Happiness: Its Meaning,
Measurement and
Importance
Dan Weijers
Overview
• L1 (today):
– Happiness and the meaning of life
• L2 (Thurs 19 July):
– Measuring happiness
• L3 (Thurs 26 July):
– Happiness and public policy
Main Goal
Introductions
• Name?
• Why have you come along?
• The key to happiness in your opinion?
Happiness: Its Meaning,
Measurement and
Significance
L1: Happiness and the
Meaning of Life
Objective
• Understanding what’s really
important in life
What (Really) Matters?
• What advice would you give a
child?
What (Really) Matters?
The good
life
Wellbeing
Happiness
The
meaning
of life
Theories of Wellbeing…
• Explain what ultimately makes a
person’s life go better for them
One Thing or Many?
• One simple thing:
– Just pleasure
• One complex thing:
– Informed, authentic, and morally
based positive feelings
• A list of things:
– Happiness, friendship and truth
Subjective vs Objective
• Does just our
personal opinion
matter?
• Or can we be
wrong?
Who Are We to Say What is
Objectively Good for Us?
Theories of Wellbeing
Flourishing
Objective
List
Desire/Life
Satisfaction
Mental
State
(Hedonism)
Mental State
Theories
Well-being
Happiness
Especially hedonism
+ve net
balance of
good over
bad mental
states
• Folk: get pleasure now!
• Philosophers: maximise pleasure over your
entire life
• Key: All that matters is how you feel (your
mental states)
What about Truth & Freedom?
• Compare two lives
– Same experiences
– Different reality
• Double agent partner
• Sponsored children all
died
• Whose life is better?
• What should we do
about a happy slave?
Desire Satisfaction Theories
Happiness
Well-being
Having most or more of
your desires satisfied
Sometimes
• Based on desire/preference-satisfaction
• Informed: adequately informed desires only
• Ideal: desires that fit some objective
criteria only
• Key: All that matters is getting what you
want (or should want)
Is the Satisfaction of Our
Desires Good for us?
• How would “omniscient you” advise
yourself?
• Having a desire satisfied does not
seem valuable unless it is the right
desire
Objective List
• E.g. W.D. Ross’ account:
– Knowledge, Pleasure, Virtue and the proper
apportionment of pleasure to virtue
• Can’t we explain knowledge with pleasure
or desire-satisfaction?
Flourishing Theories
Well-being
Flourishing
Developing & expressing
natural capacities
• Developing one or all of your species’
fundamental traits
• Aristotle: Flourishing is the soul expressing
virtue
• E.g. cowardice – courage - rashness
• Key: All that matters is being the best
you can be (given that you’re a human)
Why is Fulfilling Our Natural
Capacities Good?
• Is excellence in reasoning or
long-distance running better for
us?
• Unnatural things can be good for
us too!
– E.g. Pacemakers, wings etc.
Best Theory of Wellbeing?
Flourishing
Objective
List
Desire/Life
Satisfaction
Mental
State
(Hedonism)
Next Week
• How to measure wellbeing
• Special guest for first half
Happiness: Its Meaning,
Measurement and
Importance
L2: Measuring Happiness
Objectives
• Show how various
types of happiness are
measured
• Discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of
the approaches
• Understand the
limitations of
measurements
Are you Happy?
• A simple and a
complicated question
• How we go about
answering it depends
on what we take
‘happiness’ to mean
• Or, it depends on how
the question is asked
How Can I Find Out How
Happy You Are?
• Indirectly
– Look at your wealth/income
– Look at your capabilities or your
quality of life indicators
• (More) Directly
– Observe your behaviour
– Brain scans
– Ask you
Looking at Your Income
• Used by:
– Some economists & politicians
– Most of us as an indicator of
‘national progress’
• Income is an indicator of ability
to satisfy preferences (and
thereby make yourself happy)
Margin of Discontent
•
Gap between what we have and
what we want
• Two solutions:
1) ‘Sages’ solution:
•
“Give up wanting” – Hard & boring?
2) ‘Economic growth solution:
•
“People satisfy their wants by
increasing their possessions, thus
becoming happier”
Looking at Your Income
• Used by:
– Some economists & politicians
– Most of us as an indicator of
‘national progress’
• Income is an indicator of ability
to satisfy preferences (and
thereby make yourself happy)
• Benefits: Easy to calculate and
compare on large scale
• Problems…
Does $$ Make Us Happy?
1) Reducing the margin of discontent
makes people happier
2) Economic growth helps consumers to
reduce their margin of discontent
•
If 1. and 2. are both
true, then why have
we gotten richer…
but not happier?
•
Evidence?
Materialism Doesn’t Pay
Very High
Adaptation
•
•
Lottery winners return to pretty
much the same level of happiness
after 1 year (contested)
The more we have:
–
–
•
The more we want and
The more we think we need
Evidence?
So, Does $$ Make Us
Happy?
