How to assess happiness? A tale of three measures

Abstract

A growing literature in economics points to the importance of targeting policy towards making people happy rather than towards making them well-off. Empirical work in this area relies, however, on a simple direct question to survey respondents on how happy they feel. This study shows, using three different measures of happiness/unhappiness, that while there was a commonality in the factors making for happiness (or unhappiness), the quantitative strength of the factors, in terms of their effects on the various outcomes, differed according to the definition used. Moreover, some factors influenced particular measures of happiness but did not influence others.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust for providing me with the data on which this analysis is based and to the Editor of AEL and two anonymous referees for their opinions on the paper. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for the interpretation of the data, for the results reported and, indeed, for any of this paper's deficiencies.

Notes

Blanchflower and Oswald (2000); Clark (1996, 1999, 2001); Clark and Oswald (1994); Easterlin (1974, 1987, 2001); Frank (1985; 1997, 1999); Frey and Stuzer (2002); Hirsch (1976); Layard (2002, 2003); Oswald (1997); Scitovsky (1976).

These were: calm (1)/angry (10); happy (1)/sad (10); like myself (1)/ don’t like myself (10); very satisfied with life (1)/dissatisfied with life (10); interested in life (1)/bored with life (10); looking forward to life (1)/ depressed (10); enjoy life (1)/don’t enjoy life (10); feel free (1)/ feel under pressure (10).

Oswald (1997) has suggested that data related to suicide and attempted suicide might provide a useful measure of unhappiness. The measure used in this study is, of course, broader than attempted suicide.

These were, as a consequence of the Troubles: workplace or business attacked/destroyed; home attacked/destroyed; having to leave home permanently/temporarily; car hijacked/stolen; felt intimidated/threatened.