Hic Habitat Felicitas

I'm Back!

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

I've been on a happiness hiatus. Ironically, the only thing getting in the way of my well-being has been my dissertation on well-being! Let's review what has happened on the happiness front in the past seven weeks.

1) It has been shown that your serotonin levels effect how you play the ultimatum game. Apparently, low serotonin levels probilify the rejection of unfair offers.  The researchers concluded that "5-HT plays a critical role in regulating emotion during social decision-making."

2) Check out Will Wilkinson's excellent discussion with Josh Knobe about experimental philosophy, the experience machine, the status quo bias and the endowment effect...

3) Often, when we think about egalitarianism or distributive justice, we think about the distribution of goods, rights or opportunities. In a recent paper, "Happiness Inequality in the United States," Betsy Stevenson and Justin Wolfers discuss...happiness inequality. According to Wolfers, "there is less happiness inequality today than in the 1970’s or 1980’s" even though there have been "large increases in income and consumption inequality." 

 

You can read the trilogy of articles on the topic, here. You can also read a brief summary of these findings, here.

4) Check out this tantalizing tidbit about the well known benefits of smiling.

5) Apparently, for one reason or another, the gender of your supervisor has an influence on how happy you are at work.

6) The August issue of Psychological Science contains a fascinating article by Eugene M. Caruso, Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson on the phenomenon known as temporal value asymmetry. 

7) Randy Newman has remarked that "short people got no reason to live."

Turns out, they're pretty miserable too...

This article suggests that "the main reason why taller people do better is because they have higher incomes, they are better educated, and they work in higher status occupations."

8) According to this article, "Between 1980 and 1985, only 2,125 articles were published on happiness, compared with 10,553 on depression. From 2000 to 2005, the number of articles on happiness increased sixteenfold to 35,069, while articles on depression numbered 80,161. From 2006 to present, just over 2 1/2 years, a search found 27,335 articles on happiness, more than half the 53,092 found on depression."

9) According to recent research the experience of positive emotions was more strongly related to life satisfaction than the absence of negative emotions across nations. However, "negative emotional experiences were more negatively related to life satisfaction in individualistic than in collectivist nations, and positive emotional experiences had a larger positive relationship with life satisfaction in nations that stress self-expression than in nations that value survival. These findings show how emotional aspects of the good life vary with national culture and how this depends on the values that characterize one's society. Although to some degree, positive and negative emotions might be universally viewed as desirable and undesirable, respectively, there appear to be clear cultural differences in how relevant such emotional experiences are to quality of life."

10) According to a recent study in the journal, BMC Cancer, women who suffered two or more traumatic events in their life, such as losing a loved one, had a 62 per cent greater risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer, but optimistic women were 25 per cent less likely to develop the disease. This study definitely deserves a closer look.

11) According to this article, conventional retributivist and utilitarian conceptions of punishment must accommodate our ability to adapt to changed circumstances (including fines and imprisonment) and, somehow, must ameliorate the devastating (unintended) consequences of incarceration (such as unemployment, divorce and disease). These phenomena are obstacles to implementing proportional punishment and creating a marginal deterrent, thus they threaten the foundations of punishment theory.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back soon...

                                                                                                  Excelsior!

                                                                                                  C.L.Sosis

While I Was Gone...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

The hustle and bustle of activity that has occured since my haitus is a bit overwhelming, but I am going to do my best to cover it here:

1) Peter Clough (University of Hull), in collaboration with AQR, has shown it is possible to teach kids to be tough (which they claim you can measure using the MTQ48) and that doing so has the beneficial effects you would expect, given other research on the benefits of resilience.

2) Research on hedonic adaptation has shown that “Within a few years, paraplegics wind up only slightly less happy on average than individuals who are not paralyzed.” Recently, researchers have shown that, ironically, functionally impaired patients with diseases such as amytrophic lateral sclerosis might be depressed (and, consequently, decline life sustaining treatment) because they don't realize that having the disease won't nessecarily compromise subjective quality of life (if they accept life sustaining treatment). It was also shown that, unsurprisingly, educated patients adapt to the illness better, from a hedonic point of view (this might be surprising if you buy into the myth of the melancholic genius). 

3) Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have shown that having strong family ties is a much bigger predictor of contentment than income. This research seems to support the jist of the Easterlin Paradox: money matters up to a point (when basic needs are met), then, other things matter more. In the words of Rebecca J. North, one of the researchers,"Our findings underscore the importance of additional policy indicators that can tap the well-being of individuals and families at the psychosocial level to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a nation's well-being." As I have argued in other places, researchers often forget that money is extrinsically valuable. If it has any influence on subjective well-being, it is probably because of how it is used.

