Course:
Development of Talent and Motivation
Subjective Well-Being
Lecture 3
05.02.2020
Neeta Maharaj (drs.)
Reflection on last lecture
• Positive and negative emotions have associated action tendencies
• Positive emotions broaden our thought-action repertoire
• Emotions are multidimensionally determined by biology, cognition,
behavior and current social situations
• Emotional intelligence is associated with wellbeing
Today’s Learning Goals
1. Learn about how to measure subjective well-being
2. Learn about the predictors of subjective well-being
3. Learn about interventions to increase subjective well-being
What is subjective well-being?
Can one increase it?
Does it even matter to be happy?
How would you measure it?
=People’s overall (cognitive and affective) evaluations of their lives
Why do we care about subjective well-being?
• It has implications for practice in various fields
• Clinical and counseling psychologists
• Organizational psychologists
• Subjective well-being is related to desirable life outcomes
• Better marriages, friendships, health, jobs (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005)
• Chicken or egg? Evidence that being happier partially leads to success
Basic triad of measures of subjective well-being
• Happiness: emotional well-being (feeling happy)
• Life satisfaction: global judgment about the ”rightness” of their lives
• (Low) Neuroticism: Anxiety, worry, low emotional stability
ØSubjective well-being is indicated by all three aspects
• Separate facets of subjective well-being that should be measured
separately (Diener & Lucas, 1999)
Learning Goal 1
Measurement of subjective well-being
Measurement of subjective well-being
How to measure subjective well-being?
• The true judge of how happy someone is, is “whoever lives inside a
person’s skin” (Myers & Diener, 1995, p.11)
• Evaluations of well-being are subjective à self reports are empirically
acceptable
Measurement of subjective well-being 1
Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) (Take the test)
31 - 35 Extremely satisfied
26 - 30 Satisfied
1. In most ways, my life is close to my ideal. 21 - 25 Slightly satisfied
20 Neutral
2. The conditions of my life are excellent. 15 – 19 Slightly dissatisfied
10 - 14 Dissatisfied
3. I am completely satisfied with my life. 5 - 9 Extremely dissatisfied
4. So far I have gotten the most important things I want in life.
5. If I could live my life over, I would change nothing.
Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985
Measurement of subjective well-being 2
Scale of Positive & Negative Experience (SPANE)
Please think about what you have been doing and experiencing during
the past four weeks. Then report how much you experienced each of
the following feelings, using the scale below.
§ Positive § Unpleasant § Joyful
§ Negative § Happy § Angry
§ Good Bad § Sad § Contented
§ Pleasant § Afraid
1 2 3 4 5
Very rarely Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often
or never or Always
Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi. D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2009). New measures of well-being:
Flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 39, 247-266
Measurement of subjective well-being 3
Flourishing Scale (FS)
Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2009). New measures of well-being:
Flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 39, 247-266.
Measurement of subjective well-being
..but are self-report instruments really valid?
• Do people who report to be happy really experience
subjective well-being?
• How to find out?
• Correlate it with other measures:
ØSelf-reports converged with expert ratings (interviews)
Ø experience sampling (random momentary assessments)
Ø reports from family and friends (Sandvik, Diener, & Seidlitz, 1993)
ØGlobal Self Report measures conducted
Learning Goal 2
Predictors of subjective well-being
Two theoretical views on SWB
SWB reflects how
A summary
we evaluate
statement of SWB?
experiences
Situations/Experiences
Quality of marriage,
job, friendships, income
ØIf the bottom-up model is correct, interventions should focus on
changing the environments and situations that one experiences
ØIf the top-down model is correct, interventions should focus
changing people’s attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, or personality
Predictors of subjective well-being
Bottom Up Top Down
• Money, income, wealth • Cognition
• Gender • Attitude
• Age • Positive Relationships
• Race • Personality traits
• Education • Resilience
• Climate
• Politics
Bottom-up predictors
What external characteristics influence SWB?
