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Showing papers on "Happiness published in 1989"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth, and found that these aspects are not strongly tied to prior assessment indexes.
Abstract: Reigning measures of psychological well-being have little theoretical grounding, despite an extensive literature on the contours of positive functioning. Aspects of well-being derived from this literature (i.e., self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth) were operationalized. Three hundred and twenty-one men and women, divided among young, middle-aged, and older adults, rated themselves on these measures along with six instruments prominent in earlier studies (i.e., affect balance, life satisfaction, self-esteem, morale, locus of control, depression). Results revealed that positive relations with others, autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth were not strongly tied to prior assessment indexes, thereby supporting the claim that key aspects of positive functioning have not been represented in the empirical arena. Furthermore, age profiles revealed a more differentiated pattern of well-being than is evident in prior research.

10,548 citations


Book
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: Hochschild found that men share housework equally with their wives in only twenty percent of dual-career families as mentioned in this paper and that women tend to suffer from chronic exhaustion, low sex drive, and more frequent illness as a result.
Abstract: In this landmark study, sociologist Arlie Hochschild takes us into the homes of two-career parents to observe what really goes on at the end of the "work day" Overwhelmingly, she discovers, it's the working mother who takes on the second shift Hochschild finds that men share housework equally with their wives in only twenty percent of dual-career families While many women accept this inequity in order to keep peace, they tend to suffer from chronic exhaustion, low sex drive, and more frequent illness as a result The ultimate cost is the forfeited health and happiness of both partners, and often the survival of the marriage itself

2,699 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use a theory of the emotions to motivate a semantic analysis of English words referring to emotions, assuming that emotions have a two-fold communicative function, both externally amongst members of the species, and internally within the brain so as to bypass complex inferences.
Abstract: This paper uses a theory of the emotions to motivate a semantic analysis of English words referring to emotions. The theory assumes that emotions have a two-fold communicative function, both externally amongst members of the species, and internally within the brain so as to bypass complex inferences. It implies that there is a small number of basic signals that can set up characteristic emotional modes within the organism, roughly corresponding to happiness, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. In human beings, these modes can be modulated by the propositional content of the cognitive evaluation that caused the emotion signal, or else, if this content fails to impinge on consciousness, these modes can be experienced as emotions that have occurred for no apparent reason. According to this “communicative” theory, there should be a set of terms that refer to basic emotions, and these terms should have no internal semantics, since they cannot be analysed into anything more basic, such as a prototype or...

542 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether men and women do differ in evaluations of their life as a whole, and found that women report greater happiness and life satisfaction than men, while men report greater negative affect.
Abstract: This article reviews all published studies reporting tests for sex differences in well-being. Women were found to report greater happiness and life satisfaction than men. This sex difference was explained in terms of men's and women's social roles: The female (vs. male) gender role specifies greater emotional responsiveness. Furthermore, past role-related experiences provide women with appropriate skills and attitudes. Women's (vs. men's) greater well-being was also found to hold for married but not unmarried Ss: For both sexes the married state (vs. unmarried) was associated with favorable well-being, but the favorable outcomes proved stronger for women than men. Given that most Ss were married, the overall sex difference in well-being can be attributed to Ss' marital status. These findings were discussed in the context of prior research on sex differences in negative well-being. Research on subjective social indicators has demonstrated that one's objective life circumstances do not necessarily correspond to one's personal experience of well-being. The fact, then, that men and women in our society differ in terms of a variety of biological, personality, and situational factors may or may not result in sex differences in subjective quality of life. This article examines whether men and women do differ in evaluations of their life as a whole. The inquiry is limited to consideration of data on positive welbbeing and excludes findings on negative affect and psychological symptomatology. This is because positive and negative affect appem; under some circumstances, to be uncorrelated (Diener, Larson, Levine, & Emmons, 1985; Wart, Barter, & Brownbridge, 1983). I Reports of positive wen-being are best interpreted as indicators of positive domains of experience, separate from negative aspects of one's life circumstances. Prior research on sex differences in subjective life quality has focused almost exclusively on negative affect and psychological symptomatology. Consequently, most theories in this area are tailored to explain the occurrence of men's and women's poor well-being. This work, and the data on which it is based, is presented as a frame of reference for interpreting sex differences in positive well-being. First, we consider what is represented by judgments of wellbeing. Philosophers and psychologists have debated this question at length (see, e.g., Diener's, 1984, impressive review of the