4) It has previously been shown old people are as happy as young people. This is puzzling, in part, because old people spend more time alone, which has been shown to cause (and be caused by) depression. In the current issue of Psychology and Ageing, Bill Von Hipple has shown that "older people are just as satisfied with their social lives because they seem to get much more from the few interactions they have." In other words, the old aren't lonely because the elderly simply adapt, hedonically, to being less social than they used to be.  

5) Check out this Gallup graph. Apparently, everybody is, in fact, working for the weekend. Yet another reason to pursue a gratifying profession.

6) Previously, I have discussed the link between subjective well-being and health. A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown "that positive affective states are related to favourable profiles of functioning in several biological systems and may thereby be relevant to risk of development of physical illness."

7) Read this interesting how-to article on how to maintain a happy marrige (and your health, by extension).

                                                                                               Excelsior!

                                                                                               C.L.Sosis

                                      

Hanky-Panky and Happiness...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald have shown that people who have sex once a week are a lot happier than those who have sex once a month (the optimal number of sexual partners in a year: one). Recently, J. Sabura Allen has shown that depressed (Australian) women have sex more often than happier women (regardless of whether or not they are in a relationship)!

                                                            Excelsior!

                                                            C.L.Sosis

Politics, Realism and Purpose...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

Arthur C. Brooks has written a new book on Gross National Happiness. The data seems to show that radical liberals are happier than moderates, and that conservatives are happier than liberals. Brooks claims that extremists are extremely happy because they are certain they are right.

I haven't read the book but I would argue (tentatively) that extremist liberals are sadder than their conservative counterparts because they have a more realistic world-view (this claim is empirically verifiable), and that moderates are less happy than liberals and conservatives because they lack the sense of purpose liberals and conservatives enjoy (this claim is also empirically verifiable).

It seems that this theory is already partially supported by the extensive research on depressive realism which has shown that depressed people, as a matter of fact, have a more realistic perception of their importance, reputation, locus of control, and abilities. I imagine my interpretation of the data would also be bolstered by research which has shown that people with a sense of purpose tend to be happier than those without a sense of purpose.   

                                                                                   Excelsior!

                                                                                   C.L.Sosis

P.S. Listen to this interview with Arthur C. Brooks.

Will Positive Psychology Replace Psychiatry?

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

According to a new study by Irving Kirsch (University of Hull) the clinical efficacy of SSRIs has been intentionally exaggerated by drug companies. Apparently, the pharmaceutical industry cherry picked the data. If this is true, somebody has some 'splainin' to do! It turns out that SSRIs aren't any more effective than placebos (except in severely depressed patients). This finding isn't entirely new. Nonetheless, this seems to be good news for positive psychologists (if costly mistreatment can count as good news), who successfully manage to increase life satisfaction and subjective well-being in general without using direct chemical intervention.

                                                                            Excelsior!

                                                                            C.L.Sosis

P.S. Consult your psychologist before you stop taking antidepressants. 

Seligman Slams Schoch (and Vernon)!

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

Martin Seligman, the founding father of positive psychology, slammed Mark Vernons ridiculous report on Robert Schochs ludicrous inaugural lecture (based on his book) in the Guardian Unlimited. Here it is:

"Mark Vernon (2/2/2008), reporting a lecture by Richard Schoch, asks what has Positive Psychology taught us in the ten years since its inception. “In three words, not a lot - especially when compared with the insights buried in the ancient wisdom on the good life.” Perhaps Mr. Vernon and Mr. Schoch knew the following, but science did not know these things until recently, and the ancients certainly did not:

- Optimistic people are much less likely to die of heart attacks than pessimists, controlling for all known physical factors

- Women who display genuine (Duchenne) smiles to the photographer at age eighteen go on to have fewer divorces and more marital satisfaction than those who display fake smiles

- Externalities (e.g., weather, money, health, marriage, religion) totaled together account for no more than 15% of the variance in life satisfaction.

- Several specific exercises (www.reflectivehappiness.com) produce increases in happiness and decreases in depression six months later while other plausible exercises are mere placebos.

- The pursuit of meaning and engagement are much more predictive of life satisfaction than the pursuit of pleasure.

