diener - most people are happy

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PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Subjective Well-Being

Table 1

Year

T946 ~

19471948195219561957195819591960

1963196419651966

1968

1970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985

Time trends in

United States

7 4

7 47 37 67 87 9

_

—

7 77 47 07 5

-

7 57 27 07 07 27 47 3

7 3

7 2

7 27 27 37 2

lubjecttve well-being

5958

6 05 75 85 95 45 75 86 06 06 15 95 96 06 06 06 2

5 9

6 2

6 36 26 56 26 65 85 96 46 36 36 46 45 75 56 26 06 06 0

1990

1991

1992

Note This table is based on data summanzed byVeenhoven (1993) The life satisfaction andhappiness scales used ranged from 0 to 10 with 5 asthe neutral midpoint

METHODOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

Most surveys ask people on one occasion to report orallyhow happy or satisfied they are, often on a single-item scaleMight this measurement situation be biased toward positive re-pdin g** (For a more complete discussion of problems in mea-

sunng SWB, see Diener, 1994 ) SWB scales show good levels ofvalidity (e g , Andrews & W ithey, 1976, Diener, 1984) and cor-

;late highly with non-self-report measures of SWB (Sandvik,Diener, & Seidlitz, 1993) Nevertheless, Kahneman, Frednck-

Fig 1 Distnbution of mean subjective well-being responses f43 nations The mean of the nations' means is 6 33 on a scafrom 0 (most unhappy) to 10 (most happy)

son, Schreiber, and Redelmeier (1993) showed that global reports may not accurately reflect on-line experience, andSchwarz and Strack (1991) found that global reports are inflenced by situational factors Thus, it is important to revieevidence that other methods of measurement also produce positive estimates of SWB

There are several methods of measunng SWB that do notrely on global self-reports of well-being These methods indcate that the high rates of positive well-being found with onetime self-report measures are not due to measurement artifactsTable 2 presents data collected in our laboratory from five sam-ples In addition to collecting self-report data, we collected datafrom target respondents' family members and fnends, whocompleted the scales as they thought the target respondentwould The studies also included an expenence-samplmg measure on which subjects reported their moods each day overpenod of many weeks Finally, in the memory balance mea-sure, participants were asked to recall as many positive eventand negative events from their lives as they could in separattimed penods (Seidlitz & Diener, 1993)

Table 2 shows the percentages of respondents who scoreabove the neutral point on each measure As can be seen , mostrespondents in all samples and on all measures scored in thepositive range On the daily expenence-samphng measure, thnumbers shown are the percentages of individuals who reportedmore positive than negative affect on more than half of the daysampled Expenence sampling may be the best measure of long-term affect, and on this measure a very small number of respon-dents were unhappy The memory balance figures refer to thepercentage of individuals in each sample who could remember

e positive than negative life events, and indicate that mostpeople remembered more good than bad events in their livesThe data in Table 2 lead to the conclusion that w hatever short-




Ed Diener and Carol Oiener

T ^ e 2 Percentage of participants Hith positn

Measure-One-time self-report

Delighted-Temble (Above4)Satisfaction With Life Scale (Above20)Fordyce (Above5)Mood Adjectives (Above0)

Family members and friendsSatisfaction With Life Scale (Above20)Fordyce (Above5)Mood Adjectives (Above0)

Daily experience sampling(More than 50% positive days)

Memory balance(Remembered more positive

than negative days)

•e subjectne well-being in midti

Student samples

1986

(N = 130)

74789390

8598—

92

71

1991-1992

(N = 111)

6 46 38797

849 79 8

9 8

79

method itudie

Disabled

(N = 58)

797293_

6 69 3

9S

72

Other samples

Elderly

{N = 39)

648597

6787

78

74

Mixed adults

{N = 109)