Bottom-up predictors: Money
Yes! Let’s examine :
Bottom-up predictors: Money
Yes, but it’s complicated I
• Curvilinear relationships
• Money matters when you have very little of it, but it matters less when you
have more of it (Biswas-Diener, 2008)
• Tipping point: money matters below $75.000 (Kahnemann & Dieaton, 2010)
Happiness
Money
Bottom-up predictors: Money
Yes, but it’s complicated II
• Exceptions: World Database on Happiness listed Guatemala and
World Values Survey listed Puerto Rico, Colombia among the top 10
• Study in slums in Calcutta, India (Biswas-Diener & Diener, 2001):
• Positive life satisfaction levels
• Homeless happier than those in the US
Bottom-up predictors: Money
No! Money can be hazardous for well-being
• More money -> Higher aspirations and expectations
• The treadmill of MORE & MORE : Setting ever-higher materialistic
goals in hopes of becoming happy with income
• People who earned more than
$150.000 p/y: 27% cannot afford
everything they really needed
(Schorr, 1999)
Bottom-up predictors: Money
No! Money can be hazardous for well-being
Evidence:
• People who earned more than $150.000 p/y: 27% cannot afford
everything they really needed (Schorr, 1999)
• Gazing at money undermines everyday pleasures (unrelated task;
Quoidbach et al., 2010); gazing at luxury goods can lead to increased
self interest (vs. interest in others; Chua & Zou, 2009)
• Wealthier people donate less % of their income (Flores, 2010)
Video: Can Money Buy Happiness?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSIkdWxotKw
29
Bottom-up predictors: Money
When can money increase well-being?
Money can make you happy if you spend it on..
• Experiences (time with family, friends, fulfill goals) vs. material goods1
• Psychological needs (new skills, gaining respect, personal growth)2
• Spend it on others or donate3
• Small pleasures (versus large ones)3
• Time-saving purchase (unenjoyable chores) vs. material purchase4
• Personality-matched spending5
1Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003; 2Diener et al., 2010; 3Dunn et al., 2008; 4Whillans et al., 2017; 5Matz et al., 2016
Bottom-up predictors: Money
Other Bottom-up predictors
Gender, Age, Race, Education, Climate
Bottom-up predictors
Gender
• Sex inequalities declined over the past 30 years (Yang, 2008)
• A review of studies across 33 years in US & Europe (Stevenson & Wolfers, 2009)
Øwomen were happier before 1985, equal in 1989 and now less happy in most
countries regardless of marital status, age, income
Ø…although objective measures indicate their lives got better
Why?
• Not only satisfaction at home anymore
• Increased opportunities – increased
pressure to succeed?
• Comparison also to men
Bottom-up predictors
Age: Are older or younger people happier?
• Research indicates increases in happiness over the life span (Yang, 2008)
• Older adults: some studies found high life satisfaction even > 90
years, others found a decline in happiness in old age (role of health)
• Longitudinal data: SWB higher among older adults
but declined 4 years prior to death (Gerstorf et al., 2008)
Bottom-up predictors
Race and Ethnicity (within the US)
• Whites report higher SWB than African- • Race SWB inequalities declined
Americans, Latinos, or Native Americans over the past 30 years
..but disparities
decline when
income,
education,
occupation
accounted for
Barger et al., 2009 Yang, 2008
Bottom-up predictors
Education
• College degree can increase odds of being happy by about 37% (Yang,
2008)
• ..but once attained a middle-class income level, further education
does not impact happiness (Diener et al., 1999)
Bottom-up predictors
Climate
• Pleasant warm weather can improve mood in spring (Keller et al., 2005)
• Suicides more common in Spring and Summer (Christodoulou et al., 2012)
• The weather has more of an impact on a person’s negative daily
mood, rather than helping one’s positive mood (Denissen et al., 2008)
• Impact on weather on mood depends on personality (Klimstra et al., 2011)
• About 50% not affected by changes in the weather
• Half of the sample was: 27% summer haters, 17% summer lovers
Bottom-up predictors
Summary
• Evidence for bottom-up approach: There are bottom-up
situational/demographic influences on SWB
• There is evidence that money, gender, age, race & ethnicity, climate,
life eents and political affiliation are related to SWB
• ..but the relationships might be complex (e.g., money: non-linear)
• The effects are however rather small: Demographic factors account
only for 15% of variance in SWB (see Diener et al., 1999)
ØResearchers turned to top-down areas to explain variability in SWB
ØWithin-person factors that determine how circumstances are perceived
Top-down predictors
Top-down predictors
Cognition
• Cognitive theories (e.g., Robinson & Kirkeby, 2005; Lyubomirsky, 2001)
• Causes of SWB are not external events, but how we interpret them
• Happiness is a function of how people construe their experiences
• Evidence that happier people are..
• ..positively biased in attention &
information processing
• ..encode events more positively
• ..as a result: encode more positive
memories
Robinson & Compton, 2008; Seidlitz & Diener, 1993
Top-down predictors
Cognition: Optimism as an explanatory style
• Optimists enjoy greater life satisfaction; more effective coping, better
health, relationships, perseverance (Carver et al., 2009; 2010)
Key element in optimism:
Positive expectations!
