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Showing papers on "Happiness published in 1997"


Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The authors showed that macroeconomic movements have strong effects on the happiness of nations and that recessions create psychic losses that extend beyond the fall in GDP and rise in the number of people unemployed.
Abstract: We show that macroeconomic movements have strong effects on the happiness of nations. First, we find that there are clear microeconomic patterns in the psychological well-being levels of a quarter of a million randomly sampled Europeans and Americans from the 1970s to the 1990s. Happiness equations are monotonically increasing in income, and have similar structure in different countries. Second, movements in reported well-being are correlated with changes in macroeconomic variables such as gross domestic product. This holds true after controlling for the personal characteristics of respondents, country fixed effects, year dummies, and country-specific time trends. Third, the paper establishes that recessions create psychic losses that extend beyond the fall in GDP and rise in the number of people unemployed. These losses are large. Fourth, the welfare state appears to be a compensating force: higher unemployment benefits are associated with higher national well-being.

1,522 citations


Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: This paper examined the question by using information on well-being in Western countries and revealed patterns that are not visible to the anecdotal eye, which suggests that governments ought to be trying to reduce the amount of joblessness in the economy.
Abstract: If a nation's economic performance improves, how much extra happiness does that buy its citizens? Most public debate assumes -- without real evidence -- that the answer is a lot. This paper examines the question by using information on well-being in Western countries. The data are of four kinds: on reported happiness, on reported life satisfaction, on reported job satisfaction, and on the number of suicides. These reveal patterns that are not visible to the anecdotal eye. In industrialized countries, well-being appears to rise as real national income grows. But the rise is so small as to be sometimes almost undetectable. Unemployment, however, seems to be a large source of unhappiness. This suggests that governments ought to be trying to reduce the amount of joblessness in the economy. In a country that is already rich, policy aimed instead at raising economic growth may be of comparatively little value.

1,511 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of three discrete emotions: happiness, sadness, and disgust using Positron emission tomography and [15O]H2O to measure regional brain activity.
Abstract: Objective: Happiness, sadness, and disgust are three emotions that differ in their valence (positive or negative) and associated action tendencies (approach or withdrawal). This study was designed to investigate the neuroanatomical correlates of these discrete emotions. Method: Twelve healthy female subjects were studied. Positron emission tomography and [15O]H2O were used to measure regional brain activity. There were 12 conditions per subject: happiness, sadness, and disgust and three control conditions, each induced by film and recall. Emotion and control tasks were alternated throughout. Condition order was pseudorandomized and counterbalanced across subjects. Analyses focused on brain activity patterns for each emotion when combining film and recall data. Results: Happiness, sadness, and disgust were each associated with increases in activity in the thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex (Brodmann’s area 9). These three emotions were also associated with activation of anterior and posterior temporal structures, primarily when induced by film. Recalled sadness was associated with increased activation in the anterior insula. Happiness was distinguished from sadness by greater activity in the vicinity of ventral mesial frontal cortex. Conclusions: While this study should be considered preliminary, it identifies regions of the brain that participate in happiness, sadness, and disgust, regions that distinguish between positive and negative emotions, and regions that depend on both the elicitor and valence of emotion or their interaction. (Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:926‐933)

682 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Despite economists' preference for the more objective concepts like preference, more emphasis should be given to the more subjective concepts like happiness, as happiness is our ultimate objective and as more money does not buy more happiness much, despite the rate race for material growth due to relative-income effects as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Despite economists' preference for the more objective concepts like preference, more emphasis should be given to the more subjective concepts like happiness, as happiness is our ultimate objective and as more money does not buy more happiness much, despite the rate race for material growth due to relative-income effects. Confinement to the more objective concepts, especially reinforced by economists' self denial of cardinal utility and interpersonal comparison, makes economics less relevant and even misleading. Utility is cardinally measurable and interpersonally comparable if appropriate methods are used. However, for many purposes, the willingness to pay may be used to measure the intensity of preference and used in an interpersonally acceptable sense.

