In a New York Times Op-Ed on Saturday, Sonja Lyubomirsky wrote that subjective well-being has remained high during the recession. But she’s dead wrong.
Here’s the gist of her piece, titled “Why We’re Still Happy” :
Research in psychology and economics suggests that when only your salary is cut, or when only you make a foolish investment, or when only you lose your job, you become considerably less satisfied with your life. But when everyone from autoworkers to Wall Street financiers becomes worse off, your life satisfaction remains pretty much the same …
So in a world in which just about all of us have seen our retirement savings and home values plummet, it’s no wonder that we all feel surprisingly O.K.
Unfortunately the claim she’s making — that we’re all O.K., thank you very much — isn’t one for theory, it is a factual claim. Let’s see how it checks out, updating my earlier analysis of daily data on life satisfaction through 2008, courtesy of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (and see that earlier post for the details on this chart):
We’re still happy? No way. Life satisfaction has plummeted during the recession. Of course there remain important issues about how best to measure well-being. So here’s my challenge to Lyubomirsky: Find a single indicator of subjective well-being that hasn’t gotten worse through 2008. I’ll be happy to write about it, if she finds one.
Not only has happiness declined during this recession, it has declined through every U.S. recession for which we have data. Here’s a chart from a paper of mine (with Betsey Stevenson), documenting the clear correlation between the U.S. business and happiness cycles:
I’m optimistic that research into subjective well-being can be useful. But careful science is about replacing conjecture with facts, and right now, happiness research could use a bit more empirical rigor.
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Those are two different pairs of shoes. A survey, where people are asked in a special context, always HAS to remind people of their worries. “Crisis” is in the news each and every day.
Still, consumers’ situation has not changed too much (by now). They’re worried, yes. Especially workers have to be worried bout their job. That makes them sad, of course. But it’s their own single personal problem, right-now-SHORTTERM issue. Compared to others they’ll be as happy as before, but that’s a LONGTERM question.
I also find it difficult to believe that the economic crisis has not affected our overall levels of measured happiness.
Part of the reason for this general malaise may be that our culture has promoted a vacuous ‘happiness’ based on the acquisition of unnecessary possessions and the fulfillment of sensory desires rather than the fulfillment of our human potential.
The wealth that supports this empty lifestyle has been created through decisions made without regard to their human consequences. We have been hoodwinked by leaders who claimed that the consideration of the results of our decisions on other human beings is not relevant to the discussion.
This includes economists that seek to elevate themselves by claiming that economics is a science, when in fact it is a belief system not consistent with what real scientists know about how the world works.
Many people had a great time while their homes doubled in value, re-financing to support this meaningless consumption of natural resources. Instead of creating wealth by manufacturing goods that benefit human beings or providing services that benefit human beings, we created wealth through sleight of hand and the manufacturing of ‘weapons of financial mass destruction.’
Now that the chickens have come home to roost, thoughtful individuals look around and wonder how the heck we got into this mess. It’s difficult to look inside and see how we ourselves have contributed to our own situation.
We need to reorder our priorities and take care of basic human needs and transition to a sustainable economy not dependent on ‘growth’ that is ultimately funded through massive Ponzi schemes.
I pray that our next President can turn this country around and is not sandbagged by the same arrogant fools that lead us into this mess.
Is it any wonder that more people describe themselves as “struggling?” Is there really any wonder why the level of happiness has been steadily declining from year to year — even contemplating the ups and downs of recession?
Only the self absorbed could fail to recognize that for the majority of people in the United States, incomes have failed to keep pace with the costs of living.
I find it interesting the graph shows a significant decline right about the time that the “free traders” pushed through GATT, NAFTA, and most favored nation status for China. Perhaps they will find a reverse corallary to the happiness scale in China, where per capita prosperity has increased during the same time frame.
Lyubomirsky was citing empirical analysis; it is an established result that *after* being fired we feel better about it than we expected we would, and that coping is easier if the decline is small relative to peers.
Of course, this result isn’t very significant to the general population, since 92% of us have yet to be fired, and are (overly) anxious about it. The research cited on relative status would (ceteris paribus) predict increased well-being for those still employed, but depression conditions offset that gain-in-status-by-default with hightened worried for the future.
Taking the relative-change result in isolation clearly doesn’t predict the macro picture correctly. But, the subset directly suffering lay-offs certainly will be happier than they would have been if the same disasters happened outside of a depression – if that’s worth anything.
You raise a very interesting question as to what makes people happy in life. Aside from having.making and keeping friends, Oprah appears to have discovered the real answer. Her word/advice is `sound.’ Get Real. I know having been on the same diet that works for me for the last 37 years of counting calories. And trying to eat right (knowing that there will be moments when I just have to eat that piece of chocoate layer cake) yum yum!
My husband always talks about coming from a poor family (the youngest of ten and mom raising a family on her own since his dad died). Yet, there was food on the table (he always reminds me of the fact that her meals were the best) and, despite their difficulties (couldn’t even afford a pair of shoes and had to look for bottle tops (each worth 5 cents) to go to the movies (his favorate past-time), there was a good deal of happiness that he had (playing ball, a house full of family and friends/family always visiting). Sociologists tend to treat poverty in mere monetary terms as if it is some sort of failure. I cannot see it that way- not the way my husband describes it. Perhaps a bit more money in the bank, a pair of new shoes would have helped– but would it have made him any happier. I have not asked him that question, but I doubt it. What would have made him happier, I bet, is more control (which he could not have) over the trauma of losing a father at such a young age.
So as far as new years resolutions are concerned, my recommendation is– make the one’s you can keep. You will be happier. Am working on that one myself right now.
Clearly, there is a certain vacuousness inherent in any notion of happiness that only involves “material wealth”- and by that standard, clearly we can only be less happy in the current enviroment.
However- and this may be Sonja’s point- there is a certain liberating aspect to an economic episode such as this in that in reminds us of how many things on which our happiness hinges are immaterial; friends, family, exersize, pets (to a certain degree),sunrises, etc., are always there for us no matter how bad it gets. A lot of happiness has to do with managing expectations, after all, and the bar is being dramatically lowered….
Justin seems to measure “happiness” using terms like “thriving”, “struggling”, and “subjective well being”. None of these match what most people think of happiness, and I suspect this is the problem. There is no question that during recessions, people worry about their job, their financial situation, and their home (what all of his terms are about); but, that may or may not affect their level of happiness in the broader sense. In fact, during such times, many people rediscover their friends and family, and may actually feel happier on average.
So, I think Justin needs to critique measures of worry and “well being” and separate the broader (and more complex notion of) happiness. I think psychologists working with economists could do a study of the relationship between “happiness” and “well being”. I suspect there is some correlation, but they may be quite de-correlated when economic times changes the measure of success. For example, when people think their goal has to be acquisition of goods and their measure of themselves is only on what they own, many likely come out lower on happiness measurements (since these are goals you can never reach – you can never be rich enough given that each level of wealth increases the requirements).
Isn’t this obvious? The happiness research shows that happiness depends on comparisons with:
1. Others in our environment
2. Ourselves in our salient memory
3. Our parents/grandparent in our salient memory
In a recession, #1 may go down for everyone equally and cancel itself out. But #s 2 and 3 suffer unless you did so well in the bubble that you are still better off than you were in recent memory and your parents were.
Personally, I am down in all three – and not very happy about it.