- Economically flourishing corporate teams have a ratio of at least 2.9 to1 of positive statements to negative statements in business meetings, whereas stagnating teams have a much lower ratio; flourishing marriages, however, require a ratio of at least 5:1

- Self-discipline is twice as good a predictor of high school grades as IQ

- Learning optimism at ages 10-12 halves the rate of depression as these schoolchildren go through puberty

- Happy teenagers go on to earn very substantially more income fifteen years later than less happy teenagers, equating for income, grades, and other obvious factors

- How you respond to good events that happen to your spouse is a better predictor of future love and commitment than how you respond to bad events.

- People experience more “flow” at work than at home.

More egregiously, Vernon tells us “the fundamental error of the science - and the reason why so many of its recommendations sound trivial or just confused - is the assumption that happiness is the same as positive emotion.” If Vernon had bothered to crack Authentic Happiness (2002), the first major book in Positive Psychology, he would have found that its foundation is the denial that happiness is the same as positive emotion. Positive Psychology is the study of positive emotion and engagement and meaning; how to measure them rigorously and how to reliably build them."

Good job, Marty! Stick to Shakespeare, Schoch! I bet Vernon soiled his underoos!

                                                                                       Excelsior!

                                                                                       C.L.Sosis

Mid-Life Misery...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

According to a new study in the Journal of Social Science and Medicine people, young and old, are significantly happier than middle-aged people (on average, men hit a hedonic low point at 50, women hit it at 40). According to the authors of the study, Andrew Oswald and David Blanchflower "it happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor and to those with and without children." This pattern was found in 70 countries.

This contradicts previous findings that your level of happiness remains relatively consistent or rises slightly (then declines slowly) throughout your life.

                                                                                            Excelsior!

                                                                                            C.L.Sosis

P.S. The good news: according to Oswald "by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit, then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old."

P.S.S. Check out this article from Judgement and Decision Making on the postive effect of positive affective states in the Iowa Gambling Task.

Sadness for Sale...

Hello Fellow Hedonists,

Recently, I've noticed a resurgence of articles and books that celebrate sadness. For instance, the book, The Loss of Sadness, points out that the way major depressive disorder (MDD) is defined takes no account of personal circumstances. This, of course, is patently false. Nonetheless, to diagnose a person with MDD, the person must must display at least five of the following nine symptoms over a two-week period (the five must include at least one of the first two symptoms):

1. depressed mood;
2. a lack of interest in activities;
3. change in appetite or weight;
4. insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleep);
5. a physical slowdown;
6. loss of energy;
7. feelings of worthlessness or guilt;
8. inability to concentrate and make decisions;
9. recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

The authors of the book (Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield) argue that these symptoms happen naturally to a healthy person after a stressful event, and without that context being specified, the authors conclude: "Contemporary psychiatry has inadvertently characterized intense normal suffering as disease."

Hyperperexia and Hypothermia happen naturally in certain circumstances, but we alleviate these symptoms because the costs outweigh the benefits. Our natural responses to a virus or infection often threaten our health. Often, our natural responses to stress also threaten our health. Arguing that we should live with these symptoms because they occur naturally is simply silly.

Mark Rapley argues that we must demedicalise misery. According to Rapley, depression is merely another word to describe being "unbearably sad, so sad that you can't leave the house and you don't think life is worth living. I call that what it is: unbearable sadness. I see nothing wrong with using substances to make yourself feel better." Apparently, psychologists are as vulnerable to silly semantic disputes as us philosophers.

When it comes down to brass tacks, it has been shown that unbearable sadness kills, and always has, no matter what you call it. So, when Rapley says, "the drug industry has made us believe that, when we feel sad, we have something fundamentally wrong with us that needs correcting" I cringe. You 'medacalise' a condition in order to understand it; in order to diagnose and treat it. One could easily argue we have a moral imperative to medacalize misery. After all, doing so can help prevent unnecessary suffering and death, which is obviously, one might argue, a morally good thing.

When an English professor lambastes the attempt to annihilate melancholia, I'm disturbed. MDD is an affective disorder and it is literally a disease insofar as it presents an immanent threat to your physical health. Positive Psychology attempts to make mentally healthy people happier. Doing so might turn out to be ocassionally misguided. So, denounce positive psychology if you will, but be aware that it might help prevent suicide, and please, consider the real world consequences of authentic misery before you compose an ode to it in order to make a buck. After all, unbearably sad people can't write books, organize conferences, or perform monologues. Often enough, truly depressed people kill themselves instead.

                                                                                     Excelsior!

                                                                                     C.L.Sosis

P.S. The Psychology of Happiness and Satisfaction blog has a post on Seligmans efforts to use positive psychology to alleviate depression.