generalize to children of other ages. For example, the predictors of life
satisfaction for 2nd and 8th grade children differed (Chang et al. 2003). Though having
multiple measures of happiness and not relying solely on self-reports is an advantage (see
below), the process of obtaining these measures creates a limitation. In order to obtain our
ratings, one must first secure informed consent from school boards, school principals,
teachers, and parents, prior to obtaining assent from the children. With each additional
level of consent required, one potentially reduces the percentage of people who agree to
participate. Furthermore, relying on children to deliver the Parent’s Questionnaire and
information to their parents and then return the completed forms further reduces our
response rate. We have no guarantee that all parents received their packets and that all
completed forms were returned. Given these constraints we consider our response rate of
over 50% to be positive.
298 M. D. Holder, B. Coleman
123
An additional limitation is that there may have been a bias in the parents who agreed to
respond. For example, perhaps happier parents were more likely to respond. Given that
genes may account for 40% of the variance in positive emotionality (Tellegen et al. 1988)
if more parents who were happy responded, our sample may include more children who are
happy. The effect of any sample bias in the present study is difficult to assess. One possible
outcome is it may have truncated the range of children’s happiness in our sample and
reduced the strength of our effects.
Our study may have also been limited by our measures of happiness. The present
research employed estimates of happiness by parents and teachers. Correlations between
parent and teacher ratings of children are typically not perfect (Achenbach et al. 1987;
Gagnon et al. 1992). For example, the correlation between parents’ and teachers’ ratings
was +0.14 for cheerfulness/optimism and was also +0.14 for humor (Martin et al. 2002).
These values are similar to the correlations of parents’ and teachers’ ratings of children’s
happiness (+0.15) in the present study.
In the present study, four measures of children’s happiness were correlated and shared
some common predictors. For example, for all four measures the variable labeled Neurotic
accounted for a significant proportion of the variance. However, the correlations were low
and the predictors were not identical for all measures. This indicated that the measures of
happiness were assessing, at least in part, different components and/or sensitivity to dif-
ferent additional variables.
Without an ideal single measure of children’s happiness, we suggest that multiple
measures continue to be used. This suggestion parallels the conclusion based on the adult
literature that multiple measures, not only self-reports, should be employed (see Diener
et al. 1999). When findings are consistent across multiple measures that differ in their
underlying assumptions, the findings are less likely attributable to the assumptions of any
individual measure, and one can be more confident in their validity. In the present study,
results based on multiple measures of happiness suggested that temperament, popularity,
and physical appearance all contribute to children’s happiness, whereas demographic
variables account for relatively little of the variance in children’s happiness. Identifying
variables that are correlated with happiness in children is helpful in determining the
variables that should be included in a longitudinal study of children’s happiness.
Acknowledgements Preparation of this article was supported, in part, by a grant from the Michael SmithFoundation for Health Research awarded to Mark Holder. We are grateful for Andrea Welder and AndreaKlassen for reading and commenting on an earlier version of this article.
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