How can you tell if you’re really happy? What makes other people happy? Are these empirical questions that can be answered? In this episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts continues his exploration of happiness studies with psychologist Emiliana Simon-Thomas of UC Berkeley. From our many previous episodes on happiness, we know that many disciplines have tried and are trying to conceptualize and measure the idea of subjective well-being. Are such efforts prey to to the dangers of Hayek’s scientism?
Simon-Thomas defines happiness as “a broader quality of life,” and cites such consequences as longevity, greater professional and academic success, and decreased risk of cardio-vascular disease. She also mentions other studies which purport to determine whether you will be happy long-term on the basis of your yearbook photo… (And no, I will not share mine!) You can share your yearbook photo if you like, but of course what we’re most interested in are your further thoughts on this episode. We look forward to hearing your comments on our prompts below:
1- Roberts kicks off the conversation by asking Simon-Thomas whether you can really get happier? How does she respond? What are the three components of happiness, according to Simon-Thomas, and how pliable do you think each component is each?
2- How much of happiness is a result of your genetics versus your adjustability? What does Simon-Thomas mean when she says, “life circumstance factors explain about 10% of the [happiness] variance between one person and the person next to them…And the other 40% of the variance in happiness is explained by daily activities.” How might YOU alter your daily activities in pursuit of greater happiness?
3- What does Simon-Thomas say is the argument for inculcating conscience in children on secular grounds? (Recall the story of the dropped wallet in this recent Munger episode.) How would you answer this question differently?
4- What is the role of marriage and parenting in creating happiness, according to Simon-Thomas? To what extent do you think this is universally true? What are other life circumstances that can offer the same benefits?
5- Why is gratitude important to happiness, and to what extent is it a skill you can practice and get better at? Can you offer any examples of such a successful practice from your own life?
READER COMMENTS
John Alcorn
Apr 21 2021 at 9:38am
Thx for the latest set of stimulating questions.
1. The 3 kinds of happiness are: appreciation of a moment, satisfaction with one’s trajectory, and pride in doing one’s part in society.
Can one take steps to become happier? On the one hand, personality is destiny. On the other hand, bootstrapping is a real thing. We wrestle with this tension in human nature. I suppose that the examined life sometimes improves subjective well-being, but that taking care to check one’s self-centeredness is a surer path.
I believe that hedonic adaptation in a great challenge for modern normative psychology and economics. The evidence seems to be that more (material wealth) isn’t really more (subjective well-being), once basic needs and decent living standards are achieved.
2. Robert Plomin (author of Blueprint) makes a strong empirical case that natural endowments play the larger role. Assortative mating and partial heritability of natural endowments reinforce and amplify inequality in natural endowments.
I take a long ramble at dawn with my beloved pup, at the local public golf course, before the golfers arrive. (The groundskeepers appreciate that the neighborhood dogs help to scatter geese who would fowl the course.) I admire the landscape, behold my pup run like the wind, and gather my thoughts for the work day ahead. A mindful ramble at dawn seems to make a difference.
3. Leon Kass (EconTalk a few weeks ago) discussed Aristotle’s concept of hexis (inculcation of good habits). Again, there is a tension between education and personality (natural endowments).
I wonder if something has been lost in informal education in the past generation. I have noticed that students don’t know traditional proverbs and sayings anymore:
A stitch in time saves nine. Haste makes waste.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Out of sight, out of mind.
Notice that proverbs often come in contrary pairs. To know the universe of contrary proverbs, and to learn their application across diverse situations, is a pragmatic tradition of inculcation of hexis and social wisdom.
Off to work now. I will come back to your questions (4) and (5).
John Alcorn
Apr 21 2021 at 5:17pm
4. Successful marriage & parenting require love and commitment, which greatly improve life and the world. Commitment to a marriage enables spouses to make credible joint investments (in the broadest sense) in each other and in children. Commitment to a marriage also enables a division of labor in the household; for example, by establishing financial trust for a spouse who stays home to care for the children. And love feels like happiness, no?
Parenting is humbling. And most of us deserve, and indeed need, to be humbled from time to time, no?
I suppose that there are many paths, other than family, to attain happiness with one’s trajectory and pride in one’s contribution to society. Artists, scientists, religious leaders, soldiers, medical personnel, judges, teachers, athletes, entrepreneurs enjoy particular respect, admiration, or gratitude. But anyone can take pride in a job well done. A healthy society has myriad ways to shine — many dimensions of status. A procrustean society focusses narrowly on too few dimensions of status; say, wealth, or power, or intelligence. ‘Keeping score’ then dominates social interactions and comparisons. By contrast, individual responsibility, resilience in adversity — and acknowledgment of the same in others — are sound foundations of subjective well-being. My mother says most persons are the walking wounded. Few people really lead a charmed life.
5. The question about gratitude reminds me of a saying, which one doesn’t hear much anymore: Count your blessings. Wisdom!
A psychological paradox of considerable social consequence:
People who are grateful are more likely (a) to succeed, in the broadest sense of success; and (b) to underestimate their own merit because they are psychologically disposed to attribute their success to their parents, teachers, coaches, friends. People who are grateful naturally disagree implicitly with Robert Plomin.
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