Myers Lecture:

TeachingSubjective Well-Being

Ed DienerSmiley Distinguished Professor of PsychologyUniversity of Illinois

Meeting: Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Illinois, May 22-24, 2008

My Gratitude To

Carol and David Myers!

Happiness

• Question of the ages: What is the good life?

One answer – Happiness

Science is starting to provide answers:• What is happiness?• Is it good to possess?• What cuases it?

Exciting, Important Scientific Area!

• Possibly the most important thing you can teach students about their lives

• Involves material from all of psychology – cognitive, bio, clinical, developmental, et cetera

• Great for class discussions:There is existing science, but also

many unanswered questions

Educational Levels

• High School

• Undergrad modules– 1 to 5 lectures for larger courses -- Intro,

social, developmental, cognitive, etc.

• Focused undergraduate course– SWB, adjustment, positive psychology

• Graduate seminar

Resources

Ed Diener websitehttp://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~ediener/

E. Diener & R. Biswas-DienerHappiness book 2008

• Wiley/Blackwell

(Sept., 2008)

Interesting Studies!

• There are lots of fun studies– Nun study– Colonoscopy & memory

And

• There are lots of open research questions– E.G., When is happiness beneficial?

Major Happiness Topics

1. History of the field

2. Defining, measuring, methods

3. Psychological processes

4. National accounts of SWB

5. Benefits of happiness

6. Causes of happiness

Is Happiness Desirable?

Flaubert’s Error

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.

Gustave Flaubert

Dalai Lama

“Stupid

Happiness”

2. Benefits of Positive SWB

Social relationships

Work and income

Health & longevity

Societal benefits

• Causal direction?– Longitudinal, lab experiments, quasi-

experiments

Social Benefits

Happy people more likely to have:

Self-confidence, leadership

More friends

Warmth, sociability

Work Success

A. Higher supervisor ratings

B. Organizational citizenship Example: Helping others on the

job

C. Higher income

College Entry Cheerfulness, and Income 19 years later

Diener, Nickerson, Lucas, & Sandvik (2002)

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

Mean

Not CheerfulMost Cheerful

Example Student Discussion:

Why might happy people earn more than unhappy people?

Health & Longevity The Nun Study

Dr. Snowdon with Sisters Agnes and Gertrude

Longevity: The Nun Study Danner, Snowden, & Friesen, U Kentucky

1. Nuns autobiographies at age 22

Expression of positive emotions

2. Happy and less happy nuns living in same life circumstances through lifespan

How long do they live?

Longevity in The Nun Study

Survival Rate at Age: 85 93

Most Cheerful Quartile 79% 52%

Least Cheerful 54% 18%

Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen

Psychologists

Happy live about 5 years longer

(Sarah Pressman)

Societal Benefits of Happiness

• Volunteering

• Pro-peace attitudes

• Cooperative attitudes

Optimal Happiness

(Oishi, Diener, & Lucas, 2007)

Sometimes “8’s” achieve more

Some “negative” emotions are

functional and appropriate

Example Student Discussion

When is it better not to be too happy? When are negative emotions beneficial?

3. Some Causes of Happiness?

1. Social relationships

2. Temperament/adaptation

3. Money

4. Society & Culture

5. Positive thinking styles

1. Strong Social

Relationships

Every single one of the happiest people we studied have good social relationships

GIVING social support: People who help others live longer and are

happier!

2. Temperament – A strong influence on people’s moods

Temperament“Identical” (Monozygotic) Twins

Ed’s Daughters: Clinical Psychologist and Developmental Psychologist

Inborn Temperament

• Identical twins reared apart are much more similar in happiness than fraternal twins reared together

• Heritability – 20 to 50 percent of individual differences in happiness

Daily moods of a 20-year old

Unemployment

5.8

6

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

Past Prior Yr. Fired 1 Yr. 3 Yrs.

Example Student Discussion

When can you change your level of happiness? When is inborn temperament dominant?

3. Money

-1.7

-1.5

-1.3

-1.1

-0.9

-0.7

-0.5

-0.3

-0.1

0.1

0.3

0.5

0.7

0.9

1.1

1.3

1.5

1.7

-1.6 -1.4 -1.2 -1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6

Lg income (midpoint of each category, standardized)

Sta

nd

ard

ized

un

its

of

SW

B

Ladder

Domain

PA

No NA

But Caveats About Money!