385 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For instance, the authors found that those younger or lower in ego level and verbal ability described emotions in terms of sensorimotor actions, outer appearance, conventional and technical descriptions, rigid impulse monitoring, and an emphasis on control and the ideal.
Abstract: Self-descriptions of emotions in 72 participants aged 10 to 77 were assessed. Responses were reliably scored in terms of a 4-level cognitive-developmental coding scheme for each of 4 emotions: anger, sadness, fear, and happiness. Results showed that those younger or lower in ego level and verbal ability described emotions in terms of sensorimotor actions, outer appearance, conventional and technical descriptions, rigid impulse monitoring, and an emphasis on control and the ideal. Those older or of higher ego level and verbal ability conveyed a vivid sense of the experience, had explicit knowledge of bodily sensations, accepted conflict within self and others, and displayed flexibility and delay of action. These findings suggest that understanding of emotions develops along a dimension of cognitive complexity over the life span. This dimension, in turn, is related to life span changes in coping and defense.

234 citations


Book
21 Dec 1989
TL;DR: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, which equates the ultimate end of human life with happiness (eudaimonia), is thought by many readers to argue that this highest goal consists in the largest possible aggregate of intrinsic goods.
Abstract: Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics," which equates the ultimate end of human life with happiness (eudaimonia), is thought by many readers to argue that this highest goal consists in the largest possible aggregate of intrinsic goods. Richard Kraut proposes instead that Aristotle identifies happiness with only one type of good: excellent activity of the rational soul. In defense of this reading, Kraut discusses Aristotle's attempt to organize all human goods into a single structure, so that each subordinate end is desirable for the sake of some higher goal.This book also emphasizes the philosopher's hierarchy of natural kinds, in which every type of creature achieves its good by imitating divine life. As Kraut argues, Aristotle's belief that thinking is the sole activity of the gods leads him to an intellectualist conception of the ethical virtues. Aristotle values these traits because, by subordinating emotion to reason, they enhance our ability to lead a life devoted to philosophy or politics.

214 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: For instance, the authors argued that people use emotion words as if they were highly and systematically interrelated, and that the key is to realize that saying someone is, for example, anxious is not independent of saying that he or she is happy, sad, etc.
Abstract: This chapter is about self-report questionnaires, rating scales, behavioral or physiological indexes, and other measures of emotion that rely, directly or indirectly, on such everyday English words as anger, fear, happiness, anxiety , or stress . These measures are typically constructed and interpreted on the assumption that people use each such word as if it were independent of all other emotion words that are not its synonym. Considerable evidence suggests otherwise: people use emotion words as it they were highly and systematically interrelated. Interpretation of any measure that relies on emotion words requires that we take these interrelationships into account. The key is to realize that saying someone is, for example, anxious is not independent of saying that he or she is happy, sad , etc. Implications of this thesis are discussed for topics such as the use of mood questionnaires in a psychological clinic, research on the causes and consequences of emotion, research on the meaning of facial expressions, and theories of emotion in which labeling is thought to play a central role.

212 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
Abstract: Using a theory of emotional understanding, the basis for distinguishing among happiness, anger, and sadness was investigated. Three and six-year-old children and adults predicted and explained people's emotional responses to different types of events. The events varied as to whether a person's goal was to attain or to avoid a state, whether the goal was achieved or not, who or what was responsible for success or failure, and whether the outcome was intentional or accidental. For all groups, the attainment and maintenance of goals was the primary focus of explanations for emotions and for the plans that followed emotions. A distinct set of features was used to infer and explain happiness as opposed to anger and sadness. Happiness was elicited by goal success and was followed by plans to maintain or enjoy current goal states. Anger and sadness were elicited by goal failure and were followed by plans to reinstate, replace, or forfeit goals. Anger occurred more frequently than sadness when an aversiv...