•
So, unless you are materialistic, more
$$ makes very little difference to our
happiness – much less than:
–
–
–
A loving relationship
Volunteering
A rewarding job
•
But materialistic people seem to have
a pretty strange idea of happiness
•
Having said all this… who would not
want to win lotto?
Discussion
• Can money not buy happiness or
are we just spending it on the
wrong things?
• Is it possible to avoid adapting
to new things that bring us
happiness?
• Has anyone sacrificed money for
happiness? How did it go?
Looking at Your
Capabilities/QoL Indicators
• Used by:
– Some economists & politicians
– Often encouraged by NGOs
• Income, access to education,
healthcare, clean environment,
employment, political freedoms etc.
• Benefits: Not too hard to calculate
and compare on large scale
• Problems…
Aren’t We all Capable of
Happiness?
• People from all walks of life
report themselves as happy, even
those whose circumstances look
dire to us
• Adaptation (again)
• Relativity of happiness
• Determinants of happiness
– Evidence?
Determinants of Happiness
Discussion
• What is more important, freedom,
education, or happiness?
• Which is better, a long life of
medium happiness or a medium
life of great happiness?
• Should we focus on genetic
technology and cognitive
behavioural therapy instead of
circumstances?
Observe Your Behaviour
• Used by:
– A few academics
– Just about all of us!
• By observing body language and
behaviour we can tell how happy
someone is
• Benefits: easy to do, especially
with people you know well
• Problems: impractical on large
scale and…
Smile!
• Smiling is the main way to tell if
someone’s happy… but only if
they are real smiles
• Duchenne (real) smiles can be
noticed by the ‘sparkle’ in the
eyes
Scanning Your Brain
• Used by:
– A few academics
• Activity in specific areas of the
brain are measured and compared
to the other direct measures of
happiness
Cute baby = Left side
Deformed baby = Right side
Causing (Ratty) Pleasure
Scanning Your Brain
• Used by:
– A few academics
• Activity in specific areas of the
brain are measured and compared
to the other direct measures of
happiness
• Benefits: becoming increasingly
accurate
• Problems: very impractical on
large scale and still mysterious
Discussion
• If happiness has a biological
cause in the brain, then we will be
able to influence it with drugs,
surgery, bionics etc… but should
we?
• If our brains show equal
‘happiness activity’, then are we
equally happy? How can we know
this?
Asking You
• Used by:
– Psychologists
– Occasionally by economics academics
• You think about and answer a question
regarding your happiness. After all,
who could be better than you at
judging how happy you are?
• Benefits: Not too hard to calculate
and (possibly) compare on large scale
• Problems… depend on the question…
3 Types of Questions I Can Ask
You (3 Levels of Happiness)
1) How are you feeling right now (from 1
to 7)?
–
Introspection
2) All things considered, how happy are
you these days (from 1 to 7)?
–
Introspection, comparative judgement
3) On the whole, how good do you think
your life is (from 1 to 7)?
–
Introspection, comparative judgement,
relative to conception of ‘the good life’
Level One Happiness:
Feeling Happy in the Moment
• How are you feeling right now?
– Introspection
• Level One Happiness (Nettle)
–
–
–
–
Mood
Pleasure
Joy
Absence of pain and suffering
(negative feelings)
• Fear, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Pain
Level One Happiness:
Feeling Happy in the Moment
• Is there really
such a thing?
• How good are we
at getting it
right?
– Introspection
– Smiling.
– Brain scans
• How good is it
to have?
Level Two Happiness:
Judging Your Happiness
• All things considered, how happy are
you these days?
– Introspection, comparative judgement
• Level Two Happiness (Nettle)
–
–
–
–
Total net Level One happiness (Kahneman)
Well-being
Satisfaction
Judgement about feelings
• Can be distorted by biased judgements
Level Two Happiness:
Judging Your Happiness
• Is there really
such a thing?
• How good are we
at getting it
right?
– Appraisal biases
– Aspirational
biases
• How good is it to
have?
Level Three Happiness:
Thinking You Have a Good Life
• On the whole, how good do you think
your life is?
– Introspection, comparative judgement,
relative to conception of ‘the good life’
• Level Three Happiness (Nettle)
– Eudaimonia
– Fulfilling potential
– Quality of life
• Doesn’t always require Level 1 or 2
happiness
Level Three Happiness:
Thinking You Have a Good Life
• Is there really
such a thing?
– Subjectively: yes
– Objectively:
interesting
question
• How good are we at
getting it right?
• How good is it to
have?
Happiness ‘Continuum’
Level 1
- Momentary
feelings
- Mood
- Pleasure or
joy
- Not
suffering
Level 2
Level 3
- Judgements
about
feelings
- Net level 1
happiness
- Well-being
- satisfaction
- Holistic
evaluation of
value of life
- Flourishing
- Needn’t
include
happiness
More emotional, sensual, and reliable
More cognitive, moral, and easily biased
Discussion
• When (if ever) are our judgments
about how we feel accurate
enough to make decisions by?
