1. What We Want More Than Happiness A 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

8. Despondex

9. “how happy are you?”

10. life satisfaction

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

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

13. current mood extraversion

14. is there more to life than cheerful sociability?

15. a wider lens

16. 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.

17. Subjective well- being Psychological well-being (flourishing)

18. Subjective well- being Psychological well-being (flourishing)

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

20. positive emotions engagementmeaningrelationshipsaccomplishment Seligman’s PERMA model

21. “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.”

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

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

25. 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 happier happier happier happier happier 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 choose choose choose choose choose

26. 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

27. utility ≠ happiness

28. WELL-BEING AND JDM

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

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

31. attribute 1attribute 2attribute 3 option 1385 option 2493 option 3726 weight:.50.20.30

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

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

34. two questions

35. winning the lottery; losing your health

36. hedonic treadmill

37. exceptions? -some marriages -other outcome domains

38. the set point theory

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

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

42. sadder but wiser?

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

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

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

48. UK to measure well being

49. 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?