155 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Overall happiness, as measured by both the mean of the happiness ratings as well as direct ratings, was highest for the negatively skewed distributions, but ratings were more closely defined by the range of experimental stimuli for social comparisons.
Abstract: Examined whether intrapersonal comparisons and social comparisons operate in similar ways to determine ratings of happiness. Events were varied to create positively and negatively skewed distributions. The events in each distribution were ascribed to either a single person or a group of people; Ss rated how happy they would feel if they experienced specific events within the distribution. Ratings for both intrapersonal and social comparisons were fit well by Parducci's (1984) range-frequency theory. Individual events received higher ratings when presented within the positively skewed context. Overall happiness, as measured by both the mean of the happiness ratings as well as direct ratings, was highest for the negatively skewed distributions. The effects of skewing were more pronounced for intrapersonal comparisons, but ratings were more closely defined by the range of experimental stimuli for social comparisons.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results confirm that a generalized sense of control is important to well being in daily life, but for nondisturbed individuals short-term experiences of discontrol are not accompanied by substantial distress.
Abstract: This research concerns the relation of subjective control and happiness within normal daily experience. Respondents from several nonclinical samples rated their feelings of control at randomly-selected moments during a week in their lives, following the procedures of the Experience Sampling Method. Analyses consider the relation of these ratings to similar ratings of affective states, first, within persons and, second, between persons. The within-person analyses show relatively little moment-to-moment correlation of subjective control and affective states. For many persons there is no correlation at all and on the average people report feeling only slightly more happy at times when feeling in control. The between-persons analyses yield findings that are more in line with explanations of subject control, showing that individuals reporting higher average daily control also experience greater average happiness. The results confirm that a generalized sense of control is important to well being in daily life, but for nondisturbed individuals short-term experiences of discontrol are not accompanied by substantial distress.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The intervention had a significant effect only on the happiness/depression measure, with both intervention groups showing positive changes compared to the control group.
Abstract: In this randomized study, we compared the psychological well-being of elderly nursing home residents who participated in reminiscence and current topics group discussions with a control group of residents. We rated participants happiness/depression, activity, mood, and functional levels before and after the group interventions. The intervention had a significant effect only on the happiness/depression measure, with both intervention groups showing positive changes compared to the control group.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relation of work commitment, job satisfaction, role stress, occupational status and personal income to perceived control, life satisfaction, and happiness among White and Black women and men at midlife (ages 40-64).
Abstract: Lacking in the research on work and well-being is a focus on the characteristics of the employment role that contribute to well-being and their differential relations across ethnicity and gender. White and Black women and men at midlife (ages 40-64) were studied. The samples were drawn from two national surveys and included 186 White women, 202 White men, 254 Black women, and 169 Black men. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the relation of work commitment, job satisfaction, role stress, occupational status and personal income to perceived control, life satisfaction, and happiness. Marital status, age, and hours worked were included as control variables. Results indicate that job satisfaction is positively related to life satisfaction for all four groups, and to happiness for White women and Black men. Personal income is positively related to perceived control for Black women and White men, and to life satisfaction for White women. Occupational status is positively related to perceived control for White and Black women; role stress is negatively related to life satisfaction among White men, and to happiness among Black women. Among the control variable, being married positively related to well-being for all four race-sex groups.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the test-retest reliability of a newly devised instrument for measuring optimism and pessimism and obtain correlations between optimism and optimism scores and two measures of happiness as well as with subjects' responses to single-item questions about the likelihood of a nuclear encounter and about their religious and political commitment and philosophy of life.
Abstract: The main purpose of the present study was to assess the test-retest reliability of a newly devised instrument for measuring optimism and pessimism. In addition, correlations were obtained between the optimism and pessimism scores and two measures of happiness as well as with subjects’ responses to single-item questions about the likelihood of a nuclear encounter and about their religious and political commitment and philosophy of life. The instruments were administered to 106 introductory psychology students on two occasions separated by a 2-week interval. The test-retest reliability for the optimism scale was.75; for pessimism,.84. Both optimism and pessimism were correlated, on both administrations, with both happiness measures in the high.50s to low.60s. Of the remaining items, the strongest relation was between optimism and religious commitment (r =.27), confirming prior results.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: Easterlin has argued that national economic prosperity is of no consequence for the individual's appreciation of life, and that people in poor countries are as happy as those of rich welfare states.
Abstract: Easterlin has argued that national economic prosperity is of no consequence for the individual’s appreciation of life. He contends that people in poor countries are as happy as those of rich welfare states, and that decades of economic growth have left people no happier than before. This paper attacks these empirical claims, as well as the underlying theory that happiness depends largely on social comparison.

