happiness accounts for policy use ed diener ed diener smiley distinguished professor of psychology,...

Happiness Accounts for Policy Use

Ed Diener Ed Diener

Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois

Senior Scientist The Gallup Organization

Organization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentRome, Italy

April 2 -3, 2007

OverviewSubjective well-being can reveal the

progress of societies

And can be used as input to policy

Will show why, and answer objections

Show some examples of policy implications

Subjective Well-Being (SWB)

People’s evaluations of their lives – in both thoughts and feelings. For example:

Life satisfactionMarital, work, & health satisfactionPleasant emotions, e.g. Joy, affectionFeelings of purpose and meaningFeelings of self-efficacyEtc.

A few predictors of SWB

• Good social relationships

• Progress toward long-term goals

• Trust in neighbors

• Stable and predictable society

• Basic needs met

Example: Gallup World Poll 2006

• On the ladder below, where the bottom rung, 0, is the worst life you can imagine for yourself, and 10 is the best life you can imagine for yourself, where do you currently stand?

15 Highest on LadderIncome Rank (97)

• Denmark 8.0 5• Finland 7.7 12• Switzerland 7.5 4• Netherlands 7.5 7• Canada 7.4 8• Norway 7.4 3• Sweden 7.4 13• Australia 7.4 11• New Zealand 7.3 22• Belgium 7.3 9• United States 7.2 1• Israel 7.2 20• Venezuela 7.2 53• Spain 7.2 19• Ireland 7.1 2

Lowest Life Ladder Income Rank

• Benin 3.3 90• Cambodia 3.6 73• Sierra Leone 3.6 95• Tanzania 3.7 97• Georgia 3.7 69• Uganda 3.7 85• Niger 3.7 96• Ethiopia 3.8 93• Burkina Faso 3.8 87• Zimbabwe 3.8 78• Cameroon 3.9 77• Madagascar 4.0 94• Kenya 4.0 89• Mali 4.0 91

Feel Cannot Afford Medical Care

• Japan 4 %• UK 7 %• Sweden 7 %• Canada 8 %• France 11 %• Spain 11 %• Italy 14 %• Jordan 15 %• Israel 16 %• Iran 19 %• USA 20 %• Turkey 45 %• Romania 50 %

Cannot Afford Housing

• Finland 3 %• Ireland 4 %• United Kingdom 6 %• Switzerland 8 %• USA 8 %• Denmark 9 %• Germany 10 %• France 11 %• Spain 13 %• Belarus 40 %• Sierra Leone 62 %

Optimism (0 – 10) – Future Ladder

• Zimbabwe 4.0• Haiti 5.1• Slovakia 5.6• Afghanistan 5.7• Portugal 5.8• Poland 6.3• Germany 6.8• Spain 7.3• France 7.6• USA 8.1• Ireland 8.2• Denmark 8.5• Venezuela 8.5

Correlates of National Life Satisfaction

• Income .82

• Longevity .73

• Political stability .52

• Trust other people .48

• Unemployment -.44

• Time with family/friends .41

Money is Not Enough

• Rising incomes, but not life satisfaction

• Factors such as Longevity predict Gallup’s life satisfaction ladder beyond income

Why SWB ?

• People rate it as very important, even the most important. They want it!

• Citizen’s evaluations, not those of elites

• Behavioral benefits of well-being

Objections

1. Happy people are ineffective and unmotivated, or worse yet, silly

2. People adapt to bad and good circumstances

2. Measures are baloney; must look at people’s behavior, not what they say

3. Happiness an individual matter

4. Other values are more important

BUT

Is happiness good?

Is it functional?

The Error of Flaubert

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.

Gustave Flaubert

Our Research Shows that Happiness is Beneficial

Flaubert 180 degrees off

• Happy college students later earn higher incomes

College Entry Cheerfulness, and Income 19 years later

Diener, Nickerson, Lucas, & Sandvik (2002)

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

Mean

Not CheerfulMost Cheerful

More Benefits of Being Happy

• More friends

• Better and longer marriages

• Social capital: Trust and volunteering

• Higher supervisor ratings at work

• Organizational citizenship behaviors

• Health

Longevity: The Nun Study Danner, Snowden, & Friesen, U Kentucky

1. Nuns autobiographies at age 22

Expression of positive emotions

2. Happy and less happy nuns living in same life circumstances through lifespan

How long do they live?

Longevity in The Nun Study

Survival Rate at Age: 85 94

Most Cheerful Quartile 90% 54%

Least Cheerful 34% 11%

Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen

My doctor asks me:

Smoking (1 pack/day)

Exercise

Light drinking

Smoking (1 pack/day)

Exercise

Light drinking

Heavy drinking

Smoking (1 pack/day)

Exercise

Light drinking

Heavy drinking

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BECOMING A NUN??