Ø More problem-focused coping
Learned Optimism Realistic Optimism
(Seligman, 1998) (Aspinwall & Brunhart, 2000)
Learning to be more optimistic by explaining Honest recognition of opportunities for
life events in positive ways positive growth; more than just pink glasses
Top-down predictors
Cognition: Sense of control
• Sense of control: belief that one can obtain desired outcomes
• Evidence: Trait sense of control predicts life satisfaction
• Why? Evidence: Avoiding and managing motivational conflict
Hofmann, Luhmann, Fisher, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2014
Top-down predictors
Cognition: Sense of meaning in life
• Meaning in life is related to more frequent and intense
positive emotions, and many indicators of well being
• Reciprocal relationship (King et al., 2006)
Meaning in life Subjective well-being
• Meaning in life is not just “fairy dust”, but related to maturity
ØInternal locus of control; greater degree of autonomy, mastery, ambition
ØAlso more optimism, better adjustment after trauma
• Feeling secure about one’s sense of meaning is linked to SWB
Steger et al., 2008
Top-down predictors
Comments on cognitive predictors
ØCognition plays an important role in SWB
ØPositive illusions (inaccurately positive perceptions of reality) about
self and control are linked to SWB
ØBaumeister: there may be an optimal margin for illusions: we can afford to
lose some objectivity for more optimism about the future
ØSocial comparison:
Ø…with ourselves: less discrepancy between actual self and ideal self is
beneficial
Ø...with others: happier people use downward social comparisons
Top-down predictors
Social relationships
• What makes you happy?
Top-down predictors
Social relationships
• Strong predictor of SWB across cultures (Myers, 2000)
• Study: 222 College students’ happiness and social life (Diener & Seligman, 2002)
Myers, 2000; Diener & Seligman, 2002
Top-down predictors
Personality: Big Five Traits
• Higher SWB is associated with higher Extraversion, Agreeableness,
and Conscientiousness, and with lower levels of Neuroticism
• Extraversion is considered a leading predictor of SWB (Diener et al., 1999)
• Potential explanations: Having an easier time making friends, our culture
rewards extraverted behavior, greater sensitivity to rewards, tendency to
experience more positive emotions
• But, recent evidence shows that
personality and SWB affect each
other (Soto, 2015)
Part of a latent growth model
Top-down predictors
Personality: Self-esteem
Does high self-esteem cause people to experience better relationships,
work, and health, or is high self-esteem simply a reflection of success?
• Longitudinal study (N=1,824)1
ØHigh self-esteem is a predictor,
not a consequence, of life success
• well-being (affect and depression)
• enjoying and succeeding in work
• satisfying romantic relationships
• physical health
1 Orth, Robins, & Widaman, 2012; for a r eview see Orth & Robins, 2014
Top-down predictors
Summary
• Evidence for top-down predictors:
• Longitudinal studies provided evidence that attitudes, self-
perceptions and personality traits predict subj. well-being
• e.g., the Big Five, self-esteem, social relationships, optimism, self-efficacy,
sense of control and sense of meaning in life
ØSWB is closely tied to the judgments we make about ourselves
Learning Goal 4
Is there a dark side of subjective well-
being?
But can people be too happy?
..Yes, for some life outcomes
• Analysis of large survey data to
identify the optimal SWB level
for different life outcomes
ØPeople who experience
Ø..the highest levels of happiness
(9 or 10 on 10-point scale) were
the most successful in close
relationships and volunteering
Ø..slightly lower levels of
happiness (8 or 9) were the
most successful in income,
education, political participation
Oishi, Diener, & Lucas, 2007
The down side of feeling up
• Positive illusions and unrealistic optimism
• Happier people may less check for errors (Forgas, 2010)
• Extreme levels of happiness may lead to not paying attention to what’s
occurring around us
• Positive mood related to selfish behavior
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjfuI3Bjle4
• Stockdale paradox:
Admiral James Stockdale survived 7 years
in a Viet Cong prisoner camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpgLAuZdutM
Learning Goal 5
Interventions to increase subjective well-
being
Interventions
Can we increase in our happiness?
• Hedonic treadmill model: good and bad events temporarily affect
happiness, but people quickly adapt back to hedonic neutrality
ØEfforts to increase happiness are doomed to failure
• 5 revisions of that model (Diener, Lucas, & Scollon, 2006)
1. Western countries’ happiness ”above average”
2. People have different set points
3. People may have multiple set points
4. Well-being set points can change
5. Individuals differ in their adaptation to events
Ø (Neutral) happiness can and does change
What would you address in a happiness
intervention based on what you heard?