01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the everyday usage of the phrase "quality of life" as well as its relation to other terms like "happiness" and "welfare" and concluded that the concept of quality of life is an evaluativ concept that embodies some theory about the nature of the good and how people should live their lives.
Abstract: ABSTRAC1 Is the concept of "quality of life" potentially an important one for public policy analysis, or must it remain forever vague and controversial, resisting clear definition and scientific measurement? Everyday usage of the phrase is examined as well as its relation to other terms like "happiness" and "welfare" It is concluded that one reason for introducing the phrase "quality of life" into discussion of public policy is to have something to replace the now unfashionable terms "general happiness" or "social welfare" Various definitions of the phrase are examined, three objective and two subjective: (1) Quality of life i R is per capita gross regional income in R; (2) Quality of life in R is the degree to which people in R are provided with basic goods and services; (3) Quality of life in R is proportional to the fraction of R's population for which the necessary conditions for happiness are provided; (4) Quality of life in R is the level of happiness reported by the residents of R; and (5) Quality of life in R is the degree to which the preferences of individuals in R are satisfied Three conclusions are drawn: (1) the concept of quality of life is an evaluativ) concept that embodies some theory about the nature of the good and how people should live their lives; (2) different definitions of the phrase will be appropriate at different times, depending on the nature of the decision and of the affected community; and (3) although no set of social indicators can be definitive of quality of life, social indicators are essential to informed decision making They also serve to politicize decisions that are relevant to quality of life (J&)

Journal ArticleDOI
Jean Roberts1
TL;DR: Aristotle claimed that the happiest life for a human being is the life of moral virtue as discussed by the authors, and he did not take it as a major task of his moral theory to reconcile private interest and the common good.
Abstract: Aristotle claimed that the happiest life for a human being is the life of moral virtue.' The life of courage, temperance, justice, and the other virtues of character is better for the person living that life than a life that lacks those virtues. Having the sort of character which leads in a predictable way to actions which are, on the whole, socially beneficial ones, is in the best interest of any individual. This is not, and indeed was not thought even by Aristotle to be, a claim so compellingly true that it commands the immediate assent of every human being. Nevertheless, he does not take it as a major task of his moral theory to reconcile private interest and the common good. What for us are familiar questions about the relation between egoism and altruism, and prudence and morality, are simply not questions for Aristotle.2 This is not because he had never met any selfish people, or persons who saw their own good as distinct from, and in conflict with, that of others. He does not, however, recognize the possibility of any genuine conflict between the rational pursuit of one's own happiness and the promotion of the happiness of others. Those who see a conflict are, in his eyes, simply mistaken about the nature of their own good. The attempt to reconcile the rational pursuit of one's own happiness with the equally rational pursuit of the happiness of others led the great modern moral philosophers Kant and Sidgwick to God and to despair, respectively. Aristotle confidently asserts their identity. This is deeply puzzling.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Young children's emotional reactions are often affected by the emotional reactions of those around them, and empathy may account for the phenomenon of social referencing.
Abstract: Young children's emotional reactions are often affected by the emotional reactions of those around them. Empathy may account for the phenomenon of social referencing.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that women's but not men's, sex role ideology may be negatively related to marital happiness and stability, and that women are less happy and more likely to be separated or divorced.
Abstract: Research suggests that women's, but not men's, sex role ideology may be negatively related to marital happiness and stability. Analysis of General Social Survey data from 1974 to 1986 supports that proposition. Nontraditional women are less happy and more likely to be separated or divorced. These relations are stronger for attitudes about women's personality than about roles, and are not eliminated by controls for age, year, education, or work status. They are also stronger for women constrained in marriage by opposition to divorce. All in all, the results are consistent with the idea that modern sex role ideology is negatively related to marital success for women.


