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What We Want More Than Happiness A lecture on Subjective Well-Being and JDM

What We Want More Than Happiness A lecture on Subjective Well-Being and JDM. Ann Marie Roepke JDM 10.17.11. happiness. everyone wants “happiness” but everyone doesn’t agree on what “happiness” is. two reasons to avoid the word “happiness”. 1. vague & idiosyncratic. 2. annoying. Despondex.

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What We Want More Than Happiness A lecture on Subjective Well-Being and JDM

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  1. What We Want More Than HappinessA lecture on Subjective Well-Being and JDM Ann Marie Roepke JDM 10.17.11

  2. happiness

  3. everyone wants “happiness” but everyone doesn’t agree on what “happiness” is.

  4. two reasons to avoid the word “happiness”

  5. 1. vague & idiosyncratic

  6. 2. annoying

  7. Despondex

  8. “how happy are you?”

  9. life satisfaction

  10. affective (emotions) + cognitive (satisfaction with life in general, and specific domains)

  11. “in most ways, my life is close to my ideal.”

  12. current mood • extraversion

  13. is there more to life than cheerful sociability?

  14. a wider lens

  15. when we only look at “subjective well-being” or life satisfaction, we over-emphasize being cheerful, at the expense of other things that make life worth living.

  16. what else should be considered part of well-being?

  17. Seligman’s PERMA model

  18. “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth.”

  19. food for thought: if I tell you I’m flourishing, on what grounds (if any) could you argue that I’m not?

  20. thought experiment: what do we want more than happiness?

  21. Imagine that for the first time in three years, your parents (or close relatives) have arranged for a special family gathering that will happen the day after Thanksgiving, with everyone also invited to Thanksgiving dinner. You face two options. Would you choose to go to the family gathering if getting there required a $500 round trip plane ticket for flights that were 5 hours each way? Option 1: Go to the gathering, which requires a $500 plane ticket. Option 2: Miss the gathering, save the money. Between these two options, taking all things together, which do you think would give you a happier life as a whole? Option 1 Option 2 definitely probably possibly possibly probably definitely happier happierhappierhappierhappierhappier If you were limited to these two options, which do you think you would choose? Option 1 Option 2 definitely probably possibly possibly probably definitely choose choosechoosechoosechoosechoose

  22. People show “reversals” on some items • These are systematic. We are willing to trade off happiness for certain things: • Purpose • Control • Status • Family happiness Benjamin et al., 2010

  23. utility ≠ happiness

  24. Well-being and JDM

  25. the trouble with the pursuit of happiness (and the prediction of happiness) 2. depressive realism 3. collective well-being and public policy

  26. the trouble with the pursuit of happiness (and the prediction of happiness) 2. depressive realism 3. collective well-being and public policy

  27. if we are as bad at predicting utility as we are at predicting happiness/ satisfaction, we’ve got a problem.

  28. *if we are thinking about our utility as happiness instead of strictly as goal attainment, we’ve got a problem.

  29. two questions

  30. winning the lottery; losing your health

  31. hedonic treadmill

  32. the set point theory

  33. Everything is amazing and nobody is happy 2:00-5:30 ([4:39-:44])

  34. the trouble with the pursuit of happiness (and the prediction of happiness) 2. depressive realism 3. collective well-being and public policy

  35. sadder but wiser?

  36. alloy & abramson (1979): depressed people correctly perceive their lack of control over outcomes (a light), while non-depressed people maintain an illusion of control.

  37. but in a more recent study, truly depressed people overestimate the likelihood of bad things happening in their lives. (Strunk, Lopez, & DeRubeis, 2001)

  38. the trouble with the pursuit of happiness (and the prediction of happiness) 2. depressive realism 3. collective well-being and public policy

  39. UK to measure well being

  40. What are some arguments for and against measuring the fluctuations in WB associated with policy changes? • Would it matter which type of well-being you measured – the single dial (subjective WB) or dashboard (psychological WB)? Why? • Is it only important to measure net levels of WB, or should you also look at its distribution?

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