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18. Causes and Correlates of Happiness
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Chapter
- Additional Information
18 Causes and Correlates of Happiness Michael A-r;gyle This chapter examines the correlations of demographic and other environmentalfactors with happi- ~uss and, lvhere possible, their independent and causal effects. Age has a small positive effect on some aspects of happiness because of a declining goalachievement gap. Education is correlated with positive affect, mainly through the impact of educatio~~ on i~uome and occupational status, especially in third world countries. Social class is similarly correlated for the same reasons but also becalHe class affects leisure and health. b~come has complex and generally weak effects on happiness. Cross-sectional studies find a small positive effect bllt only at the lower end of the income scale; money is spent by the poor on more important goods like food. The increased prosperity for all during recent years has had no effect, bllt declining prosperity causes reduced happiness. Wi~ming lotteries is more a cause of disruption than ofhappiness. Comparisons with the incomes of others are important in wage negotiations and more important than absol1lte income values. Social relationships are a major source ofwell-being. Marriage has the strongest effect, with the married being on average the most happy, the dil'orced and separated least. Social support also benefits mental and physical health. Ethnic minority grollps are less happy, but this effect is l'ery small after controlling for income, education, and occupation. Unemployment is a major cause of unhappiness, independent of reduced income, but the retired, even though they are "unemployed,J> are, if a~~ything, happier than those at work. Leisure is an important cause ofhappiness because it is under voluntary cM~trol. Sport and exercise, social clubs, music and voluntary work all show strong positil'e effects. Television watching is very popular but produces a very weak though positiJ 'e state. Religion, especially church attendance, has overall a small positive effect, bItt this is stronger for the elderly and members ofsome churches. This is due to the very close support of church commtmities and the relatiM~ experienced with God, and optimism. The frequency oflife events correlates with happiness; their intensity has a weaker effect, though some major life events like falling in love, while disruptive, have a big impact. Mood induction experiments show that happiness can be enhanced experimentally, though it may not last for long. Competencies like intelligence and physical attractiveness have very weak positive correlations. Social skill does better, si~~ce it produces improved social relationships. Some policy implications are that less emphasis should be placed on income bygovernments, apartfrom that of the very poor, and more emphasis should be placed on employment, leisure facilities, and sustaining marriage and other relationships, which could be accomplished through education. It is concluded that demographic and environmental variables hal'e some strong effects on happiness. Marriage, employment, a~~d leisure are important, especially for certain groups, and their absence a~~d loss is a major source of unhappi~less. THERE IS AN immense amount of information about the effects of the demographic variables of age, sex, occupation, and the rest, which are normally included as the causes and correlates of happiness in social surveys. These surveys started with Cantril's (1965) study of 23,875 people in 11 countries, the studies by Bradburn (1969) and Campbell, Converse, and Rodgers (1976) in the United States, and Inglehart's (1990) analysis of Eurobarometer surveys for 16 countries, averaged over a number of years, usually 1980 to 1986, with a total of 163,538 respondents. Veenhoven and colleagues (1994) later presented the findings of 603 such studies from 69 countries. These surveys constitute a massive source of information about the causes and correlates of happiness. It is found that these demographic variables all correlate with subjective well-being. We will see how strong the relationships are, how far they vary between populations, whether they hold up when the others are controlled, how far the relationships are causal, and how they can be explained . Andrews and Withey (1976) concluded that these relationships were all fairly weak and accounted for less than 10 percent of the variance between them. Diener (1984) suggested 15 per- 354 Well-Being cent. Inglehart (1990) was surprised at these small effects and suggested it was because happiness depends on the goal-achievement gap and aspirations over time, so that it is only changes that have much impact on happiness. In pointing out that happiness differences between countries were much larger, he suggested that there is less pressure for the aspirations...