• Declining marginal utility

• Toxicity of materialism

Example Student Discussion

How much money is enough for happiness?

Can you have too much?

4. Society Influences our Happiness!

The individual bias in individualistic societies – happiness is within you only

National SWB: 0 – 10 Scale

Life Evaluation Ladder

Denmark 8.0

Switzerland 7.5

Canada 7.4

United States 7.2

Togo 3.2

Sierra Leone3.6

Zimbabwe 3.8

West Bank 4.7

94 % of Danes are Above

97 % of Togolese

Ladder of Life Scores

109876543210

Perc

ent of R

espondents

50

40

30

20

10

0

DENMARK

TOGO

5. Cognition:Positive Mental Outlook

• The habit of seeing the glass

half-full• Seeing opportunities, not

threats• Generally trusting and liking

oneself and others

Cognition: AIM Model

• Attention

• Interpretation

• Memory

Basic Cognition: AIM Model

• Attention– Gorilla basketball study (Simon)

• Interpretation– “They saw a game”

• Memory– Remembering vacation (Wirtz)– Remembering partner (Oishi)

Positive Cognition: AIM Model

• Attention– Seeing the positive & beauty

• Interpretation– Not putting a negative spin on

too many things

• Memory– Savoring rather than ruminating

Example Student Discussion

When is happiness caused by your outlook and when is it due to what is objectively happening to you? When is each important?

Student Exercise

Complete the Positive and Negative Thinking Scales (appendix), and score and discuss

Discussion: When and why is positive thinking beneficial?

Conclusion: True Wealth-- Psychological Wealth

• Material sufficiency

• Values, meaning and purpose

• Loving social relationships

• Spirituality

• Physical & mental health

• Happiness and life satisfaction

Conclusions

• You and your students can have a lot of fun with this topic!

• It can help students live a better life!

• You can review many psychological concepts to understand well-being

Appendix: Resources

Ancillary Materials

Potential “Textbooks”• Diener and Biswas-Diener: Happiness– Unlocking the

mysteries of psychological wealth

• Sonja Lyubomirsky: The how of happiness

• Tal Ben-Shahar: The question of happiness

• Daniel Gilbert: Stumbling on happiness

• David Myers: The pursuit of happiness

• Richard Eckersley: Well & good

• Michael Argyle: The psychology of happiness

General Scholarly Sources

• Kahneman, Diener, & SchwarzWell-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology

• Strack, Argyle, & SchwarzSubjective well-being

• Eid & LarsenThe science of subjective well-being

• Snyder & LopezHandbook of positive psychology

Some Names for SWB Research Searches

• Ruut Veenhoven• Daniel Gilbert• Daniel Kahneman• Robert Emmons• Shige Oishi• Ron Inglehart• Eunkuk Suh• Richard Lucas

• Ulrich Schimmack• Laura King• Frank Fujita• Robert Biswas-Diener• Sonja Lyubomirsky• Norman Bradburn• David Myers• Bruno Frey

Websites

• Ruut Veenhoven: World Database of Happinesshttp://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/

• Positive Organization Scholarship– University of Michiganhttp://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/

Sonja Lyubomirsky websitehttp://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja/papers.html

• Martin Seligman websitehttp://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

Examples of Fun Studies!

• The nun study (happiness and longevity)• Dunn et al. (buying for others better than buying

for oneself)• Vohs et al. (priming money effects)• Biswas-Diener (slums of Calcutta)• Studies of lottery winners• Studies using physiological measures of SWB• Jeanne Tsai (what emotions are best)• Biswas-Diener (Maasai, Amish, Inuit)

1. History Topics

• Greek philosophers

• Thinkers and religious leaders

• Utilitarians

• Early research – personality; sociology

• 1980-2000

• Current research

History References

• Diener & Kesebir, In pursuit of happiness: Empirical answers to philosophical questions, Perspectives on Psychological Science (2008)

• Ruut Veenhoven (1984) Conditions of happiness

• Wladyslaw Tatarkiewicz, Analysis of happiness

• Darrin McMahon, A history of happiness

Benefitsof Happiness, Resources

• Lyubomirsky, Diener, & King (2005)

• Oishi, Diener, & Lucas (2007)

• Pressman & Cohen (2005)

• Diener and Biswas-Diener (2008)

Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth

Causes References

• Diener, E. Psychological Bulletin 1984• Diener et al., Psychological Bulletin, 1999• Seligman, Authentic Happiness• Bruni & Porta, Handbook on the economics of happiness• Richard Layard, Happiness: Lessons from a new science• Veenhoven, Conditions of happiness• Furnham & Argyle, The psychology of money• Frey & Stutzer, Happiness and economics: How the

eonomy and institutions affect human well-being• Frey & Stutzer, Economics and psychology: A promising

new cross-disciplinary field

Processes References

• Alan Parducci (1995) Happiness, pleasure, and judgment– Range-frequency theory

• Robert Emmons & McCullough (2004) The psychology of gratitude

• David Lykken (1999) Happiness: What studies on twins show us about nature, nurture, and the happiness set point

• Diener, Lucas, & Scollon (2006)– Adaptation; limits of “hedonic treadmill”

Defining, Measuring, Methods

• Defining– Evaluations of one’s life– Types:

• Positive affect• Life satisfaction• Domain satisfactions• Low negative affect• Meaning, purpose, trust, optimism?

Defining, Measuring, Methods

• Measurement methods– Self-report

• Validity & reliability

– Informant report– Experience sampling– Biological– Facial, vocal, expression– Coding verbal material

Sandvik, Seidlitz & Diener, 1993

Defining, Measuring, Methods

• Methods– Cross-sectional surveys– Longitudinal surveys (panels)– Natural experiments & quasi-experiments

• Lottery studies• Negative income tax• Disasters

– Lab experiments• E.g., moods and emotions

National Accounts of Well-being -- References

• Diener & Seligman (2004)Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-

being, Psych Science in the Public Interest

• Diener, Lucas, Schimmack, & Helliwell (2009) Accounts of well-being for policy

• Diener – Guidelines

• Diener – American Psychologist

• Diener Broad Theory and Review Articles on Well-Being

• Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575.• Diener, E., Lucas, R., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising

the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 305-314.• Diener, E., Sandvik, E., & Pavot, W. (1991). Happiness is the frequency, not the

intensity, of positive versus negative affect. In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 119-139). New York: Pergamon.

• Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 1-31.

• Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.

• Diener, E., & Tov, W. (in press). Culture and subjective well-being. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology. New York: Guilford.

• Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.). (1999). Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology. New York: Sage.

• Larsen, R. J., & Diener, E. (1987). Affect intensity as an individual difference characteristic: A review. Journal of Research in Personality, 21, 1-39.

• Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.

• Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. • Psychological Assessment, 5, 164-172.

• Selected Diener Empirical Articles on Well-Being

• Biswas-Diener, R., & Diener, E. (2006). The subjective well-being of the homeless, and lessons for happiness. Social Indicators Research, 76, 185-205.

• Diener, E., & Diener, C. (1996). Most people are happy. Psychological Science, 7, 181-185.• Diener, E., & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 653-663.• Diener, E., & Emmons, R. A. (1985). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal

of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1105-1117.• Eid, M., & Diener, E. (2001). Norms for experiencing emotions in different cultures: Inter- and

intranational differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 869-885.• Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the

set point model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 527-539.

• Oishi, S., & Diener, E. (2001). Re-examining the general positivity model of subjective well-being: The discrepancy between specific and global domain satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 69, 641-666.

• Sandvik, E., Diener, E., & Seidlitz, L. (1993). Subjective well-being: The convergence and stability of self-report and non-self-report measures. Journal of Personality, 61, 317-342.

• Schimmack, U., Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2002). Life-satisfaction is a momentary judgment and a stable personality characteristic: The use of chronically accessible and stable sources. Journal of Personality, 70, 345-384.

• Wirtz, D., Kruger, J., Scollon, C. N., & Diener, E. (2003). What to do on spring break? The role of predicted, on-line, and remembered experience in future choice. Psychological Science, 14, 520-524.

Additional References

• Magen, Z. (1998) Exploring adolescent happiness

• Frisch, Michael• Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi

(Eds.)(2006) A life worth living• Peterson & Seligman (2004) Character

strengths and virtues• Dalai Lam & Howard Cutler, 1998, The art

of happiness

Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al.)

Below are five statements that you may agree or disagree with. Using the 1 - 7 scale below indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that item. Please be open and honest in your responding.

