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Studies

Veenhoven (1990b): study ZZ 1965

Publication

Author(s):
Veenhoven, R.
Title:
Inequality in Happiness. Inequality in Countries Compared Between Countries.
Source:
Paper 12th Work Congress of Sociology, July 1990, Madrid, Spain

Investigation

Public
Adults, general public, 28 countries, 1965-1985
Sample
Selection from general population sample
Respondents
N = 30000
Non Response
Assessment
Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single questions

Six equivalent questions on overall happiness. (Slightly different items used in the various nations)
Scores transformed to common range 1 - 3, by recoding;

A "Generally speaking, how happy would you say you are;
   would you say you are...?
   3  very happy
   2  fairly happy
   1  not too happy

B Taken all things together, how would you say things are   these days; would you say you are ...?
   3  very happy
   2  fairly happy
   1  not too happy

C Taken all together, would you say you are.....?
   3  very happy
   2  quite happy
   1  not very happy
   1  not at all happy

D Taken all together how would you say things are these days; would you say you are ...?
   3  very happy
   2  pretty happy
   1  not too happy

E In general, how happy would you say you are...?
   3  very happy
   2  fairly happy
   1  not very happy

F How happy do you feel as you live now? Please choose one item from this card that is closest to your feeling
   3  very happy
   3  fairly happy
   2  neither happy nor unhappy
   1  fairly unhappy
   1  very unhappy
Classification:
O-HV-*-sq-vt-3-a
Author's label:
Happiness
Remarks:
Sweden              .52           .18          2.23
Switzerland         .57           .32          2.17
Thailand            .56           .44          2.01
U. Kingdom          .61           .34          2.23
USA                 .63           .34          2.31
W-Germany           .54           .47          2.02

Adjusted standard deviatious correct for the possible variation given the level of happiness (in a coutry where almost everybody is happy there can be less variance).

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Income equality Income inequality in nation