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Full-Text Articles in Social Psychology
Happiness Around The World: The Paradox Of Happy Peasants And Miserable Millionaires, Carol Graham
Happiness Around The World: The Paradox Of Happy Peasants And Miserable Millionaires, Carol Graham
Brookings Scholar Lecture Series
For centuries the pursuit of happiness was the preserve of philosophers. More recently there is a burgeoning interest in the study of happiness in the social sciences. Can we really answer the question what makes people happy? Is it grounded in credible methods and data? Is there consistency in the determinants of happiness across countries and cultures? Are happiness levels innate to individuals or can policy and the environment make a difference? How is happiness affected by poverty and by progress? This presentation introduces a line of research which is both an attempt to understand the determinants of happiness and …
Introducing A "Different Lives" Approach To The Valuation Of Health And Well-Being, Matthew D. Adler, Paul Dolan
Introducing A "Different Lives" Approach To The Valuation Of Health And Well-Being, Matthew D. Adler, Paul Dolan
All Faculty Scholarship
We introduce a new “different lives” survey format, which asks respondents to rank hypothetical lives described in terms of longevity, health, happiness, income, and other elements of the quality of life. In this short paper, we show that the format is of policy relevance whether a mental state, preference satisfaction or extra-welfarist account of well-being is adopted and discuss some of the advantages the format has over standard formats, such as contingent valuation surveys and QALY-type methods. An exploratory survey indicates that the format is feasible and that health and happiness might be more important than income and life expectancy.