382 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that self-rated unhappy individuals would be more sensitive to social comparison information than would happy ones, and that the difference between groups' responses to feedback about their own teaching performance was largely independent of self-esteem and optimism.
Abstract: Two studies tested the hypothesis that self-rated unhappy individuals would be more sensitive to social comparison information than would happy ones. Study 1 showed that whereas unhappy students' affect and self-assessments were heavily affected by a peer who solved anagrams either faster or slower, happy students' responses were affected by the presence of a slower peer only. These between-group differences proved to be largely independent of 2 factors associated with happiness, i.e., self-esteem and optimism. Study 2 showed that whereas the unhappy group's responses to feedback about their own teaching performance were heavily influenced by a peer who performed even better or even worse, happy students' responses again were moderated only by information about inferior peer performance. Implications for our appreciation of the link between cognitive processes and "hedonic" consequences are discussed.

283 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the influence of emotions in visual word recognition and found that emotional states of happiness and sadness were associated with facilitation of response to words categorically related to that emotion (i.e. happy and sad words).
Abstract: Lexical decision and word-naming experiments were conducted to examine influences of emotions in visual word recognition. Emotional states of happiness and sadness were induced with classical music. In the first two experiments, happy and sad participants (and neutral-emotion participants in Experiment 2) made lexical decisions about letter-strings, some of which were words with meanings strongly associated with the emotions happiness, love, sadness, and anger. Emotional state of the perceiver was associated with facilitation of response to words categorically related to that emotion (i.e. happy and sad words). However, such facilitation was not observed for words that were related by valence, but not category, to the induced emotions (i.e. love and anger words). Evidence for categorical influences of emotional state in word recognition was also observed in a third experiment that employed a word-naming task. Together the results support a categorical emotions model of the influences of emotion in informa...

179 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors performed a qualitative analysis to develop a typology and found nine major categories among 180 reported sources of happiness, including need for respect, harmony of interpersonal relationships, satisfaction of material needs, achievement at work, being at ease with life, taking pleasure at others' expense, sense of self-control and self-actualization, pleasure and positive affect, and health.
Abstract: Perceived sources of happiness among community residents in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and in the West were identified and compared. The authors performed a qualitative analysis to develop a typology and found 9 major categories among 180 reported sources of happiness. They were (a) gratification of need for respect, (b) harmony of interpersonal relationships, (c) satisfaction of material needs, (d) achievement at work, (e) being at ease with life, (f) taking pleasure at others' expense, (g) sense of self-control and self-actualization, (h) pleasure and positive affect, and (i) health. The results indicated that the Western conception of happiness places greater emphasis on intrapersonal or internal evaluation and contentment, whereas the Chinese conception of happiness places greater emphasis on interpersonal or external evaluation and satisfaction. The Chinese conception of happiness also has unique components, such as being at ease with life.

177 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results support sadness as evoking patterns of autonomic influence consistent with cholinergically mediated airway constriction, and happiness appears to effect autonomic patterns that would tend to relieve airways constriction.
Abstract: Objective Research relating depression/hopelessness to cholinergic activation suggests the hypothesis that sad emotional states evoke patterns of autonomic reactivity that predispose to cholinergically mediated airway constriction in asthma. A corollary hypothesis is that positive (e.g., happy) emotional states evoke opposing effects. The purpose of the current study is to assess whether specific emotional states (sadness and happiness) can be reliably induced, physiologically differentiated, and related to asthma-relevant physiologic (autonomic) reactivity and pulmonary function in asthmatic children. Method Twenty-four children, aged 8 to 17 years, with moderate to severe asthma, viewed the movie E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial while having their heart and respiration rate and oxygen saturation continuously recorded. Specific scenes were identified and preselected to evoke sadness, happiness, and a mixture of happiness and sadness. Self-report of emotion and indices of physiologic response were analyzed for these targeted scenes. Results Sadness was associated with greater heart rate variability and instability of oxygen saturation compared with happiness, with mixed results for mixed happiness and sadness. Conclusion Results support sadness as evoking patterns of autonomic influence consistent with cholinergically mediated airway constriction. Happiness appears to effect autonomic patterns that would tend to relieve airway constriction. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 1997, 36(5):669–677.

