Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:42:00.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Measuring Subjective Wellbeing: Recommendations on Measures for use by National Governments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2012

PAUL DOLAN  and
ROBERT METCALFE
PAUL DOLAN
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE email: p.h.Dolan@lse.ac.uk
ROBERT METCALFE
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 4JD email: robert.metcalfe@merton.ox.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Governments around the world are now beginning to seriously consider the use of measures of subjective wellbeing (SWB) – ratings of thoughts and feelings about life – for monitoring progress and for informing and appraising public policy. The mental state account of wellbeing upon which SWB measures are based can provide useful additional information about who is doing well and badly in life when compared to that provided by the objective list and preference satisfaction accounts. It may be particularly useful when deciding how best to allocate scarce resources, where it is desirable to express the benefits of intervention in a single metric that can be compared to the costs of intervention. There are three main concepts of SWB in the literature – evaluation (life satisfaction), experience (momentary mood) and eudemonia (purpose) – and policy-makers should seek to measure all three, at least for the purposes of monitoring progress. There are some major challenges to the use of SWB measures. Two related and well-rehearsed issues are the effects of expectations and adaptation on ratings. The degree to which we should allow wellbeing to vary according to expectations and adaptation are vexing moral problems but information on SWB can highlight what difference allowing for these considerations would have in practice (e.g. in informing prioiritisation decisions), which can then be fed into the normative debate. There are also questions about precisely what attention should be drawn to in SWB questions and how to capture the ratings of those least inclined to take part in surveys, but these can be addressed through more widespread use of SWB. We also provide some concrete recommendations about precisely what questions should be asked in large-scale surveys, and these recommendations have been taken up by the Office of National Statistics in the UK and are being looked at closely by the OECD.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 409 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anand, P. and Van Hees, M. (2006), ‘Capabilities and achievements: an empirical study’, Journal of Socio-Economics, 35: 268–84.Google Scholar
Bentham, J. (1996/1789), An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Burns, J. H. and Hart, H. L. A. (eds.), Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Blanchflower, D. (2009), ‘International evidence on well-being’, in Krueger, A.B. (ed.), National Time Accounting and Subjective Well-Being, NBER and University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bok, D. C. (2010), The Politics of Happiness, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bowles, S. (1998), ‘Endogenous preferences: the cultural consequences of markets and other economic institutions’, Journal of Economic Literature, 36: 75–111.Google Scholar
Bradburn, N. M. (1969), The Structure of Psychological Well-Being, Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Bradford, D. and Dolan, P. (2010), ‘Getting used to it: the adaptive global utility model’, Journal of Health Economics, 29: 811–820.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burchardt, T. (2005), ‘Are one man's rags another man's richers? Identifying adaptive expectations using panel data’, Social Indicators Research, 74: 57–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, E., Haverstick, K. and Sass, S. A. (2007), ‘What makes retirees happier: a gradual or “cold turkey” retirement?’, WP Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, n.18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cantril, H. (1965), The Patterns of Human Concern, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, A. (2010), ‘Work, jobs and well-being across the millennium’, in Diener, E., Helliwell, J. and Kahneman, D. (eds.), International Differences in Well-Being, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, A., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y. and Lucas, R. (2004), ‘Unemployment alters the set-point for life satisfaction’, Psychological Science, 15: 8–13.Google Scholar
Clark, A. E. and Oswald, A. J. (1996), ‘Satisfaction and comparison income’, Journal of Public Economics, 61: 359–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. A. (2009), ‘Adaptation, poverty and well‐being: some issues and observations with special reference to the capability approach and development studies’, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 10: 21–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, A. and Lousada, J. (2005), Borderline Welfare: Feeling and the Fear of Feeling in Modern Welfare, London: Karnac.Google Scholar
Crafts, N. (2005), ‘The contribution of increased life expectancy to the growth of living standards in the UK, 1987–2001’, February, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Crisp, R. (2006), ‘Hedonism reconsidered’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 73: 619–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Hunter, J. (2003), ‘Happiness in everyday life: the uses of experience sampling’, Journal of Happiness Research, 4: 185–99.Google Scholar
