Showing papers on "Happiness published in 1991"

Religious involvement and subjective well-being.

Abstract: This study examines the multifaceted relationships between religious involvement and subjective well-being. Findings suggest that the beneficent effects of religious attendance and private devotion reported in previous studies are primarily indirect, resulting from their respective roles in strengthening religious belief systems. The positive influence of religious certainty on well-being, however, is direct and substantial: individuals with strong religious faith report higher levels of life satisfaction, greater personal happiness, and fewer negative psychosocial consequences of traumatic life events. Further, in models of life satisfaction only, the positive influence of existential certainty is especially pronounced for older persons and persons with low levels of formal education. Finally, there are persistent denominational variations in life satisfaction, but not in happiness: nondenominational Protestants, liberal Protestants, and members of nontraditional groups such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses report greater life satisfaction than do their unaffiliated counterparts, even with the effects of other dimensions of religiosity held constant. Several directions for additional research on religion and psychological well-being are discussed.

Is happiness relative

Abstract: The theory that happiness is relative is based on three postulates: (1) happiness results from comparison, (2) standards of comparison adjust, (3) standards of comparison are arbitrary constructs. On the basis of these postulates the theory predicts: (a) happiness does not depend on real quality of life, (b) changes in living-conditions to the good or the bad have only a shortlived effect on happiness, (c) people are happier after hard times, (d) people are typically neutral about their life. Together these inferences imply that happiness is both an evasive and an inconsequential matter, which is at odds with corebeliefs in present-day welfare society. Recent investigations on happiness (in the sense of life-satisfaction) claim support for this old theory. Happiness is reported to be as high in poor countries as it is in rich countries (Easterlin), no less among paralyzed accident victims than it is among lottery winners (Brickman) and unrelated to stable livingconditions (Inglehart and Rabier). These sensational claims are inspected but found to be untrue. It is shown that: (a) people tend to be unhappy under adverse conditions such as poverty, war and isolation, (b) improvement or deterioration of at least some conditions does effect happiness lastingly, (c) earlier hardship does not favour later happiness, (d) people are typically positive about their life rather than neutral. It is argued that the theory happiness-is-relative mixes up ‘overall happiness’ with contentment’. Contentment is indeed largely a matter of comparing life-as-it-is to standards of how-life-should-be. Yet overall hapiness does not entirely depend on comparison. The overall evaluation of life depends also on how one feels affectively and hedonic level of affect draws on its turn on the gratification of basic bio-psychological needs. Contrary to acquired ‘standards’ of comparison these innate ‘needs’ do not adjust to any and all conditions: they mark in fact the limits of human adaptability. To the extend that it depends on need-gratification, happiness is not relative.

Meanings of Life

Abstract: In this extraordinary book, an eminent social scientist explores what empirical studies from diverse fields tell us about the human condition. Meanings of Life draws together evidence from psychology, history, anthropology, and sociology, integrating copious research findings into a clear and conclusive discussion of how people attempt to make sense of their lives. In a lively and accessible style, emphasising facts over theories, Baumeister explores why people desire meaning in their lives, how these meanings function, what forms they take, and what happens when life loses meaning. The volume includes a review of interdisciplinary literature that covers what the social sciences say about such matters as happiness, suffering, and death. It explores people's need for a sense of purpose, values, control over their lives, and a sense of self worth. Divorce and religious conversion are also examined. The book attempts to analyze the myths of fulfilment and higher meaning, illusions of eternity, the suppression of female sexuality, the failure of the work ethic, why death is more threatening to us than it was to our ancestors, and how suffering stimulates the quest for meaning. It demonstrates how happiness depends more upon one's interpretation than actual circumstances, and shows that the keys to happiness are attitude, judicious comparison, a bit of luck and a healthy dose of self-deception.

Gender differences in negative affect and well-being: the case for emotional intensity.

Abstract: Affect intensity (AI) may reconcile 2 seemingly paradoxical findings: Women report more negative affect than men but equal happiness as men. AI describes people's varying response intensity to identical emotional stimuli. A college sample of 66 women and 34 men was assessed on both positive and negative affect using 4 measurement methods: self-report, peer report, daily report, and memory performance. A principal-components analysis revealed an affect balance component and an AI component. Multimeasure affect balance and AI scores were created, and t tests were computed that showed women to be as happy as and more intense than men. Gender accounted for less than 1% of the variance in happiness but over 13% in AI. Thus, depression findings of more negative affect in women do not conflict with well-being findings of equal happiness across gender. Generally, women's more intense positive emotions balance their higher negative affect.

Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective.

Abstract: This volume brings together several authors from different areas of psychology and the neighbouring social sciences. Each one contributes their own perspective on the growing interest topic of subjective well-being. The aim of the volume is to present these divergent perspectives and to foster communication between the different areas. Split into three parts, this volume initially discusses the general perspectives of subjective well-being and addresses fundamental questions, secondly it discusses the dynamics of subjective well-being and more specific research issues to give a better understanding of the general phenomenon, and thirdly the book emphasizes the social context in which people experience and report their happiness and satisfaction. The book will be of great interest to social and clinical psychologists, students of psychology and sociology and health professionals.

Happiness and domain-specific life satisfaction in adult northern Swedes

Abstract: Levels of satisfaction with life as a whole (happiness) and with eight different domains were investigated using mailed questionnaires in four age cohorts (25-, 35-, 45- and 55-year-olds) of men and women. With a few exceptions (vocational and financial satisfaction) levels of global and domain-specific satisfaction were not age-dependent and few gender differences were found. The generally high levels of satisfaction correspond well to those found in the USA and in Germany. Satisfaction with expressive (emotion-related) domains was greater in women than in men, and the provider items - satisfaction with vocational and financial situation -were influenced by age. The eight domains formed three meaningful factors: the first characterized satisfaction derived from expressive goals; the second from spare-time goals; and the third factor was instrumental (performance-related), characterizing satisfaction derived from provider goals. The three factors predicted gross level of happiness (happy/not happy) for 82...

Ethics with Aristotle

Abstract: In this book, Sarah Broadie gives a close and comprehensive analysis of the main themes of Aristotle's ethics. She concentrates on his discussions of happiness, virtue, voluntary agency, practical reason, incontinence, pleasure, and the place of theoria in the best life. The book makes a major contribution towards the understanding of Aristotle's ethics.

The relationship between sense of community and subjective well-being: A first look

Abstract: The relationship between sense of community and subjective well-being (SWB) was tested by conducting telephone interviews with three random samples in South Carolina and Alabama (ns = 151, 399, and 442). Respondents answered the 17-item Sense of Community Scale (Davidson & Cotter, 1986), a measure of three facets of SWB (happiness, worrying, and personal coping), and questions about their demographic characteristics and subjective evaluations of their community. Partial correlation coefficients were computed between sense of community and SWB, partialling out the influence of demographic and community-evaluation variables. Sense of community was significantly related to SWB in all three samples. The effects were especially pronounced for the happiness facet of SWB. Implications are drawn for theory and intervention, and recommendations are made for further research.

Questions on happiness : Classical topics, modern answers, blind spots

Abstract: html Happiness is a longstanding theme in Western thought. It came under scrutiny in the following three periods: (1) Antique Greek philosophy; (2) Post-Enlightenment West-European moral philosophy, Utilitarianism in particular; and (3) Current Quality-of-Life research in the rich welfare states. Printed reflections on all this contemplation now fill a hundred meters of bookshelves. This paper takes stock of the progress made on seven classical topics. Are we now any wiser? Or is Dodge (1930) right in his contention that "the theory of the happy life has remained on about the same level that the ancient Greeks left it"? This inventory will differ from the usual review articles. The focus will not be on current technical research issues, but rather on the broader questions that prompted the enquiry. Furthermore, the aim is not only to enumerate advances in understanding, but also to mark the blind spots. The following issues will be considered: 1) What is happiness? 2) Can happiness be measured? 3) Is unhappiness the rule? 4) How do people assess their happiness? 5) What conditions favour happiness? 6) Can happiness be promoted? 7) Should happiness be promoted?