151 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The evidence on direct and indirect influences of Happiness and positive moods influence health is summarised here.
Abstract: Happiness and positive moods influence health, and vice versa. A number of social and personality factors influence health directly, for example by affecting health behaviour or the immune system. These factors also affect health indirectly by influencing happiness and moods. These factors include social relationships, exercise and other aspects of leisure, job status and other aspects of work, social class, and several aspects of personality. The evidence on direct and indirect influences of happiness on health is summarised here.

129 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Umberson et al. as mentioned in this paper found that parents with children younger than age 18 living in the household reported higher levels of psychological distress than other adults and that mothers reported the highest distress levels.
Abstract: In a representative national sample of 1,601 adults aged 18-59, parents with children younger than age 18 living in the household reported higher levels of psychological distress than other adults. Mothers reported the highest distress levels. I hypothesized that children provide tradeoffs for their parents' distress. Social and economic burdens associated with parenting increase psychological distress for people with children. The model was supported for both men and women and was not moderated by the number of children in the household. I found that children were associated with lower psychological distress levels. Key Words: child care, depression, gender, marital quality, parenthood; social support. It is an interesting paradox that although Americans place a high value on having children and parents speak of loving their children and enjoying the time they spend with them, most studies show minimal positive effects of children younger than 18 years old on parents' physical well-being and insignificant or small, inconsistent effects on parents' psychological well-being (Gore & Mangione, 1983; Gove & Geerken, 1977; Kessler & McRae, 1982; Lovell-Troy, 1983; McLanahan & Adams, 1987; McLanahan & Adams, 1989; Ross, Mirowsky, & Goldsteen, 1990; Umberson, 1989). For example, compared with persons without children, parents of children under 18 report lower levels of life happiness and higher levels of agitation; yet, parents also report higher levels of life meaning (Umberson & Gove, 1989). Time-use studies offer a partial explanation of these paradoxical findings. They indicate that parents experience a trade-off between enjoyable time spent with their children and an increase (particularly for mothers) in the amount of time spent doing things that they do not enjoy, such as housework (Berk & Berk, 1979). Thus, there is a trade-off between the positive experiences of parenting and the burdens and responsibilities that come with it. Such a trade-off between the positive and negative effects of children and parenting results in the apparent near-zero association if, on average, the positive and negative effects cancel each other out. A thorough examination of the structural burdens associated with childrearing and their impact on parents' psychological distress may reveal an underlying, positive effect of parenthood on distress. If this is the case, then structural burdens of parenting potentially could be reduced, thereby improving parents' psychological well-being. Moreover, such an examination will shed light on whether gender differences in the social and economic burdens of parenting produce greater psychological distress in mothers than in fathers. I examine parenting stressors and their implications for mothers and fathers, compared with persons without children under age 18 living at home. First, I examine how parenting affects adults' exposure to particular social and economic resources and stressors and whether this exposure is likely to differ for men and women. Second, I examine whether these positive and negative aspects of parenting differentially affect men's and women's psychological distress. I focus on two aspects of parenting-social and economic burdens as measured by economic hardship, responsibility for child care, and difficulty arranging child care-and on two social resources-marital happiness and emotional social support, both of which are affected by the presence of children and may buffer parents from the social and psychological consequences of parenting burdens. EFFECTS OF PARENTING ON ADULTS LIVES Having children increases parents' exposure to particular stressors, such as economic hardship, and creates new stressors, such as responsibility for caring for children and, for employed parents, arranging for child care for the time that they are at work. In addition, raising children affects parents' social resources. The demands of parenting may decrease resources for coping with stress by lowering marital happiness, which, in turn, increases distress. …