Deci, E. L. and Ryan, R. M. (2008), ‘Hedonia, eudaimonia, and wellbeing: an introduction’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 9: 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, H. (2009), ‘Critiquing capabilities: the distractions of a beguiling concept’, Critical Social Policy, 29: 261–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, E. and Emmons, R. A. (1984), ‘The independence of positive and negative affect’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47: 1105–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E. and Scollon, C. N. (2006), ‘Beyond the hedonic treadmill: revising the adaptation theory of well-being’, American Psychologist, 61: 305–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diener, E., Ng, W., Harter, J. and Arora, R. (2010), ‘Wealth and happiness across the world: material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99: 52–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dolan, P. (2011), ‘Thinking about it: thoughts about health and valuing QALYs’, Health Economics, 20: 1407–1416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dolan, P., Fujiwara, D. and Metcalfe, R. (2011), ‘A step towards valuing utility the marginal and cardinal way’, LSE CEP Discussion Paper No. 1062, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Dolan, P. and Kahneman, D. (2008), ‘Interpretations of utility and their implications for the valuation of health’, Economic Journal, 118: 215–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, P., Lee, H. and Peasgood, T. (forthcoming), ‘Losing sight of the wood for the trees: some issues in describing and valuing health and another possible approach’, Pharmacoeconomics.Google Scholar
Dolan, P. and Metcalfe, R. (2008), ‘Comparing willingness-to-pay and subjective well-being in the context of non-market goods’, LSE CEP Discussion Paper No. 0890, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Dolan, P. and Metcalfe, R. (2010), ‘“Oops . . . I did it again”: repeated focusing effects in reports of happiness’, Journal of Economic Psychology, 31: 732–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, P. and Peasgood, T. (2008), ‘Measuring well-being for public policy: preferences or experiences?’, Journal of Legal Studies, 37: S5–S31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, P., Peasgood, T. and White, M. P. (2006), Review of Research on the Influences on Personal Wellbeing and Application to Policy, London: Defra.Google Scholar
Dolan, P., Peasgood, T. and White, M. P. (2008), ‘Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective wellbeing’, Journal of Economic Psychology, 29: 94–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, P. and White, M. P. (2007), ‘How can measures of subjective well-being be used to inform public policy?’, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2: 71–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donovan, N. and Halpern, D. (2002), Life Satisfaction: The State of Knowledge and Implications for Government, London: Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.Google Scholar
Duncan, G. (2005), ‘What do we mean by “happiness”? The relevance of subjective wellbeing to social policy’, Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 25: 16–31.Google Scholar
Edwards, C. and Imrie, R. (2008), ‘Disability and the implications of the wellbeing agenda: some reflections from the United Kingdom’, Journal of Social Policy, 37: 337–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elster, J. (1983), Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, R. (1978), ‘Job satisfaction as an economic variable’, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 68: 135–41.Google Scholar
Frey, B. and Stutzer, A. (2002), Happiness and Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Human Well-Being, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frick, J. R., Goebel, J., Schechtman, E., Wagner, G. G. and Yitzhaki, S. (2006), ‘Using Analysis of Gini (ANoGi) for detecting whether two sub-samples represent the same universe: the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) experience’, Sociological Methods and Research, 3: 427–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedli, L. and Parsonage, M. (2007), Mental Health Promotion: Building an Economic Case, Northern IrelandAssociation for Mental Health.Google Scholar
Fujita, F. and Diener, E. (2005), ‘Life satisfaction set point: stability and change’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88: 158–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, D. T., Pinel, E. C., Wilson, T. D., Blumberg, S. J. and Wheatley, T. (1998), ‘Immune neglect: a source of durability bias in affective forecasting’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75: 617–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, C. (2010), ‘The challenges of incorporating empowerment into the HDI: some lessons from happiness economics and quality of life research’, United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports Research Paper 2010/13.Google Scholar
