Evaluation

• How is data collected from self report methods about Subjective Well-Being (SWB)subjective?

  When someone confirms the state f their happiness, there is no way of affirming or challenging it.
• What could this mean?

  Individuals may be lying
• What can happen on a questionnaire?

  People may provide socially desirable answers in order to avoid judgement- they may overrepresent how happy they are
• What has research found?


  Social desirability scores correlate reasonably with happiness scores- even from happy people
• What contradicts this?

  When friends were asked to rate the happiness of their friends, the results correlated with the original answer- thus confirming it.
• What explains anther possibility?

  The psychodynamic approach.
• What does it say?

  People may think their happy because their true feelings are repressed into the unconscious.
• Why is this theory doubted?

  Research has showed that scores correlate scores f happiness made by other people (family and friends) on the same person
• What is the issue with using correlational data?

  There is no clarity in defining what causes happiness.
• Why is this?

  Intervening variables.
• What is an example?

  The lin between happiness and marriage- happiness levels could be increased due to more disposable incomes (2 incomes per 1 household)
• What is another reason?

  No clear cause and effect.
• What has research shown?

  That married people make more appealing partners
• What could this mean?

  That happiness makes people more likely to marry than marriage itself making people happy.
• Why could there be a sample bias?


  Due to a lot of data being based on Western samples
• Furthermore...

  The researchers are American and conducted a lot of their research in America
• Why is this significant?

  Because the roots of happiness can be different in other cultures.
• What is an example?

  Individualistic cultures seem to be happier than collectivist but it could be that the latter culture as happy or happier but choose to express it in different ways
• Where could their pleasure derive from?

  The success of the group than individual happiness