Conditions of Happiness
This book is about the degree to which people take pleasure in life: in short 'happiness'. It tries to identify conditions that favor a positive appreciation of life. Thus it hopes to shed more light on a longstanding and intriguing ques tion and, possib
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CONDITIONS OF HAPPINESS
RUUT VEENHOVEN Erasmus University Rotterdam, Department of Sociology
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER •
ACADEMIC PUBUSHERS GROUP
DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LANCASTER
library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Veenhoven, R. Conditions of Happiness. Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Happiness. 1. Title. BJ1481.v44 1984 152.4 ISBN-l3: 978-94-009-6434-1 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-6432-7
84-8300
e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6432-7
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Boston Academic Publishers, 190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland 2-1189-100 ts First published 1984 Reprinted 1989
All Rights Reserved © 1984 by D. Reidel Publishing Company
Solkover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1984
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
Chapter 2 THE CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS
iv 1
12
2/1 The various meanings of the word happiness 2/2 Happiness defined 2/3 Components of happiness
13 22
2/4 Adjacent concepts 2/5 Synonyms of happiness 2/6 Summary
32 36
Chapter 3 CAN HAPPINESS BE MEASURED?
3/1 Validity problems 3/2 Reliability problems 3/3 Problems of comparison 3/4 Summary
Chapter 4 INDICATORS OF HAPPINESS 4/1 Indicators of overall happiness 4/1.1 Direct questions 4/1.2 Indirect questions 4/1.3 Ratings by others 4/2 fudicators of hedonic level of affect
25
38 39
40
55
58 62
64
65 65 77 83 84
vi
4/3 4/4 4/5
4/6
4/2.1 Direct questions 4/2.2 Indirect questions 4/2.3 Ratings by others Indicators of contentment Composites Do the three kinds of indicators tap different phenomena? Summary
Chapter 5 GATHERING THE AVAILABLE DATA
5/1 Searching empirical happiness studies S/2 S/3 S/4 SIS
The studies found Presenting the fmdings limitations of the data Summary
Chapter 6 HAPPINESS AND LIVING CONDmONS
6/1 Happiness and society 6/1.1 Economic conditions 6/1.2 Political conditions 6/1.3 Peace and war 6/1.4 Some regional differences in happiness 6/2 Happiness and one's place in society 6/2.1 Gender 6/2.2 Age-differences 6/2.3 Minority status 6/2.4 Income 6/2.5 Education 6/2.6 Occupational prestige 6/2.7 Global social rank 6/3 Happiness and work 6/3.1 Having ajob or not 6/3.2 Occupation 6/3.3 Voluntary work
85 91
95 97 101 106 113 115 11S 119 123
133 139
141 142
147 159 170 172 177 177 182
187
192
198 205 208 21S 215 225 229
vii 6/4 Happiness and intimate ties 6/4.1 Marriage 6/4.2 Children 6/4.3 Friends and relatives 6/5 Summary Chapter 7 HAPPINESS AND INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS 7/1 Happiness and personal resources 7/1.1 Physical health 7/1.2 Gener
