Happiness

About: Happiness is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 22093 publications have been published within this topic receiving 728411 citations. The topic is also known as: joy & happy.

Affective Attachments to Nested Groups: A Choice-Process Theory

Abstract: This paper offers a theory linking choice processes with the experience of transitory emotion and the development of enduring affective attachments to nested collectivities, i.e., subgroups within a larger group, organization, or society. According to the theory, persons become emotionally attached to groups that strengthen their generalized sense of control. The underlying propositions are that: (1) choice processes that foster a high sense of control produce positive emotion (happiness, pride, gratitude); (2) such positive emotion strengthens affective attachments to groups perceived as most responsible for the choice opportunity; and (3) such positive emotion strengthens attachments to proximal subgroups more than to larger, more encompassing collectivities. Complementary predictions obtainfor lack of choice, negative emotion (sadness, shame, hostility), and the weakening of collective attachments. The theory explicates a subtle social process important to individuallgroup relations, and suggests conditions likely to produce behavior directed at the collective welfare.

Relative Income, Happiness and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles

Abstract: The well-known Easterlin paradox points out that average happiness has remained constant over time despite sharp rises in GNP per head. At the same time, a micro literature has typically found positive correlations between individual income and individual measures of subjective well being. This paper suggests that these two findings are consistent with the presence of relative income terms in the utility function. Income may be evaluated relative to others (social comparison) or to oneself in the past (habituation). We review the evidence on relative income from the subjective well-being literature. We also discuss the relation (or not) between happiness and utility and discuss some non-happiness research (behavioural, experimental, neurological) dealing with income comparisons. We last consider how relative income in the utility function affects economic models of behaviour in a number of different domains.

Measuring Subjective Well-Being

Abstract: What is progress, and how should we measure the well-being of a population? The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has held two major conferences on the subject, and last year, President Sarkozy of France established a distinguished commission to report on the same questions ( 1 ). This major debate reflects the fact that higher national income has not brought the better quality of life that many expected, and surveys in the United States show no increase in happiness over the past 60 years. These surveys rely on questions about subjective well-being, and it is reasonable to ask how reliable survey answers are as measures of the quality of life as people experience it. On page 576 of this issue ( 2 ), Oswald and Wu carry out an interesting test of this. First they measure subjective well-being in each U.S. state, and then compare it with the average objectively measured wage in the same U.S. state (both variables being controlled for personal factors). The negative correlation of the two variables is remarkably high—as it should be if higher wages are compensating for a lower experienced quality of life (and vice versa). The study will likely stimulate some lively debate across many disciplines, including scientists, economists, sociologists, psychologists, and policy-makers.

Beyond GDP: The Quest for a Measure of Social Welfare

Abstract: This paper critically examines the various approaches to the measurement of individual well-being and social welfare that have been considered for the construction of alternatives to GDP. Special attention is devoted to recent developments in the analysis of sustainability, in the study of happiness, in the theory of social choice and fair allocation, and in the capability approach. It is suggested in the conclusion that, although convergence toward a consensual approach is not impossible, for the moment not one but three alternatives to GDP are worth developing. ( JEL I31, E23, E01)

The Economics of Happiness

Abstract: Welfare and well-being have traditionally been gauged by using income and employment statistics, life expectancy, and other objective measures. The Economics of Happiness, which is based on people’s reports of how their lives are going, provides a complementary yet radically different approach to studying human well-being. Typically, subjective well-being measures include positive and negative feelings (e.g., momentary experiences of happiness or stress), life evaluations (e.g., life satisfaction), and feelings of having a life purpose. Both businesses and policymakers now increasingly make decisions and craft policies based on such measures. This chapter provides an overview of the Happiness Economics approach and outlines the promises and pitfalls of subjective well-being measures.