Showing papers on "Happiness published in 1982"

Children and Marital Happiness: A Further Specification of the Relationship.

Abstract: The effects of the presence of children on their parents' marital happiness were estimated, with data from six U. S. national surveys conducted from 1973 through 1978, for subpopulations delineated on the basis of sex, race, level of education, religious preference, employment status, and stated ideal number of children for a ,family. No evidence for distinctly positive mean effects was found for any subpopulation, the estimated mean effects ranging from distinctly negative (for most of the subpopulations) to near zero for whites who said that the ideal number of children for a family is four or more. The findings contribute to a rather large body of accumulating evidence which indicates that on the average children adversely affect marital quality, both in the total population of married persons in the U. S. and in several large and important subpopulations. Some implications of the findings are discussed.

Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage

Abstract: Introduction: Words for a Conversation 1. Cons and Pros The Lady Eve 2. Knowledge as Transgression It Happened One Night 3. Leopards in Connecticut Bringing up Baby 4. The Importance of Importance The Philadelphia Story 5. Counterfeiting Happiness His Girl Friday 6. The Courting of Marriage Adam's Rib 7. The Same and Different The Awful Truth Appendix: Film in the University Acknowledgments Index

Adjustment to and Satisfaction with Retirement.

Abstract: Research over the past 30 years concerning the effect of retirement on personal adjustment has resulted in conflicting findings. Some studies reported a negative effect for retirement; others showed no effect at all. This study utilized the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Men to test the net effect of retirement on happiness with life and to analyze an evaluation of retirement item in order to discern specific factors that cause lower satisfaction with retirement. Logistic multiple regression and ordinary least squares regression were used in the analysis. The main findings are as follows: (a) although a negative bivariate relationship exists between retirement and happiness with life, retirement has no significant net effect; (b) health factors, recent widowhood, and income have the greatest impact on happiness with life; and (c) poor health, lower income, and earlier-than-expected retirement are the main determinants of negative evaluations of retirement.

A Causal Theory of Enjoyment

Abstract: I shall present a theory of enjoyment, in the form of a definition. The basic idea is that an object of enjoyment causes the subject to experience pleasure by causing occurrent beliefs which satisfy desires concerning the experience itself. Pleasure is identified with occurrent happiness, which can be defined in terms of belief, desire, and thought. I also define degree of enjoyment, as that part of the subject's pleasure attributable to the object of enjoyment. Degree of belief and desire are the fundamental quantities. Finally, I briefly treat negative enjoyment.1

A Guide to Personal Happiness

Abstract: Contents This Book: 1) Why Search for Personal Happiness? 2) The ABC's of Personal Happiness. 3) The Main Blocks to Personal Happiness. 4) Disputing and Uprooting Emotional Disturbance. 5) Emotive Methods of Achieving Personal Happiness. 6) Behavioral Methods of Achieving Personal Happiness. 7) Ten Rules for Achieving Personal Happiness. 8) Overcoming Shyness and Feelings of In adequacy. 9) Overcoming Feelings of Guilt. 10) Coping with Depression and Low Frustration Tolerance. 11) Coping with Anger and with Mating Problems. 12) Overcoming Sex Problems. 13) Coping with Work Problems. 14) Summing Up: Eliminating Your Self-created Roadblocks to Personal Happiness. 15) Upward and Onward to Self-actualizing and Joy Appendix: Suggestions for Enjoyable Pursuits Selected References.

Geography and the Quality of Life

Abstract: Quality of life has two meanings pertinent to geographers. The understanding of one's environment, constructed and otherwise, learned in geography contributes to the quality of one's life in the personal sense. The objective meaning refers to the characteristics of a society in a given place and time, the conditions within which people seek happiness. Improvement of the quality of life in this objective meaning is the proper goal of public policy. Although probably unmeasurable in a statistical way, it is still superior to strictly economic goals. As a goal related to place it is especially important for geographers. Policy directions toward social and aesthetic goals are suggested for urban areas. In rural areas soil conservation and proper treatment of toxic substances, including plutonium, are emphasized. The imperative of reducing inequities within and among societies is intrinsic to the concept and requires profound changes in the political economy.