• For self- and governmental –
assessment, which method of
measuring happiness:
– Provides the best gauge of actual
happiness (most accurate/ reliable)?
– Is the easiest to carry out?
• Or, suggest another method
How to Find Out More
• Further reading:
– Happiness: The Science Behind
Your Smile
• By Daniel Nettle
– Stumbling on Happiness
• By Dan Gilbert
• Multimedia info:
– www.danweijers.com/happiness
– http://www.nationalaccountsof
wellbeing.org/
Happiness: Its Meaning,
Measurement and
Significance
L3: Happiness and Public
Policy?
Objectives
• Use our previous learning
(about what happiness is,
how valuable it is and if we
can measure it) to help
us…
• Decide what we should do
about happiness regarding
public policy
So What Should the
Government Do?
• Main goal of government?:
–
–
–
–
Happiness
Well-being
High living standards
$$$/freedom/rights
• SWB/Happiness measures/studies?
– No role
– Directly inform policy (alone or with others)
– Use to create objective measures
Unemployment
• Raise taxes to
make more
public sector
jobs?
• Make it harder
to fire
people?
Commuting
• Less time commuting could make
us happier
• Should the government encourage
virtual workplaces?
Advertising
• Rosser Reeves
– Manager of a
successful
advertising company
• While holding up
two coins:
– “[Making] you think
that this quarter is
more valuable than
that one”
The Benefits of Advertising
• Winston Churchill:
• “Advertising
nourishes the
consuming power of
men. It creates wants
for a better standard
of living… It spurs
individual exertion
and greater
production.”
• Advertising improves
our well-being
Does Advertising Make Us
Dissatisfied?
•
Beautiful (photo-shopped) women
are in adverts everywhere we
look
Does Advertising Make Us
Dissatisfied?
•
•
•
•
Beautiful (photo-shopped) women
are in adverts everywhere
They make us unhappy/
dissatisfied
Should we remove tax breaks for
pictorial advertising?
Should we ban pictorial
advertising?
Policymaking
Sustainability
↑ Well-being
(WB)
Subjective WB
Overall
Domain-Specific
Justice
Objective WB
Quality of Life
Indicators
Traditional
Economic
Indicators
HAPPINESS
Mental
state/
hedonism
Life
Satisfaction
theories
Objective
List/
Flourishing
•Survey
•Pager
•Day reconstruction
•Survey
•“All things
considered,
how
satisfied are
you with
your life?”
•Survey
•Rate
agreement
“I have
good
friends”
Fairness
Equality
Health/
healthcare
Freedom
Trust
Safety
Environment
Education
Equality
Employment
Happiness
Income
Wealth
Production
Brain
scan
Behavioural
Living Standards
• Treasury vision:
– “working for higher living standards
for NZers”
• Living Standards Framework (LSF)
– Explain ‘living standards’
• Living Standards Tool
– “assist policy analysts to consider
the [LSF] in their day-to-day work”
Treasury’s Key Objectives
• “working for higher living standards
for NZers”
1. Improved economic performance
2. A high performing state sector
that supports NZ’s international
competitiveness
3. A stable and sustainable macroeconomic environment
Living Standards
Framework
Living Standards Tool
My View
Policymaking
Sustainability
↑ Well-being
(WB)
Subjective WB
Overall
Domain-Specific
Justice
Objective WB
Quality of Life
Indicators
Traditional
Economic
Indicators
HAPPINESS
Mental
state/
hedonism
Life
Satisfaction
theories
Objective
List/
Flourishing
•Survey
•Pager
•Day reconstruction
•Survey
•“All things
considered,
how
satisfied are
you with
your life?”
•Survey
•Rate
agreement
“I have
good
friends”
Fairness
Equality
Health/
healthcare
Freedom
Trust
Safety
Environment
Education
Equality
Employment
Happiness
Income
Wealth
Production
Brain
scan
Behavioural
SWB as “Crosscheck”
Measuring Progress
So What Should the
Government Do?
• Main goal of government?:
–
–
–
–
Happiness
Well-being
High living standards
$$$/freedom/rights
• SWB/Happiness measures/studies?
– No role
– Directly inform policy (alone or with others)
– Use to create objective measures
How to Find Out More
• Further reading:
– Happiness: Lessons from a New
Science
• By Lord Richard layard
• Multimedia info:
– www.treasury.govt.nz
• Search for “living standards”
– www.danweijers.com/happiness
– http://www.nationalaccountsofwellb
eing.org/
Bhutan vs. New Zealand
• In Bhutan, happiness (they define
it more like peaceful serenity) is
the most important driver of
policy
– Since the late 1980’s
• In New Zealand, it’s often ‘the
effect on the economy’
– On jobs or per capita incomes or GDP
Other Topics
•
•
•
•
Foreign aid
The media’s portrayal of progress
Education
Health