HOORCOLLEGES SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS
Lecture 1 – Why happiness deserves scientific interest
Why is it easier to think of negative events than positive events?
Bad is stronger than good: negativity bias → People often focus on the
negative.
- Negative events have a bigger impact than positive events.
- Negative information receives more attention and is processed more
thoroughly than positive information.
Evolutionary explanation:
- Humans are attuned to preventing bad things more than toward
maximizing good things.
- A person who ignores danger may not live to see the next day.
- “Evolution doesn’t want you to be happy or satisfied. We’re supposed
to survive and reproduce” → we are not supposed to be happy,
threatens our survival.
- A huge happiness and positive thinking industry has helped to create
the fantasy that happiness is a realistic goal. Chasing the happiness
dream is a very American concept, exported to the rest of the world
through pop culture. Unfortunately, this has helped to create an
expectation that real life stubbornly refuses to deliver.
But still: we want to be happy. And the government wants us to be
happy too
Benefits of a happy population:
- Happier people are more productive, are healthier and live longer,
contribute more to society and have better social relationships. Also,
less use of services like health care so less costs.
World happiness reports:
- Published annually since 2012 but the UN Sustainable development
solutions network, based on data from the Gallup World Poll.
- In 2011, the UN-general assembly adopted resolution 65/309
Happiness: towards a holistic definition of development inviting
member countries to use data on the population’s well-being to guide
public policy
- In 2012, the UN-general assembly adopted resolution 66/281,
proclaiming 20 march as international day of happiness to highlight the
importance of well-being as an aspiration for people all around the
world
- ‘Our success as countries should be judged by the happiness of our
people. This means that national happiness can now become an
operational objective for governments.
Countries use data on the population’s well-being to guide public policy
Does happiness deserve scientific interest?
Some opinions:
,- Happiness research is a great example of why psychology isn’t a
science
- How exactly should ‘happiness’ be defined?
- The meaning of that word differs from person to person and especially
between cultures
- How does one measure happiness?
- Psychologists can’t use a ruler or a microscope, so they invent an
arbitrary scale
Science of Happiness is a recent phenomenon
- Social science of happiness is relatively new
- Ed diener (Dr happiness) → 400 publications about subjective well-
being. Tried to bridge social science and public policy.
- Martin Seligman – Positive Psychology (2000). Asking more attention for
the good things.
- Mihalyi Csikszentmihaliyi – Flow (1990)
- Barbara Frederickson – Broaden & Build (2001)
- Ruut Veenhoven: our own professor of happiness
→ But note that reflections on happiness exists since ancient times
What is the science of happiness about?
Science of happiness focus on the subjective experience of happiness, its
antecedents (things that happen before and influence a specific behavior)
and consequences
- Scientific questions relating to happiness
- Do circumstances and living conditions matter?
- For Diogenes (404-323 BC), living in a wine jar was enough (said he was
happy), they didn’t. But how about us? Can we live without our material
conditions?
- Do material conditions have an influence?
- Is happiness your own responsibility? Some people say that the whole
happiness industry makes people responsible for their own happiness.
Role of government also plays an important role in this. Till what extent
is the government responsible?
- Can you increase your level of happiness?
- Should government create conditions that, make you happy (in their
own interest)?
Multidisciplinary effort → Lots of different disciplines talk about happiness,
not just psychology.
Definitions of happiness:
- “a state of well-being and contentment” (Merriam-Webster, 2018)
- “The experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined
with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile”
(Lyubomirsky ,2008)
- “Good mental states, including all of the various evaluations, positive
and negative, that people make of their lives and the affective
reactions of people to their experiences” (OECD, 2013)
→ There are some common areas in these definitions.
,Lay definition of happiness: inner harmony rather than satisfaction or
positive affect
→ Shows that there are different definitions of happiness.
Is happiness an elusive concept?
- JINGLE (Thorndike, 1904) The very same term refers to different
underlying conceptions: happiness refers to life satisfaction, positive
affect, well-being
- JANGLE (Kelley, 1927) Different terms are used to describe the very
same underlying conceptions: happiness, life satisfaction, meaning in
life, well-being ≈ ‘happiness’
Hedonic/subjective well-being as a composite of 3 related but
distinct facets (tripartite model): (!)
Subjective happiness/ hedonic well-being consists of three elements:
- Life Satisfaction (cognitive evaluation) – a reflective assessment on a
person’s life or some specific aspect of it: general satisfaction with life
or domain-specific satisfaction with marriage, work, friendship, leisure,
the weather …
- Positive Affect – a person’s feelings or emotional states, measured with
reference to a particular point in time (momentary): e.g., excited,
interested, enthusiastic
- Negative Affect – a person’s feelings or emotional states, measured
with reference to a particular point in time (momentary): e.g., nervous,
afraid, irritable
- General but untested idea: affect drives life satisfaction (rather than the
other way around)
Hedonic well-being
Subjective happiness/hedonic well-being: the presence of positive affect,
the absence of negative affect and overall satisfaction with your life.