Peak Experience Tendencies: Scale Development and Theory Testing

Abstract: The research reported here involved the creation of a measure of the tendency to have peak experiences called the Peak Scale, and the testing of several hypotheses drawn from Maslow's theory of peak experiences. It was found that although individuals who report having peak experiences are also likely to report having experiences involving intense happiness, they are even more prone to report having cognitive experiences of a transcendent and mystical nature. This suggests that although the peak experience involves positive affect, it is primarily a transcendent and mystical cognitive event. Individuals who report having peak experiences are more likely to report living in terms of Being-values, such as truth, beauty, and justice, than individuals who report not having peak experiences. Finally, self-actualizing individuals are more likely to report having peak experiences than less self-actualizing individuals, though the relationship is not a very strong one. In general, these results are consistent with...

The satisfaction and happiness of some senior citizens in rural Ontario

Abstract: After reviewing recent gerontological literature on satisfaction and happiness from the point of view of explanations by analysis of constituents, explanations by synthesis of correlates and mixtures of these two types of explanations, I described some results of a social survey of rural Ontario seniors. A gap-theoretical account of satisfaction and happiness called ‘the Michigan model’ was supported for 12 domains and life as a whole. Differences in the constituent patterns for satisfaction and happiness with life as a whole were found for males, females, those who had lived off farming, those who had not, those aged 60–74, and 75 and above.

Trends in Reported Happiness Within Demographically Defined Subgroups, 1957–78

Abstract: Surveys conducted between 1957 and 1978 indicate a decline in reported levels of happiness from the 1950s to the early 1970s, followed by a gradual rebound. The pattern is different for certain subgroups of the population. Those in the bottom quartile in family income showed little decline in happiness during the initial period and a steeper rise during the 1970s. A similar pattern was observed for those age 65 and older. Further analysis of the differences among age groups suggests that cohort effects dominate true age effects, and that the period effect observed prior to the 1970s was greater among young people than among older people. These patterns are interpreted as evidence of a possible shift away from materialistic values during the 1960s. The magnitude of the trend, however, is very small. Interest in the subjective quality of life has emerged in recent years in reaction to exclusive dependence on objective and especially economic indicators of well-being (cf. Campbell and Converse). If we wish to compare the quality of life of different groups, or trends over time, it is not enough, so it is argued, to compare income in dollars or health in sick days or safety in terms of victimization rates. We must also find out how individuals perceive their environment and how they feel about it if the comparisons are to be truly meaningful, since people differ in what is important to them and what they feel constitutes a better or worse condition. A counter-argument is that individuals may be so adaptable to a wide range 'This research was supported by Grant #BNS76-82529 from the National Science Foundation. I gratefully acknowledge comments on a draft of this paper by Frank Andrews, Regula Herzog, Tom Smith, Norval Glenn, and an anonymous referee. Some of the data utilized in this article were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Additional data were kindly made available by Angus Campbell and Philip Converse, and by Joseph Veroff, Elizabeth Douvan, and Richard Kulka. The data were originally collected by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan and by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Neither the original sources nor collectors of the data nor the ICPSR bear any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here. t 1982 The University of North Carolina Press. 0037-7732/82/030826-42$01.70

Happiness in dual-career couples: Changing research, changing values

Abstract: This article offers a framework for understanding contradictory findings in the field of the dual-career couple by presenting two patterns: (1) the early, conventional one of the 1960s, which viewed married women's participation in the labor force as threatening marriage and the family, and (2) the contemporary view, which emerged during the 1970s and which admits that women can happily combine career with family. The article suggests that there is little evidence to support the view that dual-career couples experience increased rate of marital conflict, marital dissatisfaction, and role blur; rather, the intellectual and psychological benefits in dual-career couples seem to outweigh the disadvantages, particularly for wives.

