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Studies

Burger & Veenhoven (2016): study ZA 2013 /1

Publication

Author(s):
Burger, M.; Veenhoven, R.
Title:
Trend in level and dispersion of happiness in nations 2006-2015’: Is there a difference between the affective and cognitive component?
Source:
EHERO working paper 2016/1

Investigation

Public
15+ aged, general public, South Africa, 2013
Survey name
IUNT-GallupWorldPoll2013
Sample
Probability multi-stage random
Respondents
N = 1000
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on 10 questions

Did you experience the following feelings during A LOT OF THE DAY yesterday? How about..?
A  enjoyment
B  physical pain
C  worry
D  sadness
E  stress
F  anger

Did you yesterday..?
G feel well rested
H smile and laugh a lot
I  learn or do something interesting
J were you treated with respect all day yesterday

Rated:
1: yes
0: no

Computation:
- Average % positive affect = (A+G+H+I+J)/5
- Average % negative affect = (B+C+D+E+F)/5
- Affect Balance = Average % positive affect - Average % negative affect

These questions do not measure hedonic level of affect of individual persons adequately, since yesterday's mood does not always correspond with typical average mood. Yet these questions can be used for measuring hedonic level in aggregates, such as nations, since individual variations balance out in big samples.
Classification:
A-AB-yd-mq-v-2-ab
Author's label:
Experience Index
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range -100 - 100 On range 0-10
Mean:
57.00 7.85
SD:
- -