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Studies

Sears & Barbee (1977): study US 1921

Publication

Author(s):
Sears, P.S.; Barbee, A.H.
Title:
Career and Life Satisfactions among Terman's Gifted Women.
Source:
Stanley, J.C.;George, W.C.;Eds.:"The Gifted and the Creative", J.Hopkins University Press, 1977, Baltimore, USA, 28 - 72

Investigation

Public
Gifted women (IQ >135), followed 50 years, California, USA, 1921-72
Sample
Non-probability purposive sample
Respondents
N = 671
Non Response
Attrition in 1972: 25%
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Repeated interviews and questionaires

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on 2 questions:         

A. "How important was each of the following goals in life in the plans you  made for yourself in early adulthood?"
-  occupational success
-  family life
-  friendships
-  richness of cultural life
-  total service to society.
1 less important to me than to most people
2
3
4
5  of prime importance to me

B. "How successful have you been in the  pursuit of these goals?"
1  little satisfaction in this area
2
3
4
5  had excellent fortune in this respect

Computation: General Satisfaction 5 is the quotient obtained by multiplying the planned goal (early adulthood) by the reported success in attaining that goal, adding the five of these multiplied areas and dividing them by the sum of the planned goals for each of the areas.

                Pa.Sa + Pb.Sb + Pc.Sc + Pd.Sd + Pe.Se
                -----------------------------------------------------------------
                            Pa + Pb + Pc + Pd + Pe
   Pa = planned goal a (1-5)
   Sa = success goal a (1-5)
Classification:
C-ASG-h-mq-v-5-a
Author's label:
General Satisfaction 5
Full text:
Self report on single question: following enumeration of lifegoals in six areas, the last of which was 'joy in living'

" How successful have you been in pursuit of that goal.....?"
(joy in living)
5  had excellent fortune in this respect
4
3
2
1  found little satisfaction in this area
Classification:
M-PL-h-sq-v-5-b
Author's label:
Joy in Living Satisfaction

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Age Age difference among elderly Married status vs not married Married state (compared to non-married states) Number of children Number of children Current employment state Full-time home maker Satisfaction with career pattern (lifestyle work pattern) Attitudes to earlier life-goals
Satisfaction with career
Satisfaction with earlier life style
Earlier occupation level Earlier occupation
Earlier socio-economic status
Feelings about work Earlier satisfaction with work Income Household income Retrospective importance of life- goals Object of earlier goals Volunteer work Earlier organizational participation
Earlier amount of organizational participation
General health Global health self-rating Energy and vitality Vigorous Exact interest Development of interests
Earlier attitudes to school
Consonance with parents in career-orientation Agreement with parents
Acceptance of one's life-goals by others
Occupation of parents Parents occupation Parents marital status Number of parents (broken home) Parents' opinion of best occupation Agreement with parents Marital happiness of parents Parents marital satisfaction Punishment by parents Punitive Wish to be a man Earlier attitudes
Transgender
Wished other life
Wanted children Earlier want for children
Object of earlier goals
Exact ability Earlier intelligence
Exact ability
Earlier personality Earlier personality traits Intelligence Earlier intelligence Education of parents Parents education Earlier attitude to job Earlier satisfaction with work Level of spouse Social position of spouse
Earlier socio-economic status
Traits around age 30 ( Earlier personality organization
Earlier persistence
Earlier self-confidence
Earlier self-confidence (around age 30) Earlier self-confidence
Earlier self-image
Earlier inferiority (around age 30) Earlier self-confidence
Earlier self-image
Earlier integration (around age 30) Earlier personality organization Personality of parents Personality of parents Vocational succes of father Parents occupation Satisfying aspects of life Perceived sources of one's own happiness Earlier persistence Earlier persistence Earlier relation with parents Relations with parents Parents intelligence Capacities of parents Number of children Number of children
Children as planned
Earlier lifestyle preference Object of earlier goals
Earlier occupation
Retrospective earlier adjustment Earlier mental health Earlier ambitions Object of earlier goals Earlier change in ambitions Change in life-goals Earlier increase of workload Earlier strain at work Joy-in-living satisfaction C-RG by M-AC Perseverance Earlier persistence
Earlier ambitiousness
Earlier satisfaction with children Earlier relation with children Earlier satisfaction with community service Earlier satisfaction with organizational participation Earlier satisfaction with marriage Satisfaction with marriage Earlier satisfaction with social contacts Earlier satisfaction with personal contacts Having children Current parental status Married status vs never married Married (vs never married) Married status vs widowed Married (vs widowed) Married status vs divorced Married (vs divorced) Never married vs widowed Never married (vs widowed) Never married vs divorced Never married (vs divorced) Widowed vs divorced Widowed (vs divorced) Type of work (earlier) Earlier occupation Education Earlier educational level Satisfaction with attainment of life-goals Contentment and mixed indicators of happiness
Perceived realization of life-goal set
Satisfaction with career pattern (lifestyle work pattern) Earlier satisfaction with life-style