Graham, C. and Pettinato, S. (2002), Happiness and Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies, Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Greener, I. and Powell, M. (2009), ‘The evolution of choice policies in UK Housing, education and health policy’, Journal of Social Policy, 38: 63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, J. (1986), Well-being: Its meaning, Measurement and Moral Importance, Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Gruber, J. and Mullainathan, S. (2005), ‘Do cigarette taxes make smokers happier?’, B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy. 5: article 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halpern, D. (2010), The Hidden Wealth of Nations, Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, J. C. (1997), ‘Utilities, preferences, and substantive goods’, Social Choice and Welfare, 14: 129–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hastings, D. A. (2009), ‘Filling gaps in the human development index: findings from Asia and the Pacific’, UNESCAP Working Paper 09/02.Google Scholar
Haybron, D. (2008), ‘Philosophy and the science of subjective well-being’, in Eid, M. and Larsen, R. J. (eds.), The Science of Subjective Well-Being, New York: Guilford Press, pp. 17–43.Google Scholar
Helliwell, J. (2008), ‘Life satisfaction and quality of development’, NBER Working Paper No. 14507.Google Scholar
Treasury, HM (2003), The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, London: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
Treasury, HM (2008), Developments in the Economics of Well-Being, Treasury Economic Working Paper 4, J. Lepper and S. McAndrew, London: HM Treasury.Google Scholar
Treasury, HM (2010), Budget 2010, London: HM Treasury.Google Scholar
Treasury, HM (2011), Valuation Techniques for Social Cost–Benefit Analysis: Stated Preference, Revealed Preference and Subjective Well-Being Approaches, A Discussion of the Current Issues, London: HM Treasury.Google Scholar
Huppert, F. A. (2009), ‘Psychological well-being: evidence regarding its causes and consequences’, Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 1: 137–64.Google Scholar
Huppert, F. A. and Whittington, J. E. (2003), ‘Evidence for the independence of positive and negative well-being: implications for quality of life assessment’, British Journal of Health Psychology, 8: 107–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurka, T. (1993), Perfectionism, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
IpsosMORI (2004), What Drives Satisfaction with Local Government? London: IpsosMORI.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. and Deaton, A. (2010), ‘Does money buy happiness or just a better life’, Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the Unite States of America, 107: 16489–16493.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. and Krueger, A. B. (2006), ‘Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20: 3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N. and Stone, A. A. (2004), ‘A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: the Day Reconstruction Method’, Science, 306: 1776–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kahneman, D. and Riis, J. (2005), ‘Living and thinking about it: two perspectives on life’, in Huppert, F., Baylis, N. and Kaverne, B. (eds.), The Science of Wellbeing: Integrating Neurobiology, Psychology, and Social Science, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. and Sugden, R. (2005), ‘Experienced utility as a standard of policy evaluation’, Environmental and Resource Economics, 32: 161–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, D. and Thaler, R. H. (2006), ‘Anomalies: utility maximization and experienced utility’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20: 221–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knabe, A., Ratzel, S., Schob, R. and Weimann, J. (2010), ‘Dissatisfied with life but having a good day: time-use and well-being of the unemployed’, Economic Journal, 120: 867–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, A., Kahneman, D., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N. and Stone, A. (2009), ‘National time accounting: the currency of life’, in A. Krueger: Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations: National Accounts of Time Use and Well-Being, NBER.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Layard, R. (2005), Happiness – Lessons from a New Science, London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Layard, R., Mayraz, G. and Nickell, S. (2010), ‘Does relative income matter? Are the critics right?’, in Diener, E, Helliwell, J. and Kahneman, D., International Differences in Well-Being, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lucas, R. E. (2005), ‘Time does not heal all wounds: a longitudinal study of reaction and adaptation to divorce’, Psychological Science, 16: 945–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y. and Diener, E. (2003), ‘Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: reactions to changes in marital status’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84: 527–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luechinger, S. (2009), ‘Valuing air quality using the life satisfaction approach’, Economic Journal, 119: 482–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luechinger, S. and Raschky, P. A. (2009), ‘Valuing flood disasters using the life satisfaction approach’, Journal of Public Economics, 93: 620–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luttmer, E. F. P. (2005), ‘Neighbors as negatives: relative earnings and well-being’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120: 963–1002.Google Scholar