7 - Strongly agree6 - Agree5 - Slightly agree4 - Neither agree nor disagree3 - Slightly disagree2 - Disagree1 - Strongly disagree

_____ In most ways my life is close to my ideal._____ The conditions of my life are excellent._____ I am satisfied with my life._____ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life_____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

Measuring your AIMNegative Thinking_____ I quickly notice the mistakes made by others_____ I often see the faults in other people_____ I see my community as a place full of problems_____ When I think of myself, I think of many shortcomings_____ When somebody does something for me, I usually wonder if they have an ulterior

motive

_____ When good things happen, I wonder if they will soon turn sour_____ When good things happen, I wonder if they might have been even

better_____ When I see others prosper, it makes me feel bad about myself_____ I frequently compare myself to others_____ I think frequently about opportunities that I missed_____ I regret many things from my past_____ When I think of the past, for some reason bad things stand out_____ When something bad happens, I ruminate on it for a long time_____ Most people will take advantage of you if you give them the slightest chance

Positive Thinking_____ I see much beauty around me_____ I see the good in most people_____ I believe in the good qualities of other people_____ I think of myself as a person with many strengths_____ When something bad happens, I often see a “silver lining,” something good in the

bad event_____ I sometimes think about how fortunate I have been in life_____ When I think of the past, the happy times are most salient to me_____ I savor memories of pleasant past times_____ When I see others prosper, even strangers, I am happy for them_____ I notice the little good things others do_____ I know the world has problems, but it seems like a wonderful place anyway_____ I see many opportunities in the world_____ I am optimistic about the future

          Ed Diener is the Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois. He received his doctorate at the University of Washington in 1974, and has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois for the past 34 years. Dr. Diener was the president of both the International Society of Quality of Life Studies and the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. Currently he is the president of the International Positive Psychology Association. Diener was the editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, as well as the editor of Journal of Happiness Studies. He is the founding editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science. Diener has over 240 publications, with about 190 being in the area of the psychology of well-being.

        Dr. Diener is a fellow of five professional societies. Professor Diener is listed as one of the most highly cited psychologists by the Institute of Scientific Information, with over 12,000 citations to his credit. He won the Distinguished Researcher Award from the International Society of Quality of Life Studies, the first Gallup Academic Leadership Award, and the Jack Block Award for Personality Psychology. Dr. Diener won several teaching awards, including the Oakley-Kundee Award for Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Illinois. With over 50 publications he is the most published author in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

           Professor Diener's research focuses on the measurement of well-being; temperament and personality influences on well-being; theories of well-being; income and well-being; and cultural influences on well-being. He has edited three recent books on subjective well-being, and a 2005 book on multi-method measurement in psychology. Diener just completed writing a popular book on happiness with his son, Robert Biswas-Diener (Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth), and is authoring a book on policy uses of accounts of well-being with Richard Lucas, Ulrich Schimmack, and John Helliwell.

Myths

• There is an unmoving set-point for happiness• People over time adapt to everything• Money is not a significant correlate of happiness• A person’s happiness is 50 % genetic• Lottery winners are not happy• Those with spinal cord injuries have the same

average life satisfaction levels as others• Happiness is all within the person

ALL WITH A KERNEL OF TRUTH

Life Satisfaction and 100 Percent Disability (Lucas)

5.8

6

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

-2 Yrs. -1 Yr. 0 +1 Yr. +3 Yrs. +5 Yrs.

-2 Yrs.-1 Yr.0+1 Yr.+3 Yrs.+5 Yrs.

Culture

• Culture and levels of SWB

• Culture and causes of well-being– Self-esteem

• Culture and what is well-being– Pride

“Spirituality”: Experiencing Broadening Positive Emotions

– which make life larger than just our own self-interests:

Gratitude

Love

Awe

Transcendance

Why happy are healthier?

• Stronger immune systems

• Better cardiovascular health

• Health behaviors (e.g., seatbelts)

• Fewer lifestyle diseases (e.g.

alcoholism)

• Younger genes (telomeres)

Low hunger, low corruption,

and longevity

Predicted Values R = .86

876543

Ladder

-- L

ife E

valu

ation

8

7

6

5

4

3

National Accounts of SWB

Measuring well-being for policy

Information beyond wealth

Robert Kennedy, 1968Too much and for too long, we seemed to have

surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross Nation Product . . . counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts the destruction of the redwoods. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

Cultural Influences Levels of Happiness

Pleasant Emotions—Enjoyment etc.

High Low

Honduras Pakistan

Panama Bangladesh

Costa Rica Palestine

Puerto Rico Tajikistan