Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
PSYCHOLOGY HAPPINESS & WELL-BEING
WHAT IS HAPPINESS?
the 1930's and our own time
soSandie McHugh and Jerome Carson
Topics in Economic Psychology. Behavioural Sciences and Investor Education Conference
Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil 7-8.12.17
PSYCHOLOGY HAPPINESS & WELL-BEING
Outline of presentation
Research:- Happiness & Well-being Mass Observation
1938 and 2014 data Bolton UK. Comparisons.
Happiness in Brazil
Material Wealth & Happiness in society.
Positive Psychology - we can enhance our well-being and
happiness.
Most people want to be happy -
when basic human needs met
(Maslow's hierarchy – basic human needs met)
Care about well-being of ourselves & family.
Happiness & well-being linked to health.
United Nations Resolution 2011. UN Conference 2012 declared. World Happiness Day 20th March each year.
How do we define it?-
Meaningful Life? Flourishing? Well-being
Measure?
Surveys - Questions
Individual definitions -
letters and comments - free style writing.
1 method to explore happiness.
Mass Observation April
1938 Bolton
226 letters and Questionnaires
Mass Observation -Anthropology in Britain, not Borneo
Tom Harrisson chose Bolton, renamed “Worktown,” 1937-1940 “an emblematic location from which to observe a working class regarded by those outside of it as almost a race apart.” “Anthropology of Ourselves” studied working people in England rather than Borneo
Two of the 226 letters received by Mass Observation in 1938 - analysed in 2012
• letter
What is Happiness in Bolton 2014?
We team up
with University
of Bolton to
repeat 1938
survey
489 respondents
1938 - 10 aspects of happiness used in 2014
More equality More politics
More beauty More religion
More leadership More good humour
More leisure More knowledge
More economic security More action
Ranked in importance 1-10 (1 most important - 10 least important)
Worktown/Bolton Happiness respondents
1938
• 58% female
• 23% employed textiles
• 6% clerks & draughtsmen
• 28% retired or housewives
2014
• 65% female
• 61% employed
• 7% self-employed
• 28% retired or house/care
• Mean Age 44
Gazeley, I. & Langhamer, C. (2012)
McHugh, S. & Carson, J (2014)
SUMMARY - HAPPINESS DATA IN WORKTOWN/BOLTON
• Mass Observation Competition in 1938 – Happiness
• Repeat of happiness competition with The Bolton News
“Happiness Week 10-14.2.14”
• Report findings from 2 databases.
• How has Bolton changed?
• Has happiness changed over time?
PSYCHOLOGY HAPPINESS & WELL-BEING
HAPPINESS COMPETITION 1938 & 2014
BOLTON in 21st Century
2014 University of Bolton & The Bolton News replicated 1938 Q
Mass Observation 1938 - Industrial
WORKTOWN
Bolton in the 1930's
Population of 177,000. No welfare state, No National Health Service State education to age 14
200 churches/chapels
Population 279,000 (88% white, 10% Asian)
Welfare State - Free Health Care
State Education to age 18
University loans & bursaries
Bolton in 2014
Happiness is meeting
up and laughing with
friends
Happiness is watching TV
A good holiday and cultural experiences make me happy.
81 places of worship
Bolton in the 1930’s - heavy industry – mining – engineering
200 Cotton Mills
Unemployment 17% male, 12% female
An assured income ....paradise to us cotton workers who are never sure of 2 weeks pay
Bolton in the 21st century – industry high-tech - data processing, electronics IT – call centres - retail - public sector - education - health service
2014 - Unemployment 4%. Workless households 16%
“The ability to provide a good standard of living for my family “
“Work.....being appreciated.......having enough to live on”
Happiness and Holidays – Blackpool 1930’s
Collective everyday leisure of work & neighbourhood life of Bolton in Blackpool
Bolton - 47 cinemas, 6 dance halls, 300 pubs Snape (2016). McHugh et al (2016)
Worktown on holiday - beer from Bolton breweries -Kiddies enjoying the sea and sunshine
Happiness and Holidays - Today
World wide destinations for holidays. Guaranteed sunshine. Individualism.
2014 comments “Holidays with good food & wine” “Holidays” bringing happiness.
Friday 25.3.17 near empty prom
S. McHugh
Bolton - 2 cinemas, 10 night
clubs, 104 pubs, 7 leisure centre
McHugh et al (2016) Leisure & Happiness
What was happening in 1938? Effect on Happiness of External Events?
.