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. and Diener, E. (2005), ‘The benefits of frequent positive affect: does happiness lead to success?’, Psychological Bulletin, 131: 803–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Metcalfe, R., Powdthavee, N. and Dolan, P. (2011), ‘Destruction and distress: using a quasi-experiment to show the effects of the September 11 attacks on subjective well-being in the UK’, Economic Journal, 121: F81–F103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NICE (2008), Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal, London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.Google Scholar
ONS (2000), ‘Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households 2000’, main report, Office of National Statistics.Google Scholar
ONS (2007), Social trends, Office of National Statistics.Google Scholar
Parfit, D. (1984), Reasons and Persons, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Peasgood, T. (2008), ‘Measuring well-being for public policy’, Ph.D. thesis, Imperial College, London.Google Scholar
Ryan, R. and Sapp, A. (2007), ‘Basic psychological needs: a self-determination theory perspective on the promotion of wellness across development and cultures’, in Gough, I. and McGregor, A., Wellbeing in Developing Countries: From Theory to Research, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ryff, C. D. (1989), ‘Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57: 1069–108CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryff, C. D. and Keyes, C. L. (1995), ‘The structure of psychological well-being revisited’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69: 719–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwarz, N., Strack, F., Kommer, D. and Wagner, D. (1987), ‘Soccer, rooms and the quality of your life: mood effects on judgments of satisfaction with life in general and with specific life-domains’, European Journal of Social Psychology, 17: 69–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, A. K. (1985), Commodities and Capabilities, Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Sen, A. (1999), Development as Freedom, New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Shogren, J. F., Shin, S. Y., Hayes, D. J. and Kliebenstein, J. B. (1994), ‘Resolving differences in willingness to pay and willingness to accept’, American Economic Review, 84: 255–70.Google Scholar
Smallwood, J. and Schooler, J. W. (2006), ‘The restless mind’, Psychological Bulletin, 132: 946–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Srinivasan, T. N. (1994), ‘Human development: a new paradigm or reinvention of the wheel?’, American Economic Review, 84: 238–43.Google Scholar
Stevenson, B. and Wolfers, J. (2008), ‘Economic growth and happiness: reassessing the easterlin paradox’, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A. and Fitoussi, J. P. (2009), Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, OECD.Google Scholar
Stone, A. A. and Shiffman, S. (2002), ‘Capturing momentary, self-report data: a proposal for reporting guidelines’, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24: 236–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, A. A., Shiffman, S. S. and DeVries, M. W. (1999), ‘Ecological momentary assessment’, in Kahneman, D., Diener, E. and Schwarz, N. (eds.), Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology, New York: Russell-Sage, pp. 26–39.Google Scholar
Sumner, L. W. (1996), Welfare, Happiness and Ethics, Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, D. (2011), ‘Being well and doing well (enough): towards a psychosocial study of wellbeing and welfare’, Journal of Social Policy, 40: 777–794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor-Gooby, P. (2008), ‘Choice and values: individualised rational action and social goals’, Journal of Social Policy, 37: 167–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNDP (1990), Human Development Report 1990, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
van Praag, B. M. S., Frijters, P. and Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2003), ‘The anatomy of subjective well-being’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 51: 29–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Praag, B. M. S. and Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2004), Happiness Quantified: A Satisfaction Calculus Approach, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, S. (2010), Measuring Subjective Wellbeing in the UK, ONS Report 2010.Google Scholar
Watkins, E. (2008), ‘Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought’, Psychological Bulletin, 134: 163–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, D., Clark, L. A. and Tellegen, A. (1988), ‘Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scale’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54: 1063–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, N. and Wooden, M. (2004), ‘Sample attrition in the HILDA Survey’, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 7: 293–308.Google Scholar
White, M. and Dolan, P. (2009), ‘Accounting for the richness of daily activities’, Psychological Science, 20: 1000–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, T. D., Lisle, D. J., Schooler, G. D., Hodges, S. D., Klaaren, K. J. and LaFleur, S. J. (1993), ‘Introspecting about reasons can reduce post-choice satisfaction’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19: 331–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar