Methods
"Happiness" encompasses many different emotional and mental phenomena (see below). One method of assessment is Ed Diener's Satisfaction with Life Scale. This 5-question survey corresponds well with impressions from friends and family, and low incidences of depression.
Rather than long-term, big picture appraisals, some methods attempt to identify the amount of positive affect from one activity to the next. Some scientists use beepers to remind volunteers to write down the details of their current situation. Alternatively, volunteers complete detailed diary entries each morning about the day before. An interesting discrepancy arises when researchers compare the results of these short-term "experience sampling" methods, with long-term appraisals. Namely, the latter may not be very accurate; people may not know what makes their life pleasant from one moment to the next. For instance, parents' appraisals mention their children as sources of pleasure, and yet 'experience sampling' indicates that they were not enjoying caring for their children compared to other activities.
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains this discrepancy by differentiating between happiness according to the 'Experiencing Self' compared to the 'Remembering Self'. Kahneman explains that, when we are asked to reflect on experiences, memory biases like the Peak-End effect (e.g. we mostly remember the dramatic parts of a vacation, and how it was at the end) play a large role. One of his more striking findings was in a study of colonoscopy patients. By adding 60 seconds to this invasive procedure, Kahneman actually got participants to report the colonoscopy as more pleasant. He accomplished this by making sure that, for the extra 60 seconds, the colonoscopy instrument was not moved, since movement is the source of the most discomfort. Thus, Kahneman was appealing to the Remembering Self's tendency to focus on the end of the experience. Such findings help explain human error in Affective forecasting - people's ability to predict their future emotional states.
Michael Argyle developed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire as a broad measure of psychological well-being. This has been criticized as an aggregate of self-esteem, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness, sense of humor and aesthetic appreciation.
Read more about this topic: Positive Psychology
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