Sheldon / Lucas Stability of Happiness

Theories and Evidence on Whether Happiness Can Change
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-0-12-410538-6
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 334 Seiten

The right to 'pursue happiness' is one of the dominant themes of western culture, and understanding the causes of happiness is one of the primary goals of the positive psychology movement. However, before the causality question can even be considered, a more basic question must be addressed: CAN happiness change? Reasons for skepticism include the notion of a 'genetic set point' for happiness, i.e. a stable personal baseline of happiness to which individuals will always return, no matter how much their lives change for the better; the life-span stability of happiness-related traits such as neuroticism and extraversion; and the powerful processes of hedonic adaptation, which erode the positive effects of any fortuitous life change. This book investigates prominent theories on happiness with the research evidence to discuss when and how happiness changes and for how long. - Identifies all major theories of happiness - Reviews empirical results on happiness longevity/stability - Discusses mitigating factors in what influences happiness longevity

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sheldon, Kennon M

Lucas, Richard E.

Leseproben

Chapter 2 Well-Being
Heritable and Changeable
Espen Røysamb1, Ragnhild Bang Nes2 and Joar Vittersø3,    1University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway,    2Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway,    3University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway Well-being has been found to be heritable and changeable. How do these pieces of evidence fit together? Intuitively, models of change and models of genetic influences may seem contradictory and paradoxical. In this chapter, we aim to unite these findings into an integrated understanding of human happiness. We start out by briefly reviewing some of the current evidence of temporary and lasting change in well-being from different strands of research. Second, we present the main methods of contemporary genetically informative studies and review key findings from this research on well-being. The concept of heritability is thoroughly discussed and central misunderstandings, criticism, and caveats of genetically informative studies addressed. Finally, we present some thoughts toward an integrative model of genes, environment, stability, and change. Genetics is highly likely to facilitate development of increasingly successful tailored interventions, and we propose a notion of positive gene-environment interplay as one path toward increased and sustained happiness. Keywords
Well-being; twins; heritability; genetic; change; environment Introduction
Research on human happiness and well-being has flourished in recent years, and several subfields within the domain have emerged. One area of research has focused on the stability and change of well-being. Longitudinal and intervention-based studies provide evidence of the plasticity of well-being and the potential of increasing happiness (Dyrdal, Røysamb, Nes, & Vittersø, 2011; Lucas, 2007; Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013; Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2012). Another line of research has examined genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in well-being using quantitative and molecular genetic techniques. The collective findings from these studies indicate both genetic and environmental influences on most well-being measures (Bartels & Boomsma, 2009; Lykken & Tellegen, 1996; Nes, Røysamb, Tambs, Harris, & Reichborn-Kjennerud, 2006; Røysamb, Tambs, Reichborn-Kjennerud, Neale, & Harris, 2003). Are these findings on changeability and heritability mutually contradictory and paradoxical? Does recognition of genetic influences on happiness preclude optimism regarding change potentials? Based on the current evidence, we argue that well-being is both heritable and changeable. Our aim in this chapter is first to review some of the exciting evidence of both changeability and genetic influences. Second, we discuss the concept of heritability along with criticism and caveats of behavior genetic findings. Finally, we present an integrative framework of well-being and change processes, and propose the concept of positive gene-environment interplay as a path to increased happiness. Well-being is a broad term, typically referring to a general idea of goodness in life or what it means to live well (Crisp, 2005). To operationalize well-being for research purposes, researchers have proposed a number of more specific constructs, including subjective well-being (SWB), psychological well-being (PWB), mental well-being (MWB), emotional well-being (EWB), life satisfaction (LS), and emotional happiness (David, Boniwell, & Conley Ayers, 2013; Vittersø & Soholt, 2011). These constructs refer to partly overlapping and partly different phenomena, in the sense that they reflect some common and some unique variance (Chen, Jing, Hayes, & Lee, 2012). Thus, in the present chapter, we sometimes debate these subconstructs specifically, whereas we generally refer to well-being, and—in this context—its synonym happiness, in a broad sense. Can Happiness Change?