Pleased and surprised: Children's cognitive theory of emotion

Abstract: This study looks at two emotions that are determined by whether a person's mental state matches or mismatches the state of the world. Results show that children from 3 years understand that being ‘pleased’ is a function of the match or mismatch between desire and reality. That is between what a person wants and what a person gets. A structurally similar problem is presented by the emotion ‘surprise’. ‘Surprise’ is a function of the match or mismatch between belief and reality. That is between what a person believes or expects to be the case and what actually is the case. It is shown that ‘surprise’ is not understood until children are 5 years old at the earliest. This developmental discrepancy can partly be explained by the fact that ‘surprise’ requires an understanding of belief as a misrepresentation. This is not typically understood before children reach 4 years of age. However, children younger than 4 years can understand ‘pleased’ as the result of reaching or not reaching a desired situation. Results also show that it is not until 5 years of age that children understand ‘happiness’ when ‘happiness’ is made dependent on belief about reality and not on reality itself. The fact that children understand ‘surprise’ and belief-based ‘happiness’ later than 4 years indicates a general lag between understanding belief and its role in determining emotion.

Response artifacts in the measurement of subjective well-being

Abstract: The degree to which response artifacts introduce error into self-report measures has long been a matter of concern in the psychological literature. For example, it has been suggested that self-report measures of subjective well-being (SWB) contain large amounts of variance due to the response style of social desirability (Carstensen and Cone, 1983). In the present study, four potential response artifacts (social desirability, current mood, moral beliefs about happiness, and happiness image management) and their effects on self reports of SWB were studied. Using nonself-report measures of happiness, in addition to self-report measures of SWB, various modes for the prediction of SWB were constructed. A measure of social desirability was found to be a significant predictor of nonself-report as well as self-reported measures of happiness, indicating that social desirability is a substantive personality characteristic which enhances well-being, rather than being a response artifact and source of error variance. Current mood was found to sometimes contribute as a predictor of self-report measures of SWB, suggesting the need for control of or assessment of its effects. Moral beliefs in happiness and image management did not significantly correlate with measures of happiness. Implications of the results for the measurement of well-being and for future research are discussed.

Marital Status and Personal Happiness: An Analysis of Trend Data.

Abstract: This report analyzes General Social Survey data from 1972 through 1989 on the personal happiness of married and never-married individuals. Earlier studies (Glenn and Weaver, 1988) had reported a significant decrease in the difference between these two categories, with the "advantage" of the married progressively declining from 1972 through 1986. This article shows that the process reversed somewhat during the latter part of the 1980s, with the effect of marriage on happiness returning to fairly typical levels in 1987 and 1988 after several years of relatively minimal differences in the early part of the decade. However, the difference diminished once again in 1989. The analysis shows that never-married males and younger never-married females were happier in the late 1980s than in the 1970s, and that younger married women were somewhat less happy in the late 1980s than in the 1970s. These trends, however, are generally weaker than earlier evidence suggested.

In defense of a prototype approach to emotion concepts.

Abstract: Emotion, anger, fear, love, and similar concepts have so far defied classical definition This article summarizes one analysis of emotion concepts from a prototype perspective and answers criticisms directed at such an analysis Specifically addressed are 5 claims made by critics: The superordinate concept of emotion is classically defined; basic-level emotion concepts are classically defined; internal structure does not contradict the classical view; evidence of unclear cases, presented here as the cornerstone of the case against the classical view, does not contradict the classical view; and classical definitions for emotion terms, if they do not exist today, will someday be discovered scientifically Both proponents and opponents of the prototype view may agree on a final assertion: Concepts can be created that are classically defined and that will be useful in the psychology of emotion This assertion may be what the critics really care about Emotion, love, anger, happiness, and anxiety express concepts that influence people's life We interpret each other's actions and temporary states by means of these concepts and guide our behavior accordingly An act seen as committed in the heat of emotion has a different legal status than the same act carried out in a calm manner We wonder, "Is this really love?" and "Do I still love him?" According to Schachter and Singer (1962) and Harre (1987), to have an emotion can depend on how we label ourselves in terms of anger, happiness, and so on Psychologists use these same words in communicating with

Mind and emotion: Children's understanding of the emotional consequences of beliefs and desires

Abstract: We investigated preschool children's understanding of mind and emotion by examining their understanding that emotions such as happiness and surprise depend on the actor's desires and beliefs. We report four investigations: a study of 3-year-olds' ratings of actors' happiness and surprise, a natural language analysis of adults' use of the word surprise in conversation to a preschool child, and two studies of 3-and 4-year-olds' abilities to explain the causes of desire-dependent and belief-dependent emotional reactions, such as happiness and surprise respectively. We demonstrate that children as young as 3 years appropriately understand the relevant mental states underlying happiness, sadness, surprise and curiosity, although they misunderstand the usage of some related lexical terms, especially surprise. The findings are discussed with regard to the early development of children's understanding of emotion and their understanding of mind, including children's early understanding of the notion of belief and their ability to distinguish beliefs from desires.