Eudaimonic well-being
- Eudaimonia – a sense of meaning and purpose in life, or good
psychological functioning
- Eudaimonic = actualization of one’s potential by fulfilling one’s daimon
(true self) ≈ flourishing
- Also referred to as ‘authentic happiness’ (Seligman, 2002)
- Different from hedonic perspective -> Both are relevant
, - Hedonic/subjective well-being: with a focus on affect (maximization of
pleasure & minimization of pain) and cognition. Eudaimonic is more
about meaning.
A bit of consensus and (quite) a bit of controversy
Consensus: experts agree on the two main approaches:
- Hedonic/subjective well-being = a pleasant life (Satisfaction with Life /
Presence of momentary positive affect / Absence of negative affect)
- Eudaimonic: Purpose and Meaning in Life
Controversy:
- What is the best indicator of ‘happiness’: hedonic or eudaimonic
measures? But note that in policy making focus lies on
hedonic/subjective well-being
- There’s uncertainty about how much people consider their living
conditions—both financial (e.g., income, wealth) and immaterial (e.g.,
relationships, health)—when reporting their happiness. Research shows
that life satisfaction depends on these conditions, but how individuals
weigh them can vary significantly.
Measurement of Happiness
How can we know someone is happy? Generally, we ask people to self-
report how happy they are. Alternative measures of happiness:
- Duchenne smiling with your eyes as a genuine indicator of positive
affect (unfakeable): genuine smiles in college yearbook pictures
predicted marital satisfaction decades later.
- Real-time recording of feelings of happiness (objective happiness in the
moment)
- Note that disciplines different from psychology determine happiness
not by examining subjective experiences but by mapping conditions
that will contribute to happiness.
Focus on self-report
Self-report is widely used to measure happiness because it aligns with the
subjective nature of well-being. Despite issues like social desirability bias
and introspection challenges, people can reliably express their feelings
using quantitive metrics. Even simple tools like Cantril’s ladder (a single-
item scale) provide reliable results, though scores are slightly lower than
multi-item scales, which reduce random errors. Various happiness scales
and multi-item questionnaires are available to ensure accurate
measurement.
Most used happiness scales/ multiple item questionnaires
- Positive & Negative Affect Schedule (focus on momentary emotions
rather than longer lasting moods) → Focusses on imidiate
emotions/level of happiness, these emotions are often short lived (like
guilt, alert, excited etc.)
- Satisfaction with Life Scale: ‘In most ways my life is close to my ideal’,
‘the conditions of my life are excellent’, ‘I am satisfied with my life’ (1
strongly disagree … 7 strongly agree)
Lecture 1 – Why happiness deserves scientific interest
Why is it easier to think of negative events than positive events?
Bad is stronger than good: negativity bias → People often focus on the
negative.
- Negative events have a bigger impact than positive events.
- Negative information receives more attention and is processed more
thoroughly than positive information.
Evolutionary explanation:
- Humans are attuned to preventing bad things more than toward
maximizing good things.
- A person who ignores danger may not live to see the next day.
- “Evolution doesn’t want you to be happy or satisfied. We’re supposed
to survive and reproduce” → we are not supposed to be happy,
threatens our survival.
- A huge happiness and positive thinking industry has helped to create
the fantasy that happiness is a realistic goal. Chasing the happiness
dream is a very American concept, exported to the rest of the world
through pop culture. Unfortunately, this has helped to create an
expectation that real life stubbornly refuses to deliver.
But still: we want to be happy. And the government wants us to be
happy too
Benefits of a happy population:
- Happier people are more productive, are healthier and live longer,
contribute more to society and have better social relationships. Also,
less use of services like health care so less costs.
World happiness reports:
- Published annually since 2012 but the UN Sustainable development
solutions network, based on data from the Gallup World Poll.
- In 2011, the UN-general assembly adopted resolution 65/309
Happiness: towards a holistic definition of development inviting
member countries to use data on the population’s well-being to guide
public policy
- In 2012, the UN-general assembly adopted resolution 66/281,
proclaiming 20 march as international day of happiness to highlight the
importance of well-being as an aspiration for people all around the
world
- ‘Our success as countries should be judged by the happiness of our
people. This means that national happiness can now become an
operational objective for governments.
Countries use data on the population’s well-being to guide public policy
Does happiness deserve scientific interest?
Some opinions:
,- Happiness research is a great example of why psychology isn’t a
science
- How exactly should ‘happiness’ be defined?
- The meaning of that word differs from person to person and especially
between cultures
- How does one measure happiness?
- Psychologists can’t use a ruler or a microscope, so they invent an
arbitrary scale
Science of Happiness is a recent phenomenon
- Social science of happiness is relatively new
- Ed diener (Dr happiness) → 400 publications about subjective well-
being. Tried to bridge social science and public policy.
- Martin Seligman – Positive Psychology (2000). Asking more attention for
the good things.
- Mihalyi Csikszentmihaliyi – Flow (1990)
- Barbara Frederickson – Broaden & Build (2001)
- Ruut Veenhoven: our own professor of happiness
→ But note that reflections on happiness exists since ancient times
What is the science of happiness about?
