"Self reports of happiness correspond closely to other, more objective, correlates of wellbeing. People who say they’re happy or who are revealed as happy by various other survey measures are also more likely to be rated as happy by their friends; more likely to initiate social contacts with friends; more likely to respond positively to requests for help; less likely to suffer from psychosomatic illnesses, such as digestive disorders, headaches, and vascular stress; less likely to be absent from work; and less likely to get involved in disputes at work. They are also less likely to attempt suicide—the ultimate behavioral measure of unhappiness. Frey and Stutzer survey numerous careful studies suggesting that the various happiness measures employed by psychologists are consistent, valid, and reliable. Human happiness, in brief, appears to be a real phenomenon that we can measure. And while it may not correspond exactly to the economist’s conception of utility, it seems to capture something very similar to it. The availability of good measures of happiness has permitted analysts to test many of the standard predictions of the neoclassical economic model of consumer behavior. Conventional models predict, for example, that if a person’s income were held constant, he would experience a gain in utility in the transition from employment to unemployment, because he would experience a substantial increase in leisure in the process. Yet, as Frey and Stutzer report, a consistent finding in the happiness literature is that becoming unemployed produces significant reductions in happiness, even when purchasing power is maintained at its former level. Being unemployed is in fact one of the most powerful predictors of extreme unhappiness yet uncovered in the happiness literature. Economists might reasonably counter that the apparent contradiction could be resolved by expanding the traditional utility function to include additional arguments, such as self-esteem or social engagement. Fair enough. Yet the fact remains that conventional models portray additional hours spent at work as having an unambiguously negative impact on utility. And as Frey and Stutzer emphasize, this portrayal is seriously misleading."
quarta-feira, 18 de julho de 2007
A Ciencia da Felicidade 3
"Self reports of happiness correspond closely to other, more objective, correlates of wellbeing. People who say they’re happy or who are revealed as happy by various other survey measures are also more likely to be rated as happy by their friends; more likely to initiate social contacts with friends; more likely to respond positively to requests for help; less likely to suffer from psychosomatic illnesses, such as digestive disorders, headaches, and vascular stress; less likely to be absent from work; and less likely to get involved in disputes at work. They are also less likely to attempt suicide—the ultimate behavioral measure of unhappiness. Frey and Stutzer survey numerous careful studies suggesting that the various happiness measures employed by psychologists are consistent, valid, and reliable. Human happiness, in brief, appears to be a real phenomenon that we can measure. And while it may not correspond exactly to the economist’s conception of utility, it seems to capture something very similar to it. The availability of good measures of happiness has permitted analysts to test many of the standard predictions of the neoclassical economic model of consumer behavior. Conventional models predict, for example, that if a person’s income were held constant, he would experience a gain in utility in the transition from employment to unemployment, because he would experience a substantial increase in leisure in the process. Yet, as Frey and Stutzer report, a consistent finding in the happiness literature is that becoming unemployed produces significant reductions in happiness, even when purchasing power is maintained at its former level. Being unemployed is in fact one of the most powerful predictors of extreme unhappiness yet uncovered in the happiness literature. Economists might reasonably counter that the apparent contradiction could be resolved by expanding the traditional utility function to include additional arguments, such as self-esteem or social engagement. Fair enough. Yet the fact remains that conventional models portray additional hours spent at work as having an unambiguously negative impact on utility. And as Frey and Stutzer emphasize, this portrayal is seriously misleading."
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