The unequivocal answer to this question is positive. Happiness can change, and happiness does change—during a single day and during a lifetime. Nevertheless, several questions pertaining to change are important to consider. How much can happiness change? Are changes in happiness short-term or lasting? Does happiness fluctuate around given set points? How do genetic and environmental factors contribute to stability and change? There is a wealth of evidence supporting the notion of well-being as changing and changeable (Headey, Muffels, & Wagner, 2010; Lucas, 2007; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005). This volume contains reports from key researchers in the field, providing various types of compelling evidence for the dynamic nature of well-being. Thus, we primarily refer to other parts of this book for theories and studies of the changeability of happiness. Here, we briefly summarize overall findings from partly separate fields of inquiry, including longitudinal studies, intervention studies, natural quasi-experiments, national comparison studies, and clinical psychology/psychotherapy research. Longitudinal studies of well-being typically report moderate stability (Dyrdal et al., 2011; Eid & Diener, 2004; Lucas & Diener, 2008; Lucas & Donnellan, 2007; Nes et al., 2006). Although cross-time correlations for well-being vary depending on the given measure, sample and timespan, they rarely exceed 0.6 and rarely drop below 0.3 (Diener, Inglehart, & Tay, 2013). A time1–time2 correlation of around 0.5 suggests that at any given time point, 50% of the variance is accounted for by a stability factor with the remaining 50% representing change or time-specific variation. Longer timespans typically yield lower stability than shorter timespans, and long-term change is therefore substantial. Knowing a person’s well-being level today thus provides some, yet only some, basis for predicting the same person’s well-being in 10 years’ time. Happiness intervention studies have been crucial in testifying to human change potentials and in identifying effective factors for generating increased well-being (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2012), as also evidenced by recent meta-analyses (Bolier et al., 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). Interventions such as gratitude exercises, cultivation of optimism, and use of character strengths represent novel strategies that have been shown to affect the happiness level of participants—and also contribute to more than temporary change. Although it is rarely feasible to adhere fully to the experimental ideal of double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in this field, the evidence converges on a substantial benefit of several intervention strategies. Of note, interventions appear to differ in their effectiveness (Seligman et al., 2005), indicating that the changes recorded do not mainly reflect a general training effect. With some interventions found particularly effective, and others not, more credibility is established for specific intervention strategies, and further understanding of their potent change mechanisms is likely to result from such studies. Natural quasi-experiments represent another set of relevant studies for examining stability and change in well-being over time. Both positive (e.g., lottery winning, marriage) and negative life events (e.g., accidents, divorce, unemployment) are associated with temporary, and, to some extent lasting, changes in well-being (Diener, Lucas, & Scollon, 2006; Lucas, 2007; Luhmann, Hofmann, Eid, & Lucas, 2012). Because exposures to life events are not random in the population (Kendler & Karkowski-Shuman, 1997), evidence of causality is not entirely conclusive. Yet, recent studies have shown a nuanced picture of short- and long-term changes following various life events. One promising design for this research field can be found in co-twin control studies. By studying well-being in identical (monozygotic) twins discordant for a certain exposure (e.g., life event), one is able to approach a randomized matched-pair design and generate evidence of causal effects. For example, in a co-twin control study of SWB and longevity, Sadler and colleagues found environmental exposures, rather than genes, to account for the increased longevity associated with high well-being (Sadler, Miller, McGue, & Christensen, 2009). National differences in well-being also provide evidence for the changeability of well-being. There is substantial variation in mean level well-being across different countries (Diener, Tay, & Oishi, 2013; Veenhoven, 2009), even between neighboring countries with similar populations. This suggests a change potential in most countries. Because national and individual differences might be explained by partly different factors, research into the predictors of national differences is crucial to understand the role of governance, economy, health care, and culture in generating well-being. Although national differences typically are smaller than individual differences within nations (Diener, Helliwell, & Kahneman, 2010; Vittersø, Røysamb, & Diener, 2002), the notion of lifting an entire nation by only a fraction of a standard...