Concern with
Europe
Gas Masks issued
Franco winning
in Spain
British volunteers. Fundraising for both sides in Bolton
Basque refugee children in Bolton
Britain pledges to defend France and Belgium. Top rate Income Tax raised to 5s 6d Campaign for 1 weeks paid annual holiday
What was happening in 2014? Cost of living crisis – high prices for fuel – budget deficit
UK Chancellor warns of
more cuts and austerity
in 'year of hard truths' The Guardian 6.1.14.
British troops in Afganistan - casualties
Storms and floods in 2014 - Global Warming?
Bolton Councillor Elaine
Sherrington, "The cost of keeping warm and rising
energy prices are a concern to everyone”
RESULTS Comparison of rankings of Aspects of Happiness 1938 and 2014
Aspects of Happiness 1938 Aspects of Happiness 2014
1 More Economic Security 1 More Good Humour
2 More Knowledge 2 More Economic Security
3 More Religion 3 More Leisure
4 More Good Humour 4 More Knowledge
5 More Equality 5 More Equality
6 More Beauty 6 More Beauty
7 More Action 7 More Action
8 More Leisure 8 More Leadership
9 More Leadership 9 More Politics
10 More Politics 10 More Religion
1938 Gazeley & Langhamer; 2014 McHugh & Carson
Report of McHugh & Carson paper at British Psychological Society 2015
1938 McHugh & Entwistle & Carson. 2014 McHugh & Carson Majority report happy several times a week 80% 1938, 72% 2014.
How often would you describe yourself as really happy? Percentage of participants in each category (n138) 1938 (n487) 2014
9%
11%
55%
25%
6%
21%
48%
24%
rarely
Sev Tm Mth
Sev Tm Wk
Every day
2014
1938
1938 Gazeley & Langhamer. 2014 McHugh & Carson
Results - 1938 & 2014 Happier weekdays, weekend, or all the same?
(n203) 1938 (n486) 2014
72%
26%
2%
57%
39%
4%
Same Weekends Weekdays
Happier time of week 1938 & 2014
1938
2014
1938 Gazeley & Langhamer. 2014 McHugh & Carson
Results - 1938 & 2014 Happier in Bolton or Away
(n135) 1938 (n385) 2014
75%
25%
39%
61%
In Bolton Away Bolton
Happier in Bolton or Blackpool (1938) away (2014)
1938
2014
Descriptions of happiness by 1938 participants % of participants Coded comment categories. Many would mention
more than 1 category total above 100.
35
27 27
21 20
15 15 14 12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Prescott, McHugh & Carson 2016
Descriptions of happiness by 2014 participants % of participants Coded comment categories. Many would mention
more than 1 category – so total will be larger than 100.
63
52
33 31
18
12 11
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Activities Family Friends Per Dev Economic Nat World Community
McHugh, Entwistle & Carson 2016
1938 Contentment/peace of mind. Family.
Others Giving & Helping
2014 Activities, Family, Friends
TV Meals out Sport Holidays Leisure Centre
Happiness - coding letters/comments - 3 most frequent references 1938 & 2014
Is luck anything to do with happiness?
• 1938
• 2/5ths (40%) believed luck played a part in happiness.
Mass Observation interested in superstition – study of Football
Pools.
Gazeley & Langhamer (2012), p.176
• 2014
• 40.6% yes it does (n = 456).
• Comments indicate life chances more than lottery?
• McHugh & Carson (2014)
Happiness and Luck 1938 and 2014
The circumstances you are born into, your genetic inheritance, health
Cotton operative aged 25
Employed male aged 40
10 Aspects 2014 Good Humour 1 (4). Religion 10 (3) Leisure 3 (
8)
• Daily happiness similar 1938 and 2014. Weekends more
important in 2014 - weekday happiness less. Happier away.
• Descriptions of happiness
1938 - Peace and contentment. Family. Helping others
2014 - Activities. Family. Friends. Personal Development
• Brazil - how do you rate happiness?
• Wealth and happiness?
PSYCHOLOGY SUMMARY 2 HAPPINESS & WELL-BEING
Happiness comparisons 1938 & 2014
HAPPINESS IN BRAZIL
(Sustainable Wellbeing 2016)
• Brazil index score 23 out of 140 countries (UK 34)
Well-being; Life expectancy; Inequality of outcomes; Ecologial Footprint.
GDP; Social Support; healthy life expectancy; freedom to make life choices
Generosity; perceptions of corruption.
• Brazil 22nd out of 155 countries (UK 19) • happyplanetindex.org/countries/brazil. World Happiness Report 2017.