128 citations


01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take stock of the progress in answering these questions and take a stock of progress made in answering them through the ages, taking into account the progress of empirical research.
Abstract: textResume Un des buts des politiques sociales est de creer un plus grand bonheur pour le plus grand nombre de personnes. La realisation de cet objectif ambitieux necessite la comprehension du bonheur. Les cinq questions suivantes appellent des reponses -. 1) Precisement, qu’est-ce que le bonheur ? 2) Le bonheur peut-il etre mesure ? 3) Jusqu'a quel point les gens sont-ils heureux ? 4) Qu'est-ce qui nous amene a etre heureux ou malheureux ? 5) Le bonheur peut-il etre atteint de facon permanente ? Au fil des siecles, les philosophes se sont confrontes a ces questions. Depuis les annees 60, elles font l’objet de recherches empiriques. Cet article tente de repondre a ces questions en se basant sur les progres realises. Summary One of the goals of social policy is to create greater happiness for a greater number. Realization of this ambition requires understanding of happiness. The following questions must be answered: 1) What is happiness precisely? 2) Can happiness be measured? 3) How happy are people presently? 4) What causes us to be happy or unhappy? 5) Can happiness be raised lastingly? Through the ages philosophers have toiled with these questions. Since the 1960's they are subject of empirical research. This paper takes stock of the progress in answering these questions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper developed a general measure of happiness of Chinese people based on results from a qualitative research done with Chinese people in Taiwan, as well as translating items from a well-established Western instrument.

Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The authors examines how Pentecostalism has managed to achieve such ascendancy in a former British colony among people of predominantly African descent and argues that it has flourished because it successfully mediates between two historically central, yet often oppositional themes in Jamaican religious life: the characteristic African striving for personal freedom and happiness, and the Protestant struggle for atonement and salvation through rigorous ethical piety.
Abstract: This study examines how Pentecostalism has managed to achieve such ascendancy in a former British colony among people of predominantly African descent. This book argues that it has flourished because it successfully mediates between two historically central, yet often oppositional themes in Jamaican religious life: the characteristic African striving for personal freedom and happiness, and the Protestant struggle for atonement and salvation through rigorous ethical piety. The author of this work considers that, with its emphasis on the individual experience of grace and on the ritual efficacy of spiritual healing, and with its vibrantly expressive worship, Jamaican Pentecostalism has become a compelling vehicle for the negotiation of such fundamental issues as gender, sexuality, race and class. She intends the book to address all those concerned, not simply with Caribbean studies, but with the ongoing transformation of religion and culture.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that there are at least three different concepts of quality-of-life, and it is argued that the different concepts are not unrelated and point to different components of and/or conditions for happiness.
Abstract: In the last two decades, the term "quality-of-life" has become popular in medicine and health care. There are, however, important differences in the meaning and the use of the term. The message of all quality-of-life talk is that medicine and health care are not valuable in themselves. They are valuable to the extent that they contribute to the quality of life of patients. The ultimate aims of medicine and health care are not health or prolongation of life as such, but preservation or improvement of the quality of life. The primary aims of medicine and health care, such as the prolongation of life, can--but need not always--come into conflict with the ultimate ones: medical treatments do not always benefit a patient. In this article I will, first, summarize the results of my explorations of the use and the meaning of the term "quality-of-life." The use and the meaning of the term turn out to depend on the contexts of medical decision-making in which it is used. I will show that there are at least three different concepts of quality-of-life. Second, I will argue that the different concepts of quality-of-life are not unrelated. They point to different components of and/or conditions for happiness. Third, I will analyze the relation between the three concepts of quality-of-life, health and happiness.