Interventions
Fordyce’s Happiness Training Program
A package to teach 14 fundamentals of happiness (1981)
1. Change your activities (be more active, productive)
2. Change your thinking (optimistically, present, lower expectations)
ØBeneficial to not be too perfectionistic, but better to focus on growth?
3. Nurture relationships (close relations, sociable)
4. Value personal growth (health, be yourself)
5. Decrease negative emotions (stop worrying)
ØFordyce: pursuit of happiness should be placed first
ØBut happiness may be a byproduct
(Oishi, Diener, & Lucas, 2007)
Interventions
Sustainable happiness model
Lybomirsky, Sheldon & colleagues (2005/2006)
Behavioral (e.g., exercising),
cognitive (e.g., reframing),
Personality volitional (goals)
(temperament): à Easier to change
à Hard to change
Demographic, national, regional
factors, life status (marital etc.)
à Hard to change
Interventions
Sustainable happiness model
How to change intentional activity?
• College students who changed their activities (e.g., pursued a new
goal) experienced larger increase in well-being
• Even reading stories in the active voice increased happiness more
than reading in passive voice
Interventions
Barbara Fredrickson’s Positivity
Broaden-and-build model of positive emotions
• Strategies for increasing positive emotionality
• Stop ruminating about issues
• Focus attention on sensory sensations, activities, helping others
• Techniques
• Relaxation strategies such as (mindfulness) meditation
• Daily diary of positive events
• Evidence: ongoing practice of loving-kindness meditation led to
greater life satisfaction 8 weeks later compared to a waitlist control
(Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008)
Interventions
Hope Training
Snyder and colleagues (2000/2006)
• Idea: SWB is enhanced when people have well-developed goals and
believe they have the capacities to reach them
• Behavior-change strategies (and avoiding pitfalls):
• Set specific, measurable, achievable goals that matter to you (to be “happy” is
not enough): e.g., want to be more fully engaged in life, give more love..
• Goals should be concrete and rather immediate
• False hope syndrome: Avoid unrealistic expectations
Interventions
Which interventions work better?
• Review Quoidbach, Milolajczak, & Gross, 2015
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Interventions
Which interventions work better?
66
Interventions
Which interventions work better?
67
Interventions
Which interventions work better?
Quoidbach, Milolajczak, & Gross, 2015
68
Interventions
What affects effectiveness of interventions?
Individual factors Aspects of the interventions
• Fit between exercise and • Longer duration more beneficial
personality important for success • Variety of activities (to stave off
• Motivation to become happier hedonic adaptation)
• Believe that SWB is malleable • Encouraging habit development
• Effort
Interventions
Summary interventions
• Bad-ish news:
• We adjust quickly to changing life circumstances
• Some people have a harder time to be happy most of the time (heritability)
• Good news: Happiness can be changed through interventions
• There are different intervention programs
• Fordyce’s program posits 14 fundamentals (e.g., change thinking)
• Lybomirsky focuses on changing intentional activities (e.g., change activities)
• Fredrickson aims at increasing positive emotionality (e.g., meditation)
• Hope training (set specific, achievable goals)
• Several practices have been proven helpful
• E.g., best possible selves, hope therapy, acts of kindness (see also Quoidbach et al)
Summary
1. Different measurements of subjective well-being
• Well-being is predominantly measured with self-reports
• Global questionnaire measures and momentary smartphone assessments
2. Stability of subjective well-being
• Subjective well-being is moderately stable
• There is some evidence that major life events can affect well-being
3. Predictors of subjective well-being
• Bottom-up predictors: money, age, race, education, climate
• Top-down predictors: Thoughts, relationships, personality
4. Interventions to increase subjective well-being
• Interventions directed at changing behavior, cognition, goals can be beneficial
Top-down predictors
The Best Possible Self Exercise to increase
Optimism
Envision yourself in an imaginary future in which everything has turned out in the most
optimal way.
• Set a timer or stopwatch for 10 minutes, in this time you are to think about your best
possible future self and to write it down on paper.
• Imagine your life the way you always imagined it would be like, your best possible self.
Picture that you have performed to the best of your abilities and you had achieved the
things you wanted to in life.
• While writing don’t worry about grammar or punctuation just focus on writing all your
thoughts and emotions in an expressive way.
• Reflection: after completing the initial exercise, reflect on your feelings and answer.
Think about the following questions:
• What effects did this exercise have?
• Does this exercise affect you more emotionally or does it affect your current self-image?
• Did it motivate or inspire you?
• Does it make you want to make changes?
Links
• Can Money Buy Happiness?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSIkdWxotKw
• Money can buy happiness: Michael Norton at TEDxCambridge 2011
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwGEQcFo9RE