“Instagram” - No 1 = BRAZIL
World's highest smile score
HAPPINESS IN BRAZIL - SMILING
More Good Humour More smiling & laughter for me & those around me . (No 1 Bolton 2014)
Foundations of Brazilian happiness MUSIC; LITERATURE: CULTURAL EVENTS. Islam (2012). Happiness in Brazil.
Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 8 2012 (IPS) - Money may not buy happiness but it has helped make Women in Brazil become the happiest, most optimistic women in the world.
HAPPINESS IN BRAZIL - Optimism? - Pessimism?
Political uncertainty Economic uncertainty Inequality - poverty - employment can affect happiness
2009 STUDY OF Economics students in Brazil (UFPE) & USA (Indiana)
Most important Brazil more money US more leisure Family wealth has greater impact on happiness in Brazil than US
Cavalcanti etal (2009) Brazilian Review of Econometrics
“In Brazil Income positively influences probability of being happy and that Easterlin paradox remains also in Brazil” Gross National Happiness
in Brazil. Ribeiro & Marinho (2016)
Same rankings Brazil & US More friends Living closer family/friends A job Love story Less violence
21st Century Life Material Wealth and happiness debate
• Material wealth can increase perceptions of happiness
Van Boven & Gilovich (2003) purchase of experiences makes people happier (holidays, sports, trips).
Shrum (2012) material aspirations can make people happier If motivated by intrinsic goals – affiliation, pride and self reward.
“Wealth is related to happiness.”
Using data from 197 countries. Borrero et.al (2013)
Effect stronger at low income, than high income levels
Easterlin Paradox - Happiness does not increase with wealth in longer term.
“…as Western societies have got richer, their people have become no happier. ........50 years ago…yet average incomes more than doubled.” Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. Richard Layard. London: Penguin. 2011. p 3
Lord Layard
Advocates Government policies for Happier & healthier society.
• Higher standard of living
• Increased leisure & travel
• Technology - TV - WWW
• Health - NHS - longer life expectancy
• Welfare State
• Education to 18 & opportunities for university
Family/personal relationship breakdown. Mental Health and relationships “key to happiness” LSE research.
Loneliness - lack of community Dangers & unreality of internet
Globalisation - employment
Problem debt
Obelkevich, J. (1994) Consumption.
Jordan, T., (2013) Internet, Soiciety and Culture.
Turkle, S. (2013) Alone Together. We expect more from technology and less from each other. James, O., (2007) Selfish Capitalism and mental illness. The Psychologist Vol. 20 No.7 426-427.
Happiness and materialism in 21st Century Life
• Kasser (2003) materialist values = less happy life. Social comparisons. Envy and discontent.
• “How Much is Enough”. Skidelsky & Skidelsky (2012) Economics of Enough – economics of the good life.
• Is there there too much pressure to be “happy” (Oliver James in 2013).
General Well-being rather than Gross National Product? Policies for happier & healthier societies?
2017 World Happiness report
“Happiness can be considered as a measure of social progress and a goal of public policy”.
Does material wealth = happiness 2014?
2014 - 77% (n487) said NO to.
Do you think that your happiness is directly linked to the
amount of material possessions and wealth that you have?
“.......I don't believe wealth makes you happy......”
Does material wealth = happiness 1938?
Although security ranked top (1938) for happiness, material wealth on it’s
own was not generally seen to generate happiness.
“Enough money to meet everyday needs, and a little for
pleasure”
“A little bit put by for a rainy day” . “Money can’t buy
happiness”
.
SUMMARY
•Income positively influences probability of being happy and
Easterlin paradox remains also in Brazil” Ribeiro & Marinho (2016)
• Material wealth by itself was not deemed to bring happiness, 1930's & 2014 ENOUGH to live on
Sense of belonging now & future. Safety.
• Enhancing Happiness? - Positive Psychology.
Positive Psychology - enhance happiness
• Seligman’s PERMA
5 Elements for well-being and happiness in life
https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/perma-model/
Positive Psychology - Action for Happiness
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions". - Dalai Lama
40% daily activities and concious choices.
http://www.actionforhappiness.org/10-keys-to-happier-living
1938 Frank’s description
Happiness is a state of mind and attitude……..most of which are within your own control (2014)
What is Happiness? 1930's & Today - Frame of mind??