BookDOI
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The Scholarship of Daniel G Freedman Pursuing the Big Picture Is Nonduality Possible in the Social and Biological Sciences?
Abstract: The Scholarship of Daniel G. Freedman Pursuing the Big Picture My Three Mentors Is Nonduality Possible in the Social and Biological Sciences? Small Essays on Holism and Related Issues Are Genetically-Based Individual Differences Compatible with Species-Wide Adaptations? Genetic Bases of Behaviour Contributions to Psychological Research A Developmental and a Genetic Perspective on Aggression Genetic Analysis of Social Behaviour Twin Research Perspective on Human Development Biological Approaches to Developmental Issues - Rethinking the Data Ethological and General Systems Perspectives on Child-Parent Attachment During the Toddler and Preschool Years Sexual Orientation as a Developmental Context for Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals - Biological Perspectives What Can the Genotype Tell Us About Complex Human Conditions? Naturalistic Studies of Behaviour - How Does a Cross-Cultural Approach Inform Ongoing Research? Why Do Hadza Children Forage? Expression or Communication About Emotion Mother-Infant Interaction in Cross-Cultural Perspective Marriage in a Cross-Cultural Perspective Evolutionary Analyses - New Issues and Continuing Controversies Genetic Basis of Intrapsychic Conflict Is Human Happiness Universal? An Evolutionary Perspective Discrete Emotions Theory with Specific Reference to Pride and Shame Film Retrospective - The Method and the Medium Film Commentaries Behaviour Genetics, Human Ethology, Evolutionary Psychology and Culture - Looking to the Future Pair-Bonding Deconstructed by Twin Studies of Marital Status - What is Normative? An Ethological Perspective on Normal Behaviour, Especially as it Relates to Mating Systems Evolving Beyond Evolutionary Psychology - A Look at Family Violence Final Overview - Uniting Psychology and Biology.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the effects of happiness, anger, and sadness on participants' memory for different types of information in a narrative and found that participants in the positive emotion condition recall more of the narrative as a whole than did participants in a negative emotion condition.
Abstract: This research examined the effects of happiness, anger, and sadness on participants' memory for different types of information in a narrative. Happiness and negative emotions were evoked in undergraduates (N = 263) by randomly assigning grades of “A” or “D” on a surprise quiz. Immediately afterwards, subjects participated in what they believed to be an unrelated study during which they heard and recalled a narrative and described their emotional state. Participants in the positive emotion condition recalled more of the narrative as a whole than did participants in the negative emotion condition. Analyses based on self-reported emotions indicated that happiness had a general facilitative effect on recall, whereas anger and sadness were associated with enhanced recall of information concerning goals and outcomes respectively. These findings indicate that specific emotions differ in their effects on memory and that negative emotions may facilitate selective encoding of functional information.

Book
03 Apr 1997
TL;DR: The authors argue that sexual desire is central to the pursuit of happiness: equal citizenship requires individual freedom to shape oneself through a variety of intimate associations, and sexual desire can be expressed as a form of self-love.
Abstract: Sexual Justice defends a robust a robust conception of lesbian and gay rights, emphasizing protection against discrimination and recognition of queer relationships and families. Synthesizing materials from law, philosophy, psychoanalysis and literature, Kaplan argues that sexual desire is central to the pursuit of happiness: equal citizenship requires individual freedom to shape oneself through a variety of intimate associations.

Book
08 Dec 1997
TL;DR: In this article, the Modern Construction of Mysticism and Religious Experience is discussed. But the authors focus on the secondariness of second-ariness and do not consider the firstariness in the sense of a kind of writing.
Abstract: Introduction: The Mysticism of Secondariness. 1. The Modern Construction of Mysticism and Religious Experience. 2. Theories of Mysticism in Modernity. 3. Dogmatic Theology is an Ideology of Absolute Spiritual Power. 4. Mysticism is a Kind of Writing. 5. How Mystical Writing Produces Religious Happiness. 6. The Politics of Mysticism. 7. Mystical Writing was the Forerunner of Deconstruction and Radical Theology. 8. Meltdown. 9. Happiness. 10. Eternity. Notes. Select Bibliography.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors replicated a program to increase indices of happiness among people with profound multiple disabilities and conducted a component analysis of the program, which involved presentation and contingent withdrawal of stimuli that had been identified as preferred based on preference assessments and staff opinion.
Abstract: We replicated a program to increase indices of happiness among people with profound multiple disabilities and conducted a component analysis of the program. The program involved presentation and contingent withdrawal of stimuli that had been identified as preferred based on preference assessments and staff opinion. The program was implemented with 3 adult students and was accompanied by increased happiness indices for each student. Subsequent implementation of the two types of stimuli indicated that preferred stimuli based on preference assessments were more consistently accompanied by increased happiness indices than were preferred stimuli based on staff opinion. Social validity measures supported the definition of happiness, in that raters’ subjective opinions of the students’ happiness coincided with the observed happiness indices. Results are discussed regarding the importance and practical implications of using preference assessments for determining stimuli for increasing happiness indices. Future research areas are suggested, focusing on increasing happiness and other quality-of-life indicators during the daily routines of people with profound disabilities. DESCRIPTORS: happiness, profound multiple disabilities, quality of life An area of increasing concern in developmental disabilities is ensuring that individuals experience enjoyment or happiness with certain aspects of their lives. The importance of assisting people with developmental disabilities to acquire an enjoyable quality of life has been discussed frequently (see Felce & Perry, 1995, for a review). Likewise, regulatory standards for agencies that provide supports for people with developmental disabilities have begun to emphasize individual enjoyment and fun experiences as important outcomes of desired agency practices (HCFA, 1996).