The Nature of Sympathy

Abstract: In the psychology of motivation the instrumental response is theoretically related in some way to the general wellbeing of the person whose motivation it is. But the motivational structure of sympathy is different. The orientation of sympathetic behavior is not the welfare of the person who is sympathetically motivated, but that of the person who is the object of that sympathy. This distinction is not about “satisfaction” or “happiness,” although both may sometimes be involved. It is about the dependent variable for which sympathy is the motivation. Take, for example, the intake of food. Taking food may be equally “satisfying” to the person whose motivation is hunger and to the person whose motivation is sympathy, except that in the first case the food is eaten by the hungry person, and in the second case the food is eaten by the person who is the object of sympathy. The logic of this distinction was set forth many years ago by Bishop Butler (see Broad, 1979), and I will consider it further in Chapter 4.

Nonverbal display of emotion in public and in private : self-monitoring, personality, and expressive cues

Abstract: Individual differences in the expression and regulation of emotion are important components of social skill. The present study focused on the concealing of spontaneous expressions of happiness after winning in a competitive situation against peers. In a repeated measures design, spontaneous expressive behaviors in response to triumph were secretly videotaped when Ss (N = 38) were alone in a room and when they were with 2 fellow competitors (confederates). Edited tapes were analyzed by naive raters and trained coders. As predicted, the social context strongly influenced the expressive behaviors of Ss, providing support for a social inhibition effect. More important, the self-monitoring construct (Snyder, 1987) was helpful in explaining individual differences in expressive regulation, with high self-monitors being successful at hiding their happiness when appropriate; and they did so in particular ways. Low self-monitors did not conceal their emotions. Other findings with regard to personality and sex differences were also uncovered.

A broader conception of mood experience.

Abstract: The experience of a mood consists of more than emotional states such as happiness, anger, sadness, or fear. It also includes mood management processes that can facilitate or inhibit the experience of the mood reaction. A multidomain framework is described for organizing such experience, and 2 studies are reported that analyzed separately emotion-related and emotion-management-related mood experiences. In both studies, emotion-related experience, including physical, emotional, and cognitive subdomains, could be characterized by Pleasant-Unpleasant and Arousal-Calm dimensions. Also, both studies yielded evidence for the emotion-management dimensions of Plans of Action, Suppression, and Denial. These broader dimensions of mood experience predicted criterion variables such as empathy better than Pleasant-Unpleasant and Arousal-Calm dimensions alone.

The Emotional Use of Popular Music by Adolescents

Abstract: This study follows up on some recent calls for study of music as a mass medium. An intensive study of high school teenagers finds that music serves as a powerful communication medium, speaking directly to emotions. Here, both men and women most often associated these emotions with music: excitement, happiness and love. Women were somewhat more likely to associate emotions with music and to use music for “mood management.” Social class, race and ethnicity generally did not discriminate among emotions felt by men and women. Cluster analysis allowed these youths to be sorted into different types of listeners: “mainstreamers” “heavy rockers,” “indifferents” and “music lovers.”

Musical Expression of Moodstates

Abstract: Three different age groups (5- and 10-year-old children, and adults) were asked to link a number of selected excerpts of music to one of the four moodstates: "happiness", "sadness", "fear" and "anger" (represented by facial expressions). The consensus of choices was considerable, even among the youngest children, and increased with age. Fear and anger were harder to identify in music than happiness and sadness. In the case of anger, this is probably caused by the phenomenon that the subjects (especially the youngest children) were often inclined to answer not by identifying the character of the stimulus, but in terms of the character of their response: fear. In a preliminary experiment in which a group of adult subjects was asked to judge a large number of moodstates for their possible expression in music, we found some indications that music expresses the positive-negative value and the degree of activity of a moodstate particularly well. The position of happiness, sadness and anger on those dimensions i...