63

'Dehg hted-Temb le (Andrews & Withey 1976)is a 7-point scale witha neutral midpointof 4 The Satisfaction With Life Scale (Pavot& Diener 199̂ )is a 5-itetii scale answeredon a l-to-7 fornnat Scores range fromS to 35 with a neutral pointof 20 The Fordyce scoreIS from the Fordyce (1988) 60-s scaleof happiness Its netitral midpointis "i The Mood Adjectives score indicates intensityof responseto mood adjectives the table presentsthe percentagesof people who showedon average more intense reportsto positive mood words(e g ym/w/) than negative tnood words(e g iadne<,<,)

itngs self-reports may possess they do not seem to lead toexcessively high estimatesof happiness compared with othermethods

In th e expenenc e-sampling method p artitipantsare signaledat random moments duringthe day and areasked to record thetrmood In tw o other studies (Thomas& Diener. 1990) collegestudents w h o were "b eep ed reported more positive affectthan negative affect on about 80% of occasions Similarly.W illiams. Suls Alliger Le arner and Choi (1991) found thatworking mothersw ho were signaled at random times reported

:ry high levelsof positive affect and low levels of negativeaffect Larso n (1989) usedth e beeper methodology wtth Amer-ican children they reported predo minantly positive affect about52% of th e time, neutral or mixed affect on about 29% of th e

casions. and dominant negative affect 19%of th e timeBrandstatter (1991) drewhis respondents in Europe from

unemployed perso ns, soldiers, studen ts mam ed couplesandlbers of charity organiz ations Participan ts recordeda self-

selected word that descnbed their current mood when theywere signaled Joy and relaxation were reported43% of th etime, and sadness, anger, an d fear were reported 22 % of th etime O n average, respondents reported positive emotions 68%of the time

Diener. Larsen,an d Emm ons (1984) examined subjec ts'lev-of mood in different situations The moods ranged from

slightly positive, when respondents were alone,to extremelypositive, when participants werein social, recreational situa-tions Finally, Delespau land deVnes (1987) studied chronicmental patients livingin the community an d found that the av-erage mood at th e time these patients were signaledw as abovethe neutral point of the scale Th us, on-line exp erience-

sampling studies as well as other methods suggest levelsofSWB that are as high as those obtained by global self-reports

COGNITIVE EVIDENCE

Cognitions tend to be positive Matlin and Stang (1978)re-viewed a myriad of positive cognitive tend encies People thinpositive thoughts more often than negative thoughtsand aremore likely to recall positive than negative material Peoplecanuse downward comparison (Crocker. Thompson. McGraw,&Ingerman, 1987) to boost their positive affect Thereis strongevidence that most people believe theyare better than averageon most dimensions(e g . Headey & Weanng. 1988. Taylor&Brown. 1988) Seidlitz (1993) found that most peoplecan recallpositive events from their lives more quickly than negativevents Op timistic cognitionscan lead to increased S W B , a ndthe average person appearsto be prone to optimism (Tiger,1979) Because cognitionand emotion are so intimately inter-

twined, the strong evidencefor a positive predilectionin cog-nition supportsth e finding that most people experience predominantly positive affect

ESTIMATES O F SW B

In order to determine whetherth e high well-being reportedby most people is intuitively obvious,we surveyed severalgroups working adults, undergraduate psychology majors,an dclinical psychology gradu ate stud ents They estimatedth e ratesof depression and life satisfaction in th e United Statesand an-swered other questions relatedto SW B The percentages inTables 3 and 4 reveal that all groups underestimated levelsof

VOL 7 NO 3. MAY 1996 183




Subjective Well-Being

le 3 Means of percentage estimatesof subjective well-being

Respondent group

Question

What percentageof Amencans become clinicallydepressed in their lifetime''

What percentageof Amencans report positive lifesatisfaction (above neutral)''

What percentageof chronic nonhospitalized mentalpatients reporta positive hedonic balance (more positiveaffect than negative affect)''

ClinicalWorking Psychology graduate

adults majors students Correct{N = 29) {N = 44) (N = 15) response

49 50 24 8-18

56 61 48 82-84

life satisfaction and overestimated levelsof depression Theunhappiness of unemployed men and chronic mental patientswas overestimated Thu s, the high levelsof well-being reponedin this article are not widely recognizedby laypersons or bystudents of psychology