Posted Content
TL;DR: This paper examined the question by using information on well-being in Western countries and found that the answer is not a lot, but rather a small amount of extra happiness for the average American.
Abstract: If a nation's economic performance improves, how much extra happiness does that buy its citizens? Most public debate assumes--without real evidence--that the answer is a lot. This paper examines the question by using information on well-being in Western countries.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The notion of habit figures prominently in theories of health-related behavior and in efforts to encourage people to develop consistency and regularity in the healthful behavior of daily life as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The notion of habit figures prominently in theories of health-related behavior and in efforts to encourage people to develop consistency and regularity in the healthful behavior of daily life. The consensus definition of habit as automatic and mindless behavior, however, presents three logical and philosophical problems. First, this definition of habit is at odds with the way most of our theories of health behavior try to employ the notion. Second, the behaviors of concern to most health, exercise, and sport psychologists are not the kinds of behaviors to which this definition of habit applies easily, if at all. Third, the kind of mindless behavior suggested by this definition may be conducive to enhancing physical health and athletic performance, but it may be inconsistent with the essential elements of happiness or subjective well-being according to Eastern philosophies such as Taoism and Buddhism, and according to the growing research on the psychology of happiness.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the contribution of sense of coherence and resistance deficits and resources to the psychological adjustment of five Southeast Asian refugee groups (713 Vietnamese, 492 Cambodians, 551 Laotians, 231 Hmong, 245 Chinese-Vietnamese).
Abstract: This study examines the contribution of sense of coherence and resistance deficits and resources to the psychological adjustment of five Southeast Asian refugee groups (713 Vietnamese, 492 Cambodians, 551 Laotians, 231 Hmong, 245 Chinese-Vietnamese). It is hypothesized that sense of coherence (i.e., the experience of life as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful) (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987) directly predicts psychological adjustment as measured by happiness and demoralization. Also, resistance deficits (being male, the experience of trauma, and cultural traditionalism) and resistance resources (a younger age at arrival and longer residence in the United States, higher education, employment, greater English competence, and living in an area with a greater co-ethnic density) are postulated to both directly and indirectly (through their effect on sense of coherence) predict happiness and demoralization. These hypotheses are generally supported by the results of this study, with sense of coherence emerging as a most powerful predictor of psychological adjustment for refugees. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Inc.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results indicate that the relatively commonplace process of wishing relates to traits, gender, and well-being.
Abstract: Study participants (175 men, 230 women) made three wishes and completed measures of the five-factor model of personality, optimism, life satisfaction, and depression. Common wishes were for achievement, affiliation, intimacy, and power as well as for happiness and money. T tests showed women were more likely to wish for improved appearance, happiness, and health; men were more likely to make power wishes and wishes for sex. Among participants who were highly involved in the wishing process, Extraversion was related to making more interpersonal wishes and wishes for positive affect. Neuroticism was related to wishes for emotional stability. Agreeableness and Openness to Experience related to wishes reflective of these traits. Conscientiousness was related to low impulsivity. Depression was related to making highly idiosyncratic, specific wishes, suggesting the use of wishful thinking as a coping mechanism. In addition, happy participants were more likely to rate their wishes as likely to come true. Results indicate that the relatively commonplace process of wishing relates to traits, gender, and well-being.

