- Determining factors influencing happiness and well-being becomes increasingly important as politics solely based on the maximization of income/GDP miss the goal of
increasing well-being.
- This study utilizes data from the 2008 wave of the General Social Survey - a survey comprised of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions – to determine factors
that influence the probability of being happy.
- As expected, positive general factors are marriage, a high education and the per capita family income. However, only marriage has a high statistical significance.
- Negative determinants are unemployment, the number of hours worked per week, a
decrease in the family income and a perceived low relative income (compared to others).
- Being a parent, i.e. having at least one child has a negative effect. However, happiness is increasing with a rising number of children. It is important to note that the effects of
having children are very different among different groups of people: Children have a strong positive effect on married individuals and a low effect on divorced/separated and widowed ones. Being at least 21 years old when the first child is born increases the likelihood that children have a positive impact on happiness. Surprisingly, the effect of
children is positive if the children do not live with their parents or if the parents work a lot.
- Social comparison and adaption effects seem to play an important role.
Table of Contents
1 Executive summary
2 Introduction
2.1 Motivation
2.2 Defining Happiness
3 Current research on happiness – a literature review
3.1 Major determinants of happiness
3.2 Income
3.3 Marital status
3.4 Children
4 Data and Methods
5 Results
5.1 Interpretation of the basic model
5.2 The impact of family issues
5.3 Goodness of fit
6 Conclusion
Objectives & Core Themes
This study investigates the determinants of subjective well-being by analyzing the impacts of marital status and parenthood on individual happiness. Utilizing data from the 2008 General Social Survey, the research employs logistic econometric models to assess how various demographic and behavioral factors influence the probability of a person reporting high life satisfaction.
- Analysis of happiness determinants beyond simple income maximization.
- Evaluation of the "setpoint theory" and hedonic adaptation in relation to life events.
- Empirical assessment of how marriage and family structure correlate with happiness.
- Investigation of the influence of children on parental well-being across different demographic groups.
Excerpt from the Publication
3.3 Marital status
In most papers, being married entails a clearly positive effect on well-being while divorce has a negative impact (Davis, 1984; Burton, Armstrong and Rushing, 1993; Oswald, 2007; Argyle, 1989; Waite and Gallagher, 2000). Married people are, in general, less likely to have symptoms of mental illness or to commit suicide and they report a higher level of happiness (WILLIAMS, 1988). Blanchflower and Oswald (2004) even suggest a money equivalent of a lasting marriage of $100,000 a year. On the other hand, Gardner finds evidence for the setpoint theory, stating that five years after marriage average happiness has returned close to the initial level (Gardner and Oswald, 2006).
Easterlin finds happiness of women not currently married to be significantly below that of married women. However, there are further differences among the non-married individuals: those who never married are significantly happier than those with broken marriages, i.e. divorced or widowed individuals (Easterlin, 2003; Gardner and Oswald, 2006; PEIRO, 2006).
One might wonder whether the impact of marriage is merely a selection effect: Maybe people who get married already have a higher self-esteem and are more satisfied with their lives before getting married (KIM and McKENRY, 2002). Individuals getting divorced may be easily dissatisfied due to their personality. However, Easterlin could not find any significant happiness difference between divorced and widowed individuals. The fact that the widowed are unlikely to have been selected based on their personality implies that there is a correlation between happiness and marital status which is not due to selection (Easterlin, 2003).
Summary of Chapters
1 Executive summary: Provides a high-level overview of the study's findings regarding the determinants of happiness, specifically focusing on the roles of income, marriage, and parenthood.
2 Introduction: Discusses the motivation for shifting focus from GDP-based economics to subjective well-being and defines the concept of happiness as used in the study.
3 Current research on happiness – a literature review: Surveys existing theories, including social comparison and setpoint theory, and examines previous findings on income, marriage, and family.
4 Data and Methods: Details the dataset from the 2008 General Social Survey and the logistic regression models constructed to test the variables.
5 Results: Presents the statistical findings, including the interpretation of the basic model, the specific impact of family-related factors, and the goodness-of-fit metrics.
6 Conclusion: Synthesizes the results, acknowledges the limitations of the data, and offers suggestions for future research directions.
Keywords
Happiness, Well-being, Subjective well-being, Marital status, Children, Logistic regression, General Social Survey, Setpoint theory, Hedonic adaptation, Social comparison, Family income, Parenthood, Life satisfaction, Econometric analysis, Demographic factors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper examines the factors that influence human happiness, with a particular focus on the impact of family-related variables such as marital status and having children.
What are the primary thematic fields covered in this study?
The central themes include the economics of happiness, the impact of demographic and social factors, the validity of "setpoint theory," and the statistical analysis of life satisfaction.
What is the primary research objective?
The goal is to determine which social and economic factors contribute significantly to an individual's probability of being "very happy," moving beyond traditional metrics like GDP.
What scientific methodology is utilized to obtain the results?
The study utilizes a logistic econometric analysis (logit model) of data gathered from the 2008 wave of the U.S. General Social Survey.
What topics are discussed in the main body of the paper?
The main body covers a literature review of happiness research, a description of the dataset and methods, and an in-depth interpretation of regression models analyzing marriage, income, and children.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include happiness, well-being, marital status, parenthood, setpoint theory, hedonic adaptation, and logistic regression.
How does the age of parents affect the relationship between children and happiness?
The study found that children have a more positive impact on parental happiness if the parents were at least 21 years old when their first child was born, suggesting a correlation with maturity and readiness.
Why might divorce show a positive correlation with happiness in this specific dataset?
The author suggests that if a marriage was inherently unhappy, dissolution might lead to a rise in psychological well-being, although the data lacks information on how long the individuals had been separated.
What interaction between work hours and children did the research identify?
Interestingly, for individuals who work more than 55 hours a week, the likelihood of being very happy increases with every additional child, potentially due to those parents spending their limited time with children more consciously.
- Citation du texte
- Katharina Werner (Auteur), 2011, The impact of children and marital status on happiness , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/174226