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: The study of personality coherence across time has been limited mostly to non-conditional attributes, such as dominance and extraversion, moods such as happiness, and behaviors such as talking and smiling as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The study of personality coherence across time has been limited mostly to nonconditional attributes. By nonconditional attributes, I mean traits such as dominance and extraversion, moods such as happiness, and behaviors such as talking and smiling. These kinds of concepts can be contrasted with explicitly conditional categories such as: My dominance shows when my competence is threatened; I fall apart when people try to comfort me; I talk the most when I am nervous.

01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this article, the consequences of happiness are investigated empirically and the effects of happiness on outlook, work performance, resistance to stress, health and social functioning are investigated. But none of the predicted adverse effects are found, but several positive effects are demonstrated.
Abstract: textThis book is about the consequences of happiness. Research has hitherto concentrated on determinants of happiness exclusively. Speculative theories on effects of happiness are contradictory. Some claim that happiness turns people into 'contented cows' and imply that a certain degree of unhappiness is actually better for man and society. Other assert that it precisely leads to zest and makes people and society flourish. This book presents first attempts to identify consequences of happiness empirically. It considers the effects on: outlook, work performance, resistance to stress, health and social functioning. None of the predicted adverse effects are found, but several positive effects are demonstrated.

01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: When people get happier, they become more satisfied with their jobs and attainments, they see more nice events happen to them and they rise in their own estimation as mentioned in this paper, and there is no ground to dismiss these effects as rosily unrealistic, but there are good reasons to consider them beneficial for the individual and the society
Abstract: The appreciation of a life-as-a-whole affects evaluative perceptions of various aspects of life. When people get happier, they become more satisfied with their jobs and attainments, they see more nice events happen to them and they rise in their own estimation. This appears in an analysis of the Australian QOL-panel study, involving 4 interviews over a 7 year period. There is no ground to dismiss these effects as rosily unrealistic, but there are good reasons to consider them beneficial for the individual and the society

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The second volume of Hume's Essays, Moral and Political (1742) includes a set of four pieces on the sects, that naturally form themselves in the world as mentioned in this paper, but their main purpose is to describe four different ideas of human life and of happiness.
Abstract: The second volume of Hume’s Essays, Moral and Political (1742) includes a set of four pieces on the sects, that naturally form themselves in the world. These essays, ”The Epicurean,” “The Stoic,” “The Platonist,” and”The Sceptic,” refer to the ancient philosophical schools, but their main purpose, according to Hume, is to describe four different ideas ofhuman life and ofhappiness.’ There is little discussion of these works in the Hume literature, but Hume himself seemed to be rather fond of them? Although several early essays were dropped from later editions, this set reappears in every version of the Essays. Hume also investedunusual care in crafting these essays, “polishing the sentences with such precision,” according to Green and Grose, “that the subsequent editions made scarcely an alteration in their language.” In this article I will argue that these essays do play a significant role in Hume’s overall philosophical strategy, and that a close reading of them helps us fill out important aspects of Hume’s moral philosophy.

01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that happiness rather benefits marriage and that married people appear typically happier than singles, and the difference seems partly due to a positive effect of happines on marriage chances.
Abstract: textSummary This chapter checks the claim that happiness harms social bonds, marriage in particular. It is shown that happiness rather benefits marriage. Married people appear typically happier than singles, and the difference seems partly due to a positive effect of happines on marriage chances. Unhappiness is a handicap in love, both because it is mostly a disadvantage in intimate encounters and because it is detrimental to the development of psychological characteristics that are crucial in modern marriage.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared descriptions of peak experiences collected from 29 exhibiting artists with parallel data from a comparison group of 123 men and women enrolled in university courses in social sciences.
Abstract: Descriptions of peak experiences collected from 29 exhibiting artists were compared with parallel data from a comparison group of 123 men and women enrolled in university courses in social sciences. Each person narratively described a personal incident of highest happiness, then rated a series of descriptions on Likert-type scales. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated no significant differences in the two groups' descriptions of peak experience, and subsequent t tests showed no significant differences on any item. Responses from both groups provide a constellation of experiential correlates of the peak experience consistent with major theoretical descriptions of subjective characteristics of the event. Demographic differences between the groups, triggers, and experiential characteristics of peak experiences were examined. Differences on demographic variables and triggers and the absence of significant differences in the descriptions of peak experience suggest one approach that would bolster Maslo...