The Isolation of Men and the Happiness of Women: Sources and Use of Power in Swahili Marital Relationships

Abstract: In the Swahili marital relationship husbands' almost complete ability to control is based on clearly formulated and shared religious beliefs and values and in their being the family source of money. On the same basis wives have virtually no recognized power outside the domestic sphere, yet they are able to get substantial sums from their husbands for purposes important only to the wives. The ability of wives to do this is rooted in the fact that for men actually to use their culturally provided power they must have a personal resource--emotional independence from their wives--whose social and cultural basis is very weak.

The long-term patient in the community: life style patterns and treatment implications.

Abstract: A sample of 99 long-term patients at an urban community mental health-mental retardation center were interviewed to determine how they spent their time and their degree of happiness with their lives and the services they received at the center. More than half the patients were considered by center staff to be only mildly or moderately impaired, but as a group they were distinguished by low levels of educational, financial, and vocational achievement; only 13 per cent were working more than half time. Most of the patients considered themselves happy, but their life style was oriented toward health and social relationships and lacked a work-task orientation. The authors conclude that the patients' life style meshes closely with the orientation of the treatment system; neither places emphasis on achievement of noninterpersonal tasks or enhancement of a work orientation. The authors believe that many chronic users of community mental health services have the potential to work and that practically all could be...

Mill's proof that happiness is the criterion of morality

Abstract: This paper considers the converse of the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’, namely, the principle that ‘must’ implies ‘ought’ It argues that this principle is the central premiss for Mill's argument that happiness is desirable (worthy of desire), and it examines the sense of ‘must’ that is relevant and the implications it has for Mill's moral philosophy

Utilitarianism and beyond: What's the use of going to school?

Abstract: Education seems to present special difficulties for all liberal theories. Utilitarians and those whom I shall call ‘rights theorists’, i.e. those who give priority to the equal right of all to civil and political freedom, agree on one point about the education of children: at least in principle they both are committed to providing an education that is neutral among substantive conceptions of the good life. Yet we probably will never be able to educate children without prejudicing their future choice of particular ways of life. One might argue, therefore, that education creates the same problem for any form of liberalism. That argument is incorrect. Although rights theorists also must take consequences into account, they can provide a more consistently liberal solution to the problem of education for several reasons, which I shall summarise here and elaborate below. Freedom provides a better standard than happiness by which to determine what and how to teach children. In addition, one can derive some essential features of a liberal educational programme from the standard of freedom that cannot be derived from that of happiness. That educational programme will be neutral towards many, though not all, ways of life and concrete enough to guide educators. In addition, unlike utilitarianism, rights theorists can respond cogently to the conservative claim that education must perpetuate particular societal values and prepare children for necessary social functions. Education for happiness Utilitarians pay a high price for assuming that happiness must be subjectively defined by each individual, an assumption that frees them of the need to defend an objective conception of the good.

Research and Common Sense: Therapies for Our Homes and Schools.

Abstract: Americans have long been proud of their high technology and elementary wisdom-a determination to document what they do with sound research and to follow through with common sense, even if it means sacrifice. Our schools benefited early from this pride. Yet, in recent issues of the Teachers College Record there have been at least two stimulating discussions of danger signson school effectiveness and teacher burnoutthat lead us to wonder if we have not lost our former grasp of our cherished ideals.1 These articles focused on making teachers more alert, comfortable, and secure, that is, they must be helped to a sense of “community” and to an understanding of their resources. I suggest now some critical needs that must also center on our students if American education is to keep our society strong. Teachers feel worthy and secure only when they produce well-socialized students who achieve and behave. So achievement and behavior of children become keys to teachers’ happiness. Yet, with literacy rates falling and behavioral problems on the rise, questions logically arise: Are these oldfashioned goals of teacher happiness and satisfaction achievable anymore? Is there some boat that we as educators have missed? Are there some tools we are not using? Have we ignored lessons of the past-a particular hazard in teaching where we always like to think of ourselves as looking ahead? I believe the answer to each of these four questions is yes, and suggest that we select a central issue or two and look carefully at the evidence. Many of us prefer to blame our school problems on “the times.” More specifically, we point to “factors that break up the family,” such as war, television, indifferent parents, macho-feminist movements, and general amoral behavior. These we cannot change, but there are two specific professional digressions for which there is no excuse: First, we do our research in bits and pieces, each researcher in his own narrow sphere. Even this might somehow be justified if we did not commit the unpardonable act of failing to bring the bits and pieces together -an omission as flagrant as the thoughtless mechanic who leaves car parts scattered all over his garage and fails to understand why the car will not run. Second, we ignore the perspective of history-and how we invented and ran the “car” in the first place. The result is “tunnel vision.”