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between happiness (utility) and a host of socioeconomic variables and found that happiness increases with income and education and decreases with unemployment, urbanisation, being single, and male gender.
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between happiness (utility) and a host of socio-economic variables. The data set consists of a random sample of over 5,000 individuals from the Swedish adult population. Happiness is measured by a three-point categorical measure of overall happiness (not happy, happy sometimes, happy most of the time), and an ordered probit model is used to econometrically estimate the happiness equation. The results are consistent with the theoretical predictions and show that happiness increases with income and education and decreases with unemployment, urbanisation, being single, and male gender. The relationship between age and happiness is U-shaped, with happiness being lowest in the age-group 45-64.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors evaluated an integrative model of happiness which incorporated personal factors (demographics, extraversion, neuroticism and locus of control) as well as environmental factors (life events and social support).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A sample of 212 undergraduate students in the USA completed the Oxford Happiness Inventory and the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity alongside the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and found that the happiest individuals are those who score low on neuroticism, high on extraversion and high on the scale of attitude toward Christianity.
Abstract: A sample of 212 undergraduate students in the USA completed the Oxford Happiness Inventory and the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity alongside the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data confirm that the happiest individuals are those who score low on neuroticism, high on extraversion and high on the scale of attitude toward Christianity, while the least happy individuals are those who score high on neuroticism, low on extraversion and low on the scale of attitude toward Christianity.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, this article found that stability is an insulator against depression and anxiety in 83 participants on the Oxford Happiness Inventory and the NEO Five Factor Inventory, with a correlation of −.26 to −.44.
Abstract: Scores for 83 participants (M age = 23.2 yr.) on the Oxford Happiness Inventory and the NEO Five Factor Inventory were correlated (.26 to −.44), suggesting that if stability is an insulator against...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of empirically-based publications on gay male gerontology was conducted by as mentioned in this paper, who found that the long-held negative stereotypes of gay male elders are unwarranted and have been repeatedly debunked.
Abstract: A review of empirically-based publications on gay male gerontology was conducted. A total of 58 articles is presented. Findings indicate that the long-held negative stereotypes of gay male elders are unwarranted and have been repeatedly debunked. Happiness and successful adaptation to old age are possible and are frequently reported by older gay men. Substantial and unique competencies in old age that may be useful in addressing the needs of aging populations in general are identifiable in this population. A discussion of needs for future research and a brief methodological critique are given.

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the reported happiness and life-satisfaction scores of random samples of young men and women were analyzed using the U.S. General Social Surveys and the Eurobarometer Surveys.
Abstract: Many observers believe that times are growing harder for young people in Western society. This paper looks at the evidence and finds that conventional wisdom appears to be wrong. Using the U.S. General Social Surveys and the Eurobarometer Surveys, the paper studies the reported happiness and life-satisfaction scores of random samples of young men and women. " The data cover the USA and thirteen European countries. Our main finding is that from the 1970s to the 1990s the well-being of the young increased quite markedly. A number of possible explanations are considered.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the role of the other person by manipulating two aspects of this role: co-experience of the event and expression of emotion, and predicted that another's coexperience and expression would affect emotional responses.
Abstract: Inconsistencies in previous findings concerning the relationship between emotion and social context are likely to reflect the multi-dimensionality of the sociality construct. In the present study we focused on the role of the other person by manipulating two aspects of this role: co-experience of the event and expression of emotion. We predicted that another's co-experience and expression would affect emotional responses and that the direction of these effects would depend upon the manipulated emotion and how the role of the other person is appraised. Participants read vignettes eliciting four different emotions: happiness, sadness, anxiety, and anger. As well as an alone condition, there were four conditions in which a friend was present, either co-experiencing the event or merely observing it, and either expressing emotions consistent with the event or not showing any emotion. There were significant effects of co-experience in the case of anger situations, and of expression in the case of happiness and sadness situations. Social appraisal also appeared to influence emotional response. We discuss different processes that might be responsible for these results.