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The Definition and Measurement of Well-Being

The Definition and Measurement of Well-Being. Ulrich Schimmack University of Toronto Mississauga. CIFAR, October 1, 2010, Toronto.

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The Definition and Measurement of Well-Being

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  1. The Definition andMeasurement of Well-Being Ulrich SchimmackUniversity of Toronto Mississauga CIFAR, October 1, 2010, Toronto

  2. Well-Being, Welfare, Good Life, Happiness, Subjective Well-Being, Psychological Well-Being, Authentic Happiness, True Happiness, Utility, Pleasure-Pain Balance, The Greatest Good, The ultimate motive, Meaning of Life, Optimal Functioning, Health

  3. Well-Being DefinitionAn evaluation of a life.Evaluations require a criterion. - Actual-ideal discrepancy. What is the criterion for life evaluations?

  4. Well-Being Prototype An individual with high well being … % A A. is rich B. is poor 96% A. is healthy B. is ill 98% A. is free B. is unfree 98% A. is safe B. is threatened 96% feels happy B. feels unhappy 99% Responses by UTM psychology students taking PSY324 “Well-Being” course.

  5. Scientific definition should be consistent with prototype. Problems of prototype definition: - unrealistic goal to maximize everything - neglects other aspects that vary across people - does not provide a standard for quantitative measure of well-being - rich & unhealthy vs. poor & healthy

  6. Classical Definitions of Well-Being • Taxonomy of Definitions • Where do the criteria come from? - Objective - Outside - Same for all - “The ideal life” • Subjective - Inside - Vary across individuals - “My ideal life”

  7. Objective Definition I:- Aristotle’s Eudaimonia • Well-being is well-functioning • Functions provide objective evaluation criteria (car, organs) • But, what is the function of a life? [42] • Not a definition of well-being because there is no objective function of lives.

  8. Objective Definition II: Hedonism • "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure" (Bentham) • Objective - assumes the same criterion for everybody • Problem: - Treats all pleasant experiences as equal. - Ignores other aspects of human lives. - Can be influenced by illusions.

  9. Nozick’s Experience Machine What would you choose: Your real life 78% Your brain is hocked up to 22%a compute that simulates your ideal life and you don’t know that it is a simulation.

  10. Subjective Definition I:Desire Fulfillment • Desires are subjective • Desires imply low well-being • Increase well-being - fulfill all desires (market economy) - get rid of desires (Buddhism)

  11. Problem: • Desires are future-directed. • Retrospective evaluations can differ from anticipated evaluations (disappointment, regret, pleasant surprises). • “be careful what you wish for”

  12. Subjective Definition II: - Well-being as a retrospective evaluation. • - Individuals have ideals, preferences, values - do not disappear when matched • Ideals can be used to evaluate actual lives. • Cantril (1965) 0 = worst possible life (self-defined) 10 = best possible life (self-defined)

  13. Problem I: Illusions - Happiness/Self-Evaluation - Mental State - Can be influenced by illusions even if ideals assume accurate beliefs. - Preference Realization - Not a mental state - Illusions increase well-being only if people prefer illusions over reality

  14. Nozick’s Virtual Vacation A. Spend reading week living your real life. 48% B. Spend reading week in an experience 52%machine that simulates your ideal life and makes you forget that it was a simulation.

  15. Problem II: Inauthentic Preferences • Where do individuals’ ideals come from? • Culture may teach some people to want too much or too little - too little: cast system in India - too much: advertising • Preferences should be the result of free choice

  16. Correlations among Self-Report Measures of Well-Being in the SOEP Schimmack (2009)

  17. Are all Domains Equal? • Only modest agreement between direct ratings of importance and indirect evidence (regression) • Some domains are not important (weather) • some domains are important (health, family) • Zou & Schimmack (2010)

  18. Do People Not Care About Housing? Nakazato, Schimmack, & Oishi (2010)

  19. Self-Informant Agreement • Average correlation ~ .4 • Has not increased since first study in 1934 • higher agreement for domain satisfaction than for global judgments • agreement is explained by important life domains (health, family, academics, recreation) • Schneider & Schimmack (2009, 2010)

  20. Self-Informant Agreement • Cultural differences in self-ratings • Mediated by positive illusions • Not replicated with informant ratings • Important to use multiple raters. • Kim, Schimmack, & Oishi (2010)

  21. Final Conclusion • - Well-being is a life that matches individuals’ subjective ideals (preference-realization). • Cognitive and affective measures are partially valid indicators of well-being. • No evidence that one indicator is better than another. • Increasing the validity of measures is essential for progress in well-being science.

  22. The End WB Science Today The Future

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