Transcript Croatia book talk without most photos

Happiness:
Unlocking the Mysteries of
Psychological Wealth
Ed Diener
Smiley Distinguished Professor of
Psychology
University of Illinois
4th European Conference on Positive Psychology
July 1- 4, 2008 Rijeka, Croatia
“The most authoritative
and informative book
about happiness ever
written”
^
Unique Aspects of the Book:
• We present the research on the benefits of
happiness – to health, work, and relationships
• We also show the need for “negative emotions,” and
that you don’t necessarily need to be happier
• We show the danger of averages when applied to
individuals, like for religion or marriage
• We present self-scoring measures for 7 variables
• We expose myths such as the “Set-point”
• We have a lot of fun stories
•
Part l: Understanding true wealth
– Psychological Wealth: The Balanced Portfolio
– Two Principles of Psychological Wealth
•
Part 2: Happy people function better
– Health and Happiness
– Happiness and Social Relationships – You Can’t Do Without Them
– Happiness at Work: It Pays to be Happy
•
Part 3: Causes of happiness and genuine wealth
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Can Money Buy Happiness?
Religion, Spirituality, and Happiness
The Happiest Places on Earth: Culture and Well-Being
Nature and Nurture – Is There a Happiness Set-Point, and Can You Change It?
Our Crystal Balls: Happiness Forecasting
Taking AIM: Attention, Interpretation, and Memory
Part 4: Putting it all together
– Yes, You Can Be Too Happy
– Living Happily Ever After
– Measuring Your Psychological Wealth
Pie Chart of True Wealth
Understanding true wealth
–Two Principles of Happiness
• Part 2: Happy people function better
• Part 3: Causes of happiness and genuine wealth
• Part 4: Putting it all together
1. Happiness is a Process,
Not a Place
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Ongoing new challenges
How one “travels”
Winning an award
Climbing Mt. Denali
2. Happiness Is 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”
Why Beneficial Happiness?
• Broaden and build
(Fredrickson)
• Creativity (Isen)
• Challenges look easier when happy
(Proffitt)
Benefits of SWB
Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener
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
Warmth, sociability
More friends
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)
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
Not Cheerful
Most Cheerful
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Mean
Health & Longevity
The Nun Study
Dr. Snowdon with Sisters Agnes and Gertrude
Longevity in The Nun
Study
Survival Rate at Age:
85
93
Most Cheerful Quartile
79%
52%
Least Cheerful
54%
18%
Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen
Smoking (pack/day)
Exercise
Light drinking
Smoking (pack/day)
Exercise
Light drinking
Heavy drinking
Hey, Doc, what about:
Smoking (pack/day)
Exercise
Light drinking
Heavy drinking
Hey, Doc, what about:
Becoming a Nun?
Smoking (pack/day)
Exercise
Light drinking
Heavy drinking
Hey, Doc, what about:
How happy are you?
Very Happy vs. Less Happy
+ 10.7 years
Why happy are healthier?
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Stronger immune systems
Better cardiovascular health
Health behaviors (e.g., seatbelts)
Fewer lifestyle diseases (e.g.
alcoholism)
• Younger genes (telomeres)
Societal Benefits of Happiness
• Volunteering
• Pro-peace attitudes
• Cooperative attitudes
Part 3: Influences
on Happiness
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Supportive social relationships
Temperament & adaptation
Money
Society & culture
Cognition: Positive attitudes
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
& Adaptation
“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
Adaptation
• Temperament has substantial effect in
long-run because people adapt to their
conditions to some degree
They react strongly, but then adapt
back to their baseline
Daily moods of a 20-year old
Unemployment
7.2
7
6.8
6.6
6.4
6.2
6
5.8
Past
Prior Yr.
Fired
1 Yr.
3 Yrs.
Slow Adaptation to Widowhood
7.2
7
6.8
6.6
All is
Fine
Husband
failing
Widow
6.4
6.2
6
5.8
All is
Fine
Widow
4 Yrs.
2 Yrs.
4 Yrs.
6 Yrs.
But what of Brickman et al.?
• Lottery winners
• Paraplegics
Life Satisfaction and 100 Percent
Disability (Lucas)
7.2
7
6.8
6.6
6.4
6.2
6
5.8
-2 Yrs.
-1 Yr.
0
+1 Yr. +3 Yrs. +5 Yrs.
-2 Yrs.
-1 Yr.
0
Conclusion
The “Set-point” is really more
like a “Set-range”
Temperament is important, but
circumstances matter too
3. Money
Despite popular myths,
money is correlated with
happiness, although not
always strongly
But Warnings About Money!
• Toxicity of materialism
• Don’t sacrifice too much of
other components of wealth,
such as relationships
• Declining marginal utility
Even the poor can be happy
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Maasai
Inuit
Amish
Slums of Calcutta
A. If basic needs met, for food etc.
B. If not desiring more
C. Have other rewards such as relationships
4.
Society
Influences Happiness
The individualism bias in
positive psychology –
happiness is within you only
But what of positive institutions?
Life Evaluation Ladder
Ideal to Worst (10 to 0)
Denmark
Finland
Switzerland
Netherlands
Spain
Ireland
8.0
7.7
7.5
7.5
7.2
7.1
Togo
Cambodia
Sierra Leone
Georgia
Zimbabwe
West Bank
3.2
3.6
3.6
3.7
3.8
4.7
Culture Influences
Levels of Well-being
Pleasant Emotions—Enjoyment etc.
High
Honduras
Panama
Costa Rica
Puerto Rico
Low
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Palestine
Tajikistan
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
Cognition: AIM Model
• Attention
– Seeing beauty and good in the world
• Interpretation
– Interpreting many things as positive
• Memory
– Savoring rather than ruminating
COGNITIVE HABITS PEOPLE GET INTO!
“Spirituality”: Experiencing
Broadening Positive Emotions
– which make life larger than just our
own self-interests:
Gratitude
Love
Awe
Transcendance
• Part l: Understanding true wealth
• Part 2: Happy people function better
• Part 3: Causes of happiness and genuine wealth
• Part 4: Putting it all together
– Yes, You Can Be Too Happy
– Living Happily Ever After
– Measuring Your Psychological Wealth
Being too happy?
• No negative emotions
– They can be appropriate
– They sometimes help functioning
• Searching for constant euphoria & ecstasy
– Expectations too high
• In some instances “8’s” do better than “10’s”
National Accounts of Well-Being
Robert Kennedy, 1968
• Too 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…. 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.
National Accounts of SWB
Measuring well-being for policy
Information beyond wealth
GDP, employment, etc.
These will help the positive
behavioral sciences!
Self-Scoring Scales in the book:
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Life satisfaction
Positive affect
Negative affect
Positive thinking
Negative thinking
Strong social relationships
Psychological well-being
Suggestions to Increase
Well-Being:
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Have important values and goals
Develop strong relationships
Cultivate spiritual emotions
Intelligent happiness forecasting
AIM your mind
Live as though happiness is a process
• Thanks very much
Questions?
Discussion?