A better measure of true happiness
Ask the question, “How are you doing?” and you’re likely to get some sort of general answer: “OK.” “Not so good.” “Fine.”
That’s a problem for researchers whose job it is to precisely gauge well-being. Measures of life satisfaction, or -- as it’s commonly called -- happiness, are an essential part of many psychological studies and are increasingly used in medical studies and even economic research. But many scientists say they don’t have a good grasp of how well individuals -- or the nation as a whole -- are doing at any given time.
Now, in what may be the most authoritative way to determine well-being, researchers reporting in last week’s issue of the journal Science say they have devised an accurate scale. The method works, they say, because people are asked to assess their feelings throughout the course of a single day, not to simply reflect at a specific point in time on their overall happiness.
An initial test conducted on women has already produced some interesting findings about how satisfied Americans may truthfully be. Contrary to what people may acknowledge, it turns out that many dislike spending time with their boss, find caring for their children not very pleasurable and truly enjoy watching television.
“We’re trying to find out what people are really experiencing. And that may be different than their beliefs,” says Arthur Stone, vice chairman of the department of psychiatry at Stony Brook University and one of the paper’s authors.
For example, says Stone, researchers often ask questions such as: “Taken altogether, how satisfied are you currently with your life?” But, he says, “People don’t run around with an answer in their head. They have to think about that. It’s a difficult question. And compared to who? It’s that difference between going from that sort of global question to the specific that we think is a major advance here.”
The new measurement tool, called the Day Reconstruction Method, asks people to construct a short diary of their previous day. Participants are prompted to write down what they did, when they did it, who they were with and how they felt.
This approach is designed to reflect how moods and feelings of satisfaction change throughout the day depending on what people are doing, says Richard M. Suzman, associate director of the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research.
“People often have a general impression that is very global and may be quite at variance with their minute-to-minute or hour-to-hour experience,” he says. The Day Reconstruction Method “is much more representative of people’s actual work and life experience than one might get by asking a general question such as: Are you happy or satisfied?”
A trial of the method appears to bear that out. In a study of 909 employed women, researchers found that some results differed from what research has traditionally suggested.
For example, previous studies have found that when asked about activities they find most enjoyable, people often list interactions with their children at the top of the list. People also often mention being with friends and working at one’s job as enjoyable.
However, Stone and his colleagues found that taking care of children was ranked as one of the least enjoyable activities -- right alongside working, housework and commuting. People may love their kids and look back on child-rearing with fond memories, but the hour-to-hour experience of raising children may produce less positive feelings, says Stone.
The measurement tool also showed the extent to which feeling pressured for time and a lack of control erodes satisfaction with one’s job. Sleep quality also had a big effect on mood and enjoyment, the survey found. Those who slept poorly generally scored low on enjoyability throughout their day while those who slept well scored high.
The survey showed that people were most content when spending time relaxing with friends, having lunch with co-workers, watching TV alone, shopping with a spouse and cooking alone. The women ranked spending time with their boss and commuting on the low end of the enjoyability scale.
Scientists believe this kind of specific measure can be valuable in a range of research. For example, says Stone, insurers are increasingly interested in how a new therapy or treatment affects quality of life rather than just focusing on whether it resolves a symptom or extends life.
“Insurance companies are saying we don’t want to pay for treatments that impacts some physiological process but doesn’t improve quality of life,” he says. “You can imagine using this kind of study with symptoms or emotions or pain or fatigue -- anything that is rapidly changing.”
Economic or policy decisions may even be influenced by a more accurate observation of Americans’ well-being, says Suzman. For example, putting in a new freeway may cost a community millions of dollars, but if commuting affects quality-of-life, perhaps the investment should be viewed in a different light.
“If you are looking at a policy intervention or trying to make a decision about where a town or city should invest its money, you don’t want to only think about economic value,” says Suzman. “There are other components to life.”
*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Measure of cheer
Women in a recent well-being evaluation, which used a new measurement scale, ranked their feelings of enjoyment for each activity throughout the day. A score of 6 meant “very much”; zero meant “not at all.” These scores reflect the average score for the 909 women.
Activities
Intimate relations...5.10
Socializing...4.59
Relaxing...4.42
Pray/worship/meditate...4.35
Eating...4.34
Exercising...4.31
Watching TV...4.19
Shopping...3.95
Preparing food...3.93
On the phone...3.92
Napping...3.87
Taking care of my children...3.86
Computer/e-mail/Internet...3.81
Housework...3.73
Working...3.62
Commuting...3.45
Interactions with people
Friends...4.36
Relatives...4.17
Spouse/significant other...4.11
Children...4.04
Clients/customers...3.79
Co-workers...3.76
Boss...3.52
Alone...3.41
Source: Science, Dec. 3, 2004; Vol. 306.
