Do we know what makes us happy?

Question 1

What are the three sections of the “Happiness Pie”?

Answer 1

1. Set range (product of your genes)
2. Circumstances (age, health, income etc)
3. Intentional activities (how you think and act e.g. gratitude, forgiveness, optimism)

Question 2

What did Brickman, Coates and Janoff-Bulman (1978) find about happiness?

Answer 2

In relation to life events, we adapt quickly

Question 3

What are some limitations of Brickman, Coates and Janoff-Bulman (1978) research?

Answer 3

1. Small sample (22 lottery winners, 29 paraplegics)
2. Demand characteristics
3. Cross-sectional design
4. Can’t tell quickly/slowly people’s happiness changes and whether it returns to baseline or a new level

Question 4

What did Dunn, Biesanz, Human and Finn (2007) find in relation to positive well-being and forecasting interactions?

Answer 4

Positive well-being was higher when forecast interaction with romantic partner
Positive well-being was higher when NOT forecast interaction with stranger
When forecast interaction, well being was more positive when interacting with partner than stranger
When NOT forecast, positive wellbeing was higher when interacting with stranger than romantic partner!

Question 5

What are three reasons for affective forecasting?

Answer 5

1. Focalism - lots of other things happen at same time and influence affect
2. Inaccurate theories - we have a preconception about how something is going to feel and sometimes we fail to correct for how it actually feels
3. Immune neglect - we are unaware of how good we are at coping

Question 6

According to Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade (2005) what are the three sources of happiness, and in what proportions?

Answer 6

1. Set point (50%)
2. Intentional activity (40%)
3. Circumstances (10%)

Question 7

Describe the idea of the hedonic treadmill

Answer 7

Happiness set-point - briefly react to good or bad, then return to neutral
Increasing subjective standards → increasing levels of aspiration
Need new levels of stimulation just to maintain the same level of satisfaction

Question 8

What happens when we have affective forecasting errors?

Answer 8

We choose what to do based on how we think we’ll feel… we might avoid things that would make us feel good