PSYCHOLOGY Happiness and Well-being
Thank you for Listening
Obrigado
Sandie McHugh, [email protected]
Professor Jerome Carson [email protected]
The Changing Nature of Happiness
An in-depth study of a town in
North West England 1938-2016
Preface by Professor Sir Cary Cooper
Edited by Sandie McHugh
Chapters by Jerome Carson,
Martin Guha,
John Haworth,
Sandie McHugh
Robert Snape, Matthew Watson Linda Withey.
1938 Worktown Mass
Observation
Survey of Happiness
2014
The Bolton News
replicates with
Happiness Week
Copyright S.McHugh
To be published December 2017 by Palgrave Macmillan
References & further reading • Borrero, D., Escobar, A.B., Cortess, A.M., Maya, L.C. (2013). Poor and distressed, but happy:
situational and cultural moderators of the relationship between wealth and happiness. Estudois Gerenciales 29. 2-11.
• Butler, J., & Kern, M.L. (2015) The PERMA-Profiler: A brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. Available from http://www.peggykern.org/questionnaires.html. See also article by same authors with same title in 2016. International Journal of Wellbeing, 6(3), 1-48.
• De V. Cabakcabti, T.V., Guimaracs, J.F., Nogueira, J.R., (2009). Is Brazil the Land of Happiness? A Comparative Study Using a Sample with Economics Students from UFPE and Purdue. Brazilian Review of Econometrics. V 29.1 p17-35.
• Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with economic well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology 29, 94-122.
• Easterlin, R.A. (2006). Life cycle happiness and its sources. Intersections of psychology, economics, and demography. Journal of Economic Psychology 27, 463-482.
• Gazely, I & Langhamer, C. (2013) The meanings of happiness in Mass Observation’s Bolton. History Workshop Journal, Spring, 75, 1, 159-189.
• Hall, D., (2015). Worktown: The Astonishing Story of the Project that launched Mass Observation
• Harrisson, T., Madge, C. (1939 reprinted 2009). Britain (Mass Observation social Surveys) by Faber and Faber.
• Helliwell,J.F., Layard, Sachs, J., ed. (2015) World Happiness Report 2015. Sustainable Development Solutions, USA., website www.unsdsn.org/happiness
References & further reading
• Kahneman, D (2012) In conversation with Lord Richard Layard at the LSE. The Psychologist, vol 25 no 1, 14-15.
• Kasser, T (2003) The High Price of Materialism. Cambridge, MA, MIT press
• McHugh, S., Carson., J. (2016) Happiness Then and Now . The Psychologist. 29(5) 406-407.
• McHugh, S., Carson, J. (2014) The Changing Nature of Happiness. History Today. Vol 64, Issue 12, 4-5
• McHugh, S., Snape, R., Carson, J., Hawarth, J. (2016) Everyday Leisure and Happiness in Worktown. A comparison of 1938 and 2014. World Leisure Journal. Vol 58, Issue 4. 276-284.
• Power, M. (2016) Understanding Happiness: A Critical Review of Positive Psychology. London: Routledge.
• Ribeiro, L.L. & Narinho, E.L.L., (2016) Gross National Happiness in Brazil: An analysis of it's determinants. EconomiA 18(2017) 156-167.
• Seligman, M. Flourish. (2011) New York: Free Press.. ISBN 9781439190760
• Skidelsky, R. & Skidelsky, E., (2012). How Much is Enough ? The Love of Money, and the Case for the Good Life.
References & further reading
• Shrum, L.J., Wong, N; Arif, F. et al. (2012). Reconceptualising materialism as identity goal pursuits. Functions, processes, and consequences. Journal of Business Research. Doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2012 .08.010
• Snape, R. (2016). Everyday leisure and Northernness in mass observation’s worktown 1937–1939. Journal for Cultural Research, 20(1), 31–44. doi:10.1080/14797585.2015.1134058
• Snape, R., Haworth, J., McHugh, S., Carson, J.(2017). Leisure in a post-work society. World Leisure Journal. Vol 59, Issue 3, Issue 4. 184-194.
• Turkle, S., (2013) Alone Together. We expect more from technology and less from each other. Basic Books. NY. 978-0-465-01021-9
• Van Boven, L. & Gilovich, T. (2003). To do or to have? That is the question. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 85(6) 1193-1202
How can we enhance our happiness/well-being
• Connecting with people in local communities.
• Active leisure - good for health and well-being
• Action on United Nations Special
Days - Happiness - Older People. Kindness Day - Young people
static.zoonar.com
Haworth (2014) Chin-Hsung, Po-Yant & Yu-Ten (2010)
