16 Practice questions for Science of Happiness
With short explanations
Robert Bunschoten
What is the evolutionary explanation for the negativity bias? (week 1)
a. Evolution wants you to be dissatisfied so you remember bad experiences better
b. Our setpoint for happiness is lower so we experience more unpleasant emotions
c. Humans that are attuned to preventing bad things thrive more than humans that are
attuned toward maximizing good things
d. Having a negative mindset makes you more productive
Which statement is true? (week 1)
1: A satisfying life is always more enjoyable
2: An enjoyable life is always more satisfying
a. Both statement 1 and 2 are true
b. Statement 1 is true and statement 2 is false
c. Statement 2 is true and statement 1 is false
d. Both statement 1 and 2 are false
What is not a cause for the impact bias? (week 2)
a. Focalism
b. Immune neglect
c. Overestimation of intensity and duration of emotions
d. Optimism bias
A pessimistic attribution style is associated with depression. What characterizes this
attribution style? (week 2)
a. Internal, stable and global attributions for adverse events
b. External, stable and specific attributions for adverse events
c. Internal, stable and global attributions for positive events
d. External, unstable and global attributions for positive events
In the article “Very Happy People” of Diener & Seligman (2002) they state that overall, happy
people generally have a few stable characteristics. What is not one of these characteristics?
(week 3)
a. More extraverted
b. Less neurotic
c. More agreeable
d. More open
In the systemic review of Folk & Dunn (2023) they look at if the most popular happiness
interventions actually work. Which of these 4 interventions is the strongest predictor of
happiness? (week 3)
a. Being mindful
b. Moving your body
c. Investing in your relationship with others
, d. Being in nature
What is the Easterlin paradox? (Week 4)
a. Contributing to better circumstances does not lead to greater happiness
b. Happiness does not increase as a country’s income rises on the long term
c. Gross domestic product explains most of the happiness score
d. Pro-environmental behavior can be not pleasurable and pleasurable
How do we not make people act more sustainable? (Week 4)
a. Shift people to a non-materialistic view
b. Convince people that acting sustainable is meaningful and right
c. Giving people autonomy
d. Giving people rewards if they act sustainable
In lecture 5 there is spoken about different indicators that the government can use to
employ well-being notions into their policies. What is the most important social indicator
related to well-being? (week 5)
a. Tax policy
b. Better circumstances
c. Norms
d. Economic growth
What is not a reason good governance be a source of happiness? (week 5)
a. Creation of social trust
b. Creation of good conditions
c. Creation of individual freedom
d. Creation of economic growth
How can the selection bias explain the happiness curve as explained in the article of
Wareham (2022)? (week 6)
a. This is caused by gradual adjustments to reduce expectations as you get older
b. Due to the phenomenon that as you get older you get more emotional wisdom
c. Unhappy people die sooner
d. People that are middle aged have more stress and burdens
In the lecture the individual and social implications for the desirability of longer lives is
discussed. The two main ideas are of Singer and Walker. What makes Walker’s prediction
more optimistic than Singer’s longevity? (week 6)
a. He says shorter lives are better because it would result in more happiness
b. He says that we do not know what our future self wants
c. He says that prolonging life is always good
d. He says that the older you get, the happier you get
The article of Gable & Gronberg (2018) is called: “Healthy social bonds: A necessary
condition for well-being”. In this article they even go as far as saying that humans cannot
survive without social connections. Which answer is not one of the arguments the authors
present? Social connections help with … (week 7)
With short explanations
Robert Bunschoten
What is the evolutionary explanation for the negativity bias? (week 1)
a. Evolution wants you to be dissatisfied so you remember bad experiences better
b. Our setpoint for happiness is lower so we experience more unpleasant emotions
c. Humans that are attuned to preventing bad things thrive more than humans that are
attuned toward maximizing good things
d. Having a negative mindset makes you more productive
Which statement is true? (week 1)
1: A satisfying life is always more enjoyable
2: An enjoyable life is always more satisfying
a. Both statement 1 and 2 are true
b. Statement 1 is true and statement 2 is false
c. Statement 2 is true and statement 1 is false
d. Both statement 1 and 2 are false
What is not a cause for the impact bias? (week 2)
a. Focalism
b. Immune neglect
c. Overestimation of intensity and duration of emotions
d. Optimism bias
A pessimistic attribution style is associated with depression. What characterizes this
attribution style? (week 2)
a. Internal, stable and global attributions for adverse events
b. External, stable and specific attributions for adverse events
c. Internal, stable and global attributions for positive events
d. External, unstable and global attributions for positive events
In the article “Very Happy People” of Diener & Seligman (2002) they state that overall, happy
people generally have a few stable characteristics. What is not one of these characteristics?
(week 3)
a. More extraverted
b. Less neurotic
c. More agreeable
d. More open
In the systemic review of Folk & Dunn (2023) they look at if the most popular happiness
interventions actually work. Which of these 4 interventions is the strongest predictor of
happiness? (week 3)
a. Being mindful
b. Moving your body
c. Investing in your relationship with others
, d. Being in nature
What is the Easterlin paradox? (Week 4)
a. Contributing to better circumstances does not lead to greater happiness
b. Happiness does not increase as a country’s income rises on the long term
c. Gross domestic product explains most of the happiness score
d. Pro-environmental behavior can be not pleasurable and pleasurable
How do we not make people act more sustainable? (Week 4)
a. Shift people to a non-materialistic view
b. Convince people that acting sustainable is meaningful and right
c. Giving people autonomy
d. Giving people rewards if they act sustainable
In lecture 5 there is spoken about different indicators that the government can use to
employ well-being notions into their policies. What is the most important social indicator
related to well-being? (week 5)
a. Tax policy
b. Better circumstances
c. Norms
d. Economic growth
What is not a reason good governance be a source of happiness? (week 5)
a. Creation of social trust
b. Creation of good conditions
c. Creation of individual freedom
d. Creation of economic growth
How can the selection bias explain the happiness curve as explained in the article of
Wareham (2022)? (week 6)
a. This is caused by gradual adjustments to reduce expectations as you get older
b. Due to the phenomenon that as you get older you get more emotional wisdom
c. Unhappy people die sooner
d. People that are middle aged have more stress and burdens
In the lecture the individual and social implications for the desirability of longer lives is
discussed. The two main ideas are of Singer and Walker. What makes Walker’s prediction
more optimistic than Singer’s longevity? (week 6)
a. He says shorter lives are better because it would result in more happiness
b. He says that we do not know what our future self wants
c. He says that prolonging life is always good
d. He says that the older you get, the happier you get
The article of Gable & Gronberg (2018) is called: “Healthy social bonds: A necessary
condition for well-being”. In this article they even go as far as saying that humans cannot
survive without social connections. Which answer is not one of the arguments the authors
present? Social connections help with … (week 7)