Indeed, it is so amazing to some people that quadnplegicsand other people with severe disabilities couldbe happy thattheir self-reports are sometimes dismissed as unbelievable Itshould be noted, how ever, that individuals wh o use wheelchairsare beheved to be happy by their fnends and family, can recallmore good thanbad events in their lives,are rated as happybyan interviewer, and report more positive than negativeemo-tions in daily expenence-sampling measures (Allman,1990)Our personal exjjenence as acqu aintances of people with severehandicaps also indicates that theydo indeed often find positivemeaning and pleasures in life

THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS

One hypothesisis that there is a positive basehnefor affectin humans Headeyand Weanng (1992) proposeda theory inwhich people move back towarda personal base levelof affectafter positive or negative events move them away from thisbaseline Althoughthe set point vanes depending ona person's

temperament and socialization,for most people it appears to bin the positive range We speculate that the set point for affemay be positive rather than neutralor negative for several reasons First,a positive set point gives negative events maximinformational value because they standout as figure againspositive background (Schwartz& Garamoni, 1986) A systethat IS preset to be slightly p ositive allows th reatening eve nbe noticed quickly

Second, it is important for motivational reasons that peonot be in a negative mood mostof the time Approach tendcies must prevailin behavior for people to obtain food, sheltsocial suppon,sex, and so forth Becau se positive moodsenergize approach tendencies,it is desirable that peopleon aveage be in a positive mood Hum an approach tendenciesarmanifest in the rapid explorationand settlement of new frotiers and in the unremitting inventionof new ideas and instittions throughou t human history Th us,not only might humalarge brains and opposable thumb sbe responsible for the rapspread of humanity across the globe, but positive emotiomight also be an impo rtant factor Finally,a positive set poinmay moUvate human sociability, dnve-free exploration,andcreativity, and producea strong immune responseto infection

Other explanationsfor the widespread levelsof positive affect exist For examp le, people in the West may be socializetbe happy Another explanationfor the predominance of postive affect IS that peopleare motivated to attain positive sta

Table 4 Percentage of respondents whomostly unhappy

Target group

Poor Afncan AmencansSeverely, multiply handicapped peopleUnemployed menElderly people

estimated incorrec

Working adults{N = 29)

8324

10038

tty that predominantly happy groups

Respondent group

are

Psychology majors Clinical graduate students{N = 44) (A/ = 15)

79299550

9343

10043




Ed Diener and Carol Diener

because they are pleasant, and are moUvated to avoid or reduce

unpleasant states Thus, people may be likely to use coping

strategies to remain m a positive state

DISCUSSION

More research attenUon should be given to understanding

why there is a preponderance of positive affect For example, if

most people maintain a positive level of satisfaction by adjust-

ing their goals to be only slightly above reality, then perhaps

people who suffer from severe melancholia are for some reason

unable to adjust their aims The design of interventions to help

people with predominantly unpleasant emotions might profit

from understanding what allows most people to be happy If

naturally occumng processes give most people the ability to

remain happy and to return to happiness after a bad event, the

understanding of such mechanisms can perhaps aid in the de-

sign of interventions to help people who remain unhappy It

may be, however, that permanently raising SWB above a per-

son's set point IS quite difficultMost people express positive satisfaction with their work,

with products and services they receive, with their mamage,

and so forth This base level of satisfaction must be considered

when evaluating satisfaction data Just because people report

positive levels of satisfaction with their work or with a con-

sumer product, for example, does not mean inevitably that the

work or product is highly desirable Reports of positive satis-

faction may say as much about people as about the target of

satisfaction

We do not mean to understate the amount of subjective Ul-

being If only 10% of the population of the United States is

unhappy and dissatisfied, there are 25 million unhappy individ-

uals m our country Nevertheless, it appears that most people

are resilient in that they can recover from adversity It should

be a goal of psychology to understand such resilience Although

Myers and Diener (1995) explored the origins of differences in

SWB, It IS noteworthy that m absolute terms most individuals

above neutral

i Urb

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( R E C E I V E D3/10/95 , A C C E I T E D7/6/95)

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diener - most people are happy

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