Classic Evidence Flashcards
Who wrote the classic evidence for the positive approach?
Myers and Diener (1995)
What was the methodology and procedures of Myers and Diener (1995)?
It as an article which is a literature review of research on the topic of happiness , its made from information from ; interviews, questionnaires, observations, correlations and reviews
Explain if happiness is related to age (Findings, Myers and Diener- 1995)
A survey of almost 170,000 people from 16 different countries , showed that people of all ages are equally as happy (80% satisfaction score overall) BUT at different ages, different factors contribute to happiness
(E.g importance of health increases with age)
Is happiness related to gender? (Findings of Myers and Diener (1995)
A survey of almost 170,000 people showed that both 80% of men and women are ‘fairly satisfied’ with life , average happiness is the same
BUT women are twice as likely to suffer from depression (Robins and Regier 1991)
Is happiness related to race and culture? (Findings of Myers and Diener 1995)
African Americans reported nearly 2x the amount of happiness than European Americans
Individuals in individualist cultures also reported higher happiness than those in collectivist cultures
Is happiness related to money?
Research shows that once a certain level of comfort is met (basic needs , food and housing) , money only has a modest correlation to happiness (+0.12)
People on the Forbes list were 37% less happy than the average American
What were 4 traits of happy people Myers and Diener (1995) identified?
High self-esteem
Sense of personal control
Optimism
Extraversion
What was faiths link to happiness? (Findings or Myers and Diener 1995)
People with a high spiritual commitment were twice as likely to say they were very happy
Happiness was also correlated with strength of religious affiliation and the frequency of worship attended
What was the importance of work satisfaction with happiness? (Findings of Myers and Diener 1995)
They found that work satisfaction is linked to happiness , the idea of a ‘flow state’ suggests people become so focused on a task that other thinks matter less (which is linked to higher happiness)
However being unsatisfied with work is linked to unhappiness
What did the relationships of happy people look like? (Myers and Diener findings 1995)
For most people , the benifits of a relationship outweigh the strains, research shows that people who can’t name several close friends are less happy than people who can
Married people appear to be happier than non-married people
What did Myers and Diener (1995) conclude about the long-term effects of positive and negative events?
They concluded that the effects of both positive and negative effects fade over time , they suggested that only events that took place in the last three months effected our SWB score
What did Myers and Diener (1995) conclude about the worldview of different cultures and the emotional reaction of events?
They claimed that different cultural attitudes predisposed people to interpret life events in diffrent ways (eg some cultures emphasise negative emotions such a guilt, anxiety or anger)
What did Myers and Diener (1995) conclude regarding happiness and goals?
Myers and Diener (1995) concluded that people with a high sense of SWB have goals, ambitions and things they are striving towards , all other factors (e.g money or good looks) only matter if they contribute to achieving your goal
What did Myers and Diener (1995) conclude were the parts that made up a happy person?
One that possesses certain traits, has close relationships, enjoys their job and is religious
What did Myers and Diener (1995) conclude were the parts that made up a happy person?
One that possesses certain traits, has close relationships, enjoys their job and is religious
Why was Myers and Diener (1995) using self-report techniques significant?
The SWB score that the study rellies on is completely subjective and may succumb to social desirability bias , which affects the validity of the answers
Why is the fact that Myers and Diener used correlations significant?
As no variables were manipulated, we can’t presume that factors effect happiness (e.g happiness spike in marriage may be linked to 2 incomes) therefore we can’t draw conclusions
Why is the sample of Myers and Diener (1995) a point of evaulation?
The sample was mostly made out of American data , different cultures may express data differently (e.g colllectivist cultures may find happiness through sucess of the group)
What was the Alternative evidence to Myers and Diener? (1995) (Evaluation point)
Schinka et al (2004) - Iinked the 5-HIT gene to higher levels of seritonin , ergo higher levels of reported happiness
What is the potential for Psychological harm that patients may have encountered?
If a ppt was unhappy , they may have felt worse if they had to rank their SWB score continously
How were observations used in the reasearch Myers and Diener used in their research (1995)?
They saw the participants recieved a ‘buzzer’ at times during the day , they had to record what they were doing and their current SWB score
Why was Myers and Dieners (1995) research potentially socialy sensitive?
It may have the potential to change how people view other cultures (e.g they found that 10% of Portuguese people are happy compared to 40% of people from the Netherlands , people may belive that they will meet miserable people people)