The effect of attitudes on emotional reactions to expressive displays of political leaders

Abstract: One hundred subjects participated in an experiment to assess emotional reactions to the expressive displays of political leaders. Attitudes were assessed through questionnaire items, and facial EMG, heart rate, and skin conductance were recorded while subjects watched silent expressive displays of intense happiness/reassurance, mild happiness/reassurance, and anger/threat by President Reagan and Senator Hart. Half of the subjects reported their global affective reaction during each display, and all subjects reported discrete emotional reactions following each display. For Reagan, main effects were found for display type and for prior attitude in the self-report scales and in facial EMG, although significant Prior Attitude X Display interactions indicated that the intense happiness/reassurance displays most strongly differentiated supporters from opponents. Main effects were found for Hart's displays on the self-report scales and on facial EMG, and post hoc analyses revealed attitude effects. These results support previous research concerning affective reactions to dynamic expressive displays of emotion, but they also show the possible influence of prior attitude toward the expressor on both somatic and subjective measures of emotional response.

Divorce Over the Life Course: The Role of Marital Happiness

Abstract: Using a national panel of married individuals interviewed in 1980 and 1988, this study explores the apparent anomaly that marital happiness and divorce are both lower in longer marriages. We find that marital happiness has a stronger effect on divorce at longer durations than at shorter durations. Exploration of the interactions between barriers and alternatives to marriage dissolution and marital happiness suggests that this interaction arises because longer marriages are more often characterized by high barriers and few alternatives, a situation that strengthens the relationship between divorce and happiness.

The market experience: Utility and happiness

Abstract: I have suggested two maximands for the market: human development and happiness. Our discussion up to this point has focused more on the conditions of human development (specified as cognitive complexity, personal control, and self esteem) than on happiness, although inevitably hedonic states have entered the analysis. It could not be otherwise. Even though the two goods are separate, the discussion of each implies acknowledgment of the other. When they conflict, that conflict must be noted and the usual alternative basis for support, ethics, must be shown to be supportive. When they are congruent, the hedonic rewards of developmental processes are important incentives for engaging in those processes. It is for these reasons that there have been many references to hedonic moods in the interpretations of the market experience. Thus, the development of cognitive complexity by the market was placed in the context of joy and sorrow as well as such emotions as pity, guilt, or anger. The hopes and fears stimulated by money symbols are freighted with hedonic implications; insecurity obviously influences happiness as well as the thinking processes noted; one protects one's sense of personal control and self-esteem because one feels unhappy at their loss; we do not object to unemployment solely because of the waste of human resources but also because it makes people miserable; the inability of a system of exchange to comprehend intrinsic motivations is a defect because it deprives people of important pleasures; the frequent failure of money to promote happiness is itself a failure whether or not it also distorts market choices. Over the long journey to this point we have inevitably touched on happiness, the subject of Part VII.

Interpretation of Emotion From Facial Expressions in Children With and Without Learning Disabilities

Abstract: The accuracy and time required for children with and without learning disabilities to interpret emotions when restricted to information from facial expressions, and the accuracy of those interpretations, were investigated. Ninety-six children participated; an equal number of males and females were included in both learning categories and age levels. Accuracy and response time on a modified version of Pictures of Facial Affect were recorded for the emotions of fear, sadness, surprise, anger, happiness, and disgust, as well as for the entire task. Three-way ANOVAs revealed children with learning disabilities to (a) be less accurate interpreters of emotion and (b) spend more time identifying specific emotions. Both age and sex influenced response time: Younger subjects required more time to interpret the emotions of fear and anger; males spent more time interpreting happiness. Younger females with learning disabilities displayed difficulty in interpretation, and older children with learning disabilities (par...

’Happiness’ as a criterion of parents’ choice of school

Abstract: This paper takes as its starting point the results of a number of projects that investigated the criteria parents use when choosing schools. In those studies it was found that the happiness of the child was a crucial consideration and that academic criteria were significantly minimized. One of the projects, that conducted at Sheffield, set out to try to clarify what parents might mean by the vague criterion of ‘happiness’. The results of this investigation show a complex set of reasons cited by parents for their decisions. A possible explanation for the relative importance of the criteria is proposed. The conclusion is drawn that schools and those concerned with the presentation of their practice to parents should not be exclusively preoccupied with the single criterion of academic standards. It is hoped that these conclusions offer some evidence to justify existing good practice in schools.