Smoking (pack/day)

Exercise

Light drinking

Heavy drinking

Hey, Doc, what about:

How happy are you?

Very Happy vs. Less Happy + 10.7 years

Psychologists

Happy live about 6 years longer

Being happy is beneficial to success

BUT

• Being a happy person does NOT mean:

Acting like an American;

Being a “10”

Not experiencing unpleasant emotions

Slow & Incomplete Adaptation to Unemployment (Mostly Re-Employed, and Controlling for Income)

5.8

6

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

Past Prior Yr. Fired 1 Yr. 3 Yrs.

Life Satisfaction & Disability: The Set-Point Seems to Change

5.8

6

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

-2 Yrs. -1 Yr. 0 +1 Yr. +3 Yrs. +5 Yrs.

-2 Yrs.-1 Yr.0+1 Yr.+3 Yrs.+5 Yrs.

OECD Nations Affect Balance (PA –NA)Women Men

Ireland .69 .66

New Zealand .65 .66

Sweden .65 .61

Netherlands .62 .63

Canada .62 .61

Denmark .61 .61

Australia .61 .61

Austria .61 .60

Mexico .60 .62

Norway .60 .58

Switzerland .58 .57

U.S.A. .56 .61

U.K. .56 .54

Finland .53 .52

Women Men

Japan .53 .43

Germany .52 .56

Belgium .51 .57

France .50 .51

Poland .50 .50

Spain .48 .58

Czech Rep. .48 .50

S. Korea .44 .35

Italy .42 .42

Hungary .41 .48

Slovak Rep. .41 .39

Greece .31 .42

Portugal .30 .44

Turkey .17 .20

Adaptation to MarriageLucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener

7.05

7.1

7.15

7.2

7.25

7.3

7.35

7.4

7.45

7.5

2 Yr.Before

Marriage 2 After

2 Yr. Before 1 BeforeMarriage1 After2 After4 After

SWB Measures Correlate With:

Suicide (individual and national)

Physiological (brain, hormones, immune)

Informant reports (family and friends)

Interview ratings

Reaction-time to stimuli tasks

Societal Policies?Pleasant Emotions—Enjoyment etc.

Highest Lowest

New Zealand 88 % Georgia 43 %Ireland 88 % Pakistan 48 %Netherlands 87 % Armenia 49 %Costa Rica 87 % Palestine 50 %UK 86 % Sierra L. 51 %

Other Values More Important?

For example: survival, basic needs

For example: capabilities & functionings

Example: People happy for wrong reasons

Response: Maybe, but so what?

Don’t want survival or functioning with unhappiness, or neutrality!

SWB relevant to more focused policy issues:

Example: Prostitution

Example: Commuting to work

Example: School well-being check-ups

Life Satisfaction of Sex Workers

• Calcutta Low LS

• Detroit Extremely low LS

Commuting: Gallup World Poll

Life Satisfaction Ladder

0 – 60 min/day 5.8

61 – 120 min/day 5.6

121 – 180 min/day 5.5

181 – 240 min/day 5.0

Conclusions

• SWB measures can complement existing econ and social measures for policy use

• You should be happy!

Predictors of National Life Satisfaction (Economist Intelligence

Unit Study)• Per capita income • Life expectancy• Job security • Political stability• Low divorce rate• Political freedom and civil liberties• Gender equality

Multiple R = .92

SlowAdaptation to Widowhood

5.8

6

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

All isFine

Widow 4 Yrs.

All isFineHusbandfailingWidow

2 Yrs.

4 Yrs.

6 Yrs.

Importance Ratings (1-9)

Happiness Wealth Health

OVERALL

(28 nations) 8.0 6.8 7.9

USA 8.1 6.7 7.6

Japan 7.4 6.6 7.8

Chile 8.6 6.9 8.1

Singapore 8.4 7.1 8.0

Egypt 8.1 7.6 8.0

Hong Kong 7.8 6.4 7.6

China 7.3 7.0 7.8

Unpleasant Emotions—Sad, Angry, Depressed, etc.

Highest Lowest

Armenia DenmarkPalestine SwedenBolivia AustriaSierra Leone Japan

Percent feelings lots yesterday ~ 40 % ~ 13 %

Dissatisfied with Standard of Living

• Ukraine

• Georgia

• Romania

• Russia

• Zimbabwe

• Most satisfied: Ireland

Diener Index of National Quality of Life (1995)

Homicide ratePurchasing powerLiteracyHuman rightsDeforestationPhysicians per capitaIncome equalityAND Subjective Well-being