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Studies

Veenhoven (2005c): study ZZ 1973

Publication

Author(s):
Veenhoven, R.
Title:
Is Life getting Better? How Long and Happily Do People live in Modern Society?
Source:
European Psychologist, 2005, Vol. 10, 330 - 343

Investigation

Public
Adults, general public, EU 8 member states, USA and Japan, 1973-2002
Sample
Mixed samples
Respondents
N = 300000
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Happy Life Years

Life-expectancy in nations multiplied by 0-1 average happiness as assessed with survey questions type O-HL
Classification:
Y-LH-l-sq-nt-100-a
Author's label:
happy Life Years
Full text:
Self report on single question:

Equivalent questions on overall happiness. (Slightly different items used in the various nations)

Scores transformed to common range 0 - 10  by means of Thurstone procedure (response options weighted by experts)

Weights for responses:
9.3 -  very happy                              
6.7 -  pretty happy                            
6.5 -  fairly happy                              
4.1 -  not too happy                          
3.7 -  not very happy                        
2.7 -  not happy                                
1.0 -  not at all happy                        
0.6 -  very unhappy
Classification:
O-HV-*-sq-vt-11-a

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Trend Happy Life Years (HLY) Trend happy life years Trend Happy Life Years 1973-2002 Trend happy life years Trend average happiness Trend average happiness in nations