Science of happiness focus on the subjective experience of happiness, its
antecedents (things that happen before and influence a specific behavior)
and consequences
- Scientific questions relating to happiness
- Do circumstances and living conditions matter?
- For Diogenes (404-323 BC), living in a wine jar was enough (said he was
happy), they didn’t. But how about us? Can we live without our material
conditions?
- Do material conditions have an influence?
- Is happiness your own responsibility? Some people say that the whole
happiness industry makes people responsible for their own happiness.
Role of government also plays an important role in this. Till what extent
is the government responsible?
- Can you increase your level of happiness?
- Should government create conditions that, make you happy (in their
own interest)?
Multidisciplinary effort → Lots of different disciplines talk about happiness,
not just psychology.
Definitions of happiness:
- “a state of well-being and contentment” (Merriam-Webster, 2018)
- “The experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined
with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile”
(Lyubomirsky ,2008)
- “Good mental states, including all of the various evaluations, positive
and negative, that people make of their lives and the affective
reactions of people to their experiences” (OECD, 2013)
→ There are some common areas in these definitions.
,Lay definition of happiness: inner harmony rather than satisfaction or
positive affect
→ Shows that there are different definitions of happiness.
Is happiness an elusive concept?
- JINGLE (Thorndike, 1904) The very same term refers to different
underlying conceptions: happiness refers to life satisfaction, positive
affect, well-being
- JANGLE (Kelley, 1927) Different terms are used to describe the very
same underlying conceptions: happiness, life satisfaction, meaning in
life, well-being ≈ ‘happiness’
Hedonic/subjective well-being as a composite of 3 related but
distinct facets (tripartite model): (!)
Subjective happiness/ hedonic well-being consists of three elements:
- Life Satisfaction (cognitive evaluation) – a reflective assessment on a
person’s life or some specific aspect of it: general satisfaction with life
or domain-specific satisfaction with marriage, work, friendship, leisure,
the weather …
- Positive Affect – a person’s feelings or emotional states, measured with
reference to a particular point in time (momentary): e.g., excited,
interested, enthusiastic
- Negative Affect – a person’s feelings or emotional states, measured
with reference to a particular point in time (momentary): e.g., nervous,
afraid, irritable
- General but untested idea: affect drives life satisfaction (rather than the
other way around)
Hedonic well-being
Subjective happiness/hedonic well-being: the presence of positive affect,
the absence of negative affect and overall satisfaction with your life.
Eudaimonic well-being
- Eudaimonia – a sense of meaning and purpose in life, or good
psychological functioning
- Eudaimonic = actualization of one’s potential by fulfilling one’s daimon
(true self) ≈ flourishing
- Also referred to as ‘authentic happiness’ (Seligman, 2002)
- Different from hedonic perspective -> Both are relevant
, - Hedonic/subjective well-being: with a focus on affect (maximization of
pleasure & minimization of pain) and cognition. Eudaimonic is more
about meaning.
A bit of consensus and (quite) a bit of controversy
Consensus: experts agree on the two main approaches:
- Hedonic/subjective well-being = a pleasant life (Satisfaction with Life /
Presence of momentary positive affect / Absence of negative affect)
- Eudaimonic: Purpose and Meaning in Life
Controversy:
- What is the best indicator of ‘happiness’: hedonic or eudaimonic
measures? But note that in policy making focus lies on
hedonic/subjective well-being
- There’s uncertainty about how much people consider their living
conditions—both financial (e.g., income, wealth) and immaterial (e.g.,
relationships, health)—when reporting their happiness. Research shows
that life satisfaction depends on these conditions, but how individuals
weigh them can vary significantly.
Measurement of Happiness
How can we know someone is happy? Generally, we ask people to self-
report how happy they are. Alternative measures of happiness:
- Duchenne smiling with your eyes as a genuine indicator of positive
affect (unfakeable): genuine smiles in college yearbook pictures
predicted marital satisfaction decades later.
- Real-time recording of feelings of happiness (objective happiness in the
moment)
- Note that disciplines different from psychology determine happiness
not by examining subjective experiences but by mapping conditions
that will contribute to happiness.
Focus on self-report
Self-report is widely used to measure happiness because it aligns with the
subjective nature of well-being. Despite issues like social desirability bias
and introspection challenges, people can reliably express their feelings
using quantitive metrics. Even simple tools like Cantril’s ladder (a single-
item scale) provide reliable results, though scores are slightly lower than
multi-item scales, which reduce random errors. Various happiness scales
and multi-item questionnaires are available to ensure accurate
measurement.
Most used happiness scales/ multiple item questionnaires
- Positive & Negative Affect Schedule (focus on momentary emotions
rather than longer lasting moods) → Focusses on imidiate
emotions/level of happiness, these emotions are often short lived (like
guilt, alert, excited etc.)
- Satisfaction with Life Scale: ‘In most ways my life is close to my ideal’,
‘the conditions of my life are excellent’, ‘I am satisfied with my life’ (1
strongly disagree … 7 strongly agree)