The role of grammatical qualification in the expression and perception of emotion

Abstract: Increases in grammatical complexity, a syntactically defined index of qualification and delimitation in communication content, were obtained as a function of conditions that induced reluctance to affirm the validity of communication content. Consistent with the assumption that negative emotions are reluctantly communicated, Experiment 1 revealed that communications about negative emotions (e. g., fear, anger) were more grammatically complex than communications about positive emotions (e. g., happiness). Similarly in Experiment 2, grammatical complexity was greater in communications about negatively evaluated personality traits than in those about positively evaluated traits. Also, consistent with the assumption that inconsistency between private and expressed evaluations would induce reluctance to affirm the validity of communication content, grammatical complexity was greater in descriptions of positive manifestations of disliked traits or negative manifestations of liked traits than in positive manifestations of liked traits or negative manifestations of disliked traits. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that communication recipients rate messages that have been systematically made grammatically complex less extremely positive (or negative) than grammatically simple versions of the same positive (or negative) communications.

Positive contrast as due to happiness

Abstract: Upward incentive contrast effects that occurred in people who were prone to be happy in reply to their environment were not observed in other, less “happy-prone” individuals. These data supply needed information on an appetitive emotional account of positive contrast.

The Altruism Paradox

Abstract: A simple classroom experiment is described which helps explicate the relationship between selfishness and happiness. The data (N = 1,988) prove paradoxical and provide striking empirical support for the Golden Rule.

Quality of life perceptions in two cultures

Abstract: This paper reports and analyzes the quality of life perceptions held by the inhabitants of two culturally different but demographically similar cities: Springfield, Illinois and Aix-en-Provence, France. Although the Springfielders expressed greater satisfaction than the Aixois in virtually all the life domains covered by the research, the areas of relative satisfaction and dissatisfaction were remarkably similar in the two cities; furthermore, the domains in which the French indicated the least satisfaction were generally ones where their objective quality of life conditions were inferior to those of their American counterparts. Multiple regression techniques are used to trace the relative contribution of domain satisfactions and demographic characteristics in explaining respondents' comparative life enjoyment and reported levels of happiness.

Sounding board the physician and national security.

Abstract: The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend. — Benjamin Disraeli, 1877 The Reagan administration's decision to commit to ...

A study on perception of facial expressions of emotions in depression.

Abstract: The study was designed with a view to examine the relationship between perception of facial affects and psychopathology. Forty normal and twenty depressive subjects were asked to recognize the facial emotions provided and to discriminate the emotional tone in terms of intensity of expression while presented in pairs. A pair comparison solution indicate that the depressives were highly evaluative in the effect of sadness and less evaluative in happiness, in comparison to normals.

Effects of Sex and Degrees of Happiness on Perceived Styles of Communicating In and Out of the Marital Relationship.

Abstract: Communicator styles used within the marital relationship were contrasted to styles used in general situations. It was hypothesized that sex and expressed level of marital happiness would create tendencies to use distinct styles within the relationship and that these factors would subsequently influence the combination of communicator styles which best predicts a good communicator. It was found that (a) styles used in the relationship were different from those used in general; (b) impression leaving, dominant, relaxed, and attentive predicted a good communicator in general, when not controlling for sex or marital happiness; (c) friendly, attentive, precise, and expressive best predicted a good communicator within the marital relationship, with a friendly style alone accounting for 58% of the variance; and (d) relaxed, friendly, open, dramatic, and attentive communicator styles were used more often by more happily married couples. Levels of marital happiness affected the number of styles predicting a good communicator in that the less happily married spouses had fewer styles enter into the regression equation.