Wellbeing and Measures of Subjective Wellbeing Dan Weijers

Wellbeing and Measures of Subjective Wellbeing Dan Weijers 14 December 2011

NZGSS • The NZGSS 2010 provides information on the wellbeing of New Zealanders aged 15+ • This includes objective information about their circumstance, such as their labour force status and income, as well as their assessment of different aspects of their lives. • Includes a life-satisfaction question

Don Farmer – Wairarapa Times Age • “happiness survey… revealed 87[% is] ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their lives overall. ” • “But I can’t for the life of me figure out how 87[%] of us keep smiling when many of us are either hungry, cold, fearful, neglected, or… suffering from all five afflictions. ” • 5 November 2011

Wellbeing • A broad concept about how a life is going for the person living it • Does wellbeing = happiness? • Intrinsic vs. instrumental bearers of value

Measuring Wellbeing (WB) Subjective WB Overall Domain-Specific Objective WB Quality of Life Indicators Traditional Economic Indicators HAPPINESS Mental state/ hedonism Life Satisfaction theories Objective List/ Flourishing • Survey • Pager • Day reconstruction • Survey • “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life? ” • Survey • Rate agreement “I have good friends” Health/ healthcare Freedom Trust Safety Environment Education Equality Employment Happiness Income Wealth Production Brain scan Behavioural

Mental State Theories Wellbeing Happiness Especially hedonism +ve net balance of good over bad mental states • Folk: get pleasure now! • Philosophers: maximise pleasure over your entire life • Key: All that matters is how you feel (your mental states)

What about Truth & Freedom? • Compare two lives – Same experiences – Different reality • Double agent partner • Sponsored children all died • Whose life is better? • What should we do about a happy slave?

Measuring Mental State Happiness • Survey Questions – “How happy are you these days? ” • Pager method – “What are you doing now and how are you feeling? ” • Day reconstruction method – Note down activities and mood from previous day

Life Satisfaction Theories Happiness Wellbeing Having most or more of your desires satisfied Sometimes • • Based on desire/preference-satisfaction Informed: adequately informed desires only Ideal: desires that fit some objective criteria only Key: All that matters is getting what you want

Is the Satisfaction of Our Desires Good for us? • What to do about dissatisfaction? – Earn more – Want less • We choose to desire things because we think that their satisfaction will provide us with some value or meaning • D-S accounts put the value in the satisfaction, not the ultimate reason for having the desire

Measuring Life Satisfaction • Questions – “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole? ” – “Compared to what it could have been, how satisfied are you with your life? ” • Scales – 4 point to 11 point – Some labelled very differently – Delighted, Pleased, Mostly satisfied, Mixed, Mostly dissatisfied, Unhappy, Terrible

Flourishing Theories Wellbeing Flourishing Developing & expressing natural capacities • Developing excellencies in one or all of your species’ fundamental traits • Only some versions include or require happiness/enjoyment of life • Key: All that matters is being the best you can be (given that you’re a human)

Flourishing = Objective List • But, which traits do you prioritise? – Is excellence in reasoning or longdistance running better for us? • Unnatural things can be good for us too! – E. g. Pacemakers, wings etc. • We end up with a list of things that are good for us • E. g. WD Ross: Knowledge, Pleasure, Virtue and the proper apportionment of pleasure to virtue

Measuring Objective List/Flourishing Well-Being • Survey Questions: – “Rate the extent to which you agree with the following statements” • • I maintain many good friendships My life is meaningful I am a virtuous person I am rarely deceived I am very knowledgeable I am free to act as I please (when not harming others) I live in a pristine environment

Policymaking Sustainability ↑ Well-being (WB) Subjective WB Overall Domain-Specific Justice Objective WB Quality of Life Indicators Traditional Economic Indicators HAPPINESS Mental state/ hedonism Life Satisfaction theories Objective List/ Flourishing • Survey • Pager • Day reconstruction • Survey • “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life? ” • Survey • Rate agreement “I have good friends” Fairness Equality Health/ healthcare Freedom Trust Safety Environment Education Equality Employment Happiness Income Wealth Production Brain scan Behavioural

Some Complicating Factors • Subjective vs. objective measures of flourishing/capabilities/quality of life • Positivity bias on self-reports • Expectations and reference groups • Survey Question wording: – “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole? ” – “Compared to what it could have been, how satisfied are you with your life? ”

So what should we measure? • What do we want to know? • How are NZers are doing and why? • What is the best measure of Nzers wellbeing? • Some relevant factors: – – Best captures wellbeing Easy/cheap/fast to measure Reliable results Can compare with other surveys