Today’s Goals

  • Mini review: Happy people & change
  • Consider a model of happiness change exercises
  • Understand how money (income) is correlated with happiness
  • Become familiar with the Gallup World Poll
  • Understand how spending can change happiness (or mood)
  • Consider implications of money & SWB findings

 

Mini Review

  • In the study of very happy people, what factors were necessary or sufficient to be very happy? Necessary but not sufficient (sociability)
  • Which of the big 5 traits identified very happy people?

 

  • What is the ‘hedonic treadmill’? Always strive to maintain balance

Treadmill – never really get anywhere – always return to setpoint of happiness

  • What are arguments (or data) against a strong or classic view of the hedonic treadmill?

 

  • What are arguments (or data) supporting the notion of adaptation? Major events + adaptation

 

Major events do impact behaviour, but there is an overall adaptation to them

 

Money & Happiness

  • Must keep in mind considerable complexity
  • Within nation vs. between nations
  • Components of SWB o Positive emotions o Negative emotions o Satisfaction

o (not to mention broader mental health)

Answer could depend on what you mean by happiness

  • What gets done with money also important

 

Money Has Diminishing Returns

 

 

GWP: Money & Happiness

  • (cf. religion reading next week)
  • Representative sample of 95% world population (!)
  • Survey approach
  • SWB
    • PA, NA, ‘ladder’ satisfaction
    • social resources (respect, using skills, learning…)

 

GWP Life Satisfaction

Find that the happiest people live in developed countries

Not an important correlation between all these things

Equality tends to be associated with happiness

 

GWP Major Money Findings

  • Money predicts SWB, more for satisfaction o Increasing standard of living increases satisfaction
  • Feelings more impacted by social resources
  • National income predicts above individual o It’s nice to live in a rich society o Some, but small, ‘relative deprivation’ Likely a ‘world standard’
  • Rising incomes over time can increase SWB (cf. previous smaller research)

 

Money & Happiness

  • Generally, money has benefits
  • But, what we do with it important
  • Consider materialism (& SWB) o Video: Kasser & high price of materialism

 

Pro-social Spending

  • Spending money on others seems to facilitate happiness
  • (cf., other pro-social behaviours)
  • Initial study in Science o S. survey data

o Longitudinally, before/after bonus ‘windfall’* o Experimentally ($5 vs. $20; self vs. other)

  • A ‘double’ affective forecasting error
  • Sharing/giving has similar effects in young o http://cic.psych.ubc.ca/Example_Stimuli.html

 

  • Oct 7 –

 

  • Effects observed in much of world o Experiments (India, Uganda, South Africa, Canada Results were similar
  • Self-Determination Theory as guide

Assuming people have these three basic needs that lead to psychological well-being

  • Relatedness (close vs. distant others)
  • Competence (specific impact)

If it’s clear, physical, and concrete – then you feel better about it

  • Autonomy (choice)

Feels better when you’ve made the decision to do it

  • Some physiological correlates o ‘reward’ parts of brain (more in future reading) o Cortisol & shame (when not giving)

Cortisol: stress hormone

Habitual + chronic will lead to problems

 

Is Money All Good for Happiness?

  • Less savoring?

Indications that having a lot of money/being exposed to a lot of money diminishes savouring

  • Correlational & prime study of self-reports
  • Experimental study of money primes & chocolate eating
  • Quoidbach, J., Dunn, E. W., Petrides, K. V., & Mikolajczak, M. (2010). Money giveth, money taketh away: The dual effect of wealth on happiness. Psychological Science,21, 759-763.

Materialism vs. money