Positive Classic Evidence - Myers and Diener Flashcards
(23 cards)
1
Q
Methodology and Procedures
A
a review of research on the topic of happiness.
* Interviews and questionnaires
* Observation
* Correlations
* Reviews
2
Q
Interviews and questionnaires
A
- assess happiness by considering a person’s sense of their own happiness
- Subjective well-being (SWB)
- Done by interviewing using a closed question ‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days? Are you very satisfied?/Not very?/Not at all?
- OR - multi-item sale. Includes a number of questions related to happiness
- Quantitative measure is produced to represent happiness
3
Q
Observation
A
- asking people to report what they are doing at selected times (observation on their behaviour)
- Researchers use beeberso to remind them to send a messge saying what their doing or thinking at a particular moment
- Sample people’s behaviour
4
Q
Correlations
A
- Consider what factors co-vary with happiness
- some factors might make a person happy, others are a consequence of being happy
5
Q
Reviews
A
- This study is a reviews of other research
- some of the research referred to are based on multiple studies - some are reviews, meta-analysis
6
Q
Findings - Is happiness related to age?
A
- Inglehart - survey of 170,000 people of all ages, 16 different countries found no differences. mean score 80% satisfaction with life
- Herzog et al - at different ages, different factors contribute to happiness
7
Q
Findings - Is happiness related to gender?
A
- Inglehart - 80% of men and 80% of women said ‘fairly satisfied with life’
- Robins and Regier - women are twice as vulnerable as men to depression
8
Q
Findings - Is happiness related to race or culture?
A
- Diener et al - African-Americans report nearly twice as much happiness as European-Americans
- People in individualist cultures report greater SWB than in collectivist cultures - Individ, more concerned with indi needs. Coll, focus on needs of the group
9
Q
Findings - Is happiness related to money?
A
- Diener et al - people who are rich don’t report greater happiness. Survey people on Forbes rich list - 37% were less happy than average American
- Doesn’t apply in situations where people are poor. - Poor country, Bangladesh, people with money report higher SWB than those without money
10
Q
Findings - The traits of happy people
A
- either the traits make people happier or the traits develop because a person is happy
- High self-esteem - individuals like themselves and agree with statements like ‘I’m a lot of fun to be with and I have good ideas’
- Sense of personal control - fell empowered rather than helpless do beter at school, cope better with stress and are happier
- Optimism - such people agree with ‘When I undertake something new, I expect to succeed’
- Extraversion - people who are more outgoing are happier when with other people and also when alone
11
Q
Findings - The relationships of happy people
A
- Burt - research show that people who can name several close friends are healthier and happier thatn people who can’t name friends
- Lee et al - married people are happier thatn non-married people 39%, 24%
12
Q
Findings - work and the ‘flow’ of happy people
A
- work satisfaction affects happiness
- People who are out of work are less happy than those in work
- Work provides a personal identity, sense that one’s life matters, sense of community
- Work can be unsatisfying, stressful - associated with unhappiness
- concept of the ‘flow’ - we bceome caught up in an activity so that other things matter less
- Found that people happiest when engaged in a mindful challenge an experiencing flow.
13
Q
Findings - the faith of happy people
A
- Gallup - people with a high ‘spiritual commitment’ were twice as likely to say they were very happy
- In North America and Europe people who are religious report higher levels of happiness.
14
Q
Conclusions
A
- Importance of adaptation
- Cultural world view
- Values and goals
15
Q
Conclusions - The importance of adaptation
A
- The effects of positive and negative events fade over time - Argyle: people who win the lottery only report brief increases in their happiness, short-term
- Longitudinal study found that only events in the last three months influence SWB due to human capacity to adapt to life circumstances
16
Q
Conclusions - Cultural world view
A
- Cultural attitudes - interpret life event differently
- some cultures emphasise negative emotions
17
Q
Conclusions - Values and goals
A
- People with a high sense of SWB have goals, ambitions, things they are striving to achieve
- other factors (money) only matter if relevant to the goals - explains why money matters more in a poor country
18
Q
Evaluation Methodology and Procedures
A
- Self-report
- Correlations
- The Samples
19
Q
Evaluation - Self-report
A
- data collected about SWB is subjective - no way of confirming if someone is happy
- may not tell the truth, provide socially desirable answers - research found that social desirability scres correlate with happiness scores
- people think they are happy but are actually repressing their true feelings of unhappiness
20
Q
Evaluation - Correlations
A
- many of the findings are correlational
- cannot assume that a particular factor is a cause of happineess
21
Q
Evaluation - the samples
A
- a lot of data is based on Western samples
- used Western definition of happiness when designing the questionnaires
- roots of happiness may be different in other cultures
22
Q
Ethical issues - psychological harm
A
- very little risk of harm as behaviour is not being manipulated
- possible that some unhappy people didn’t like being asked about their happiness = feel more depressed
- researchers must be sensitive and debrief
- ethical guidelines advise psychologists to practise within the boundaries of their competence. - try not to help someone who might start to discuss their depression
23
Q
Social implications - Socially sensitive research
A
- classed as ‘socially sensitive’ - might make us more likely to think about a certain group of people such as culture in a particular way
