Study Wessman & Ricks (1966): study US 1957 /1
- Public
- Male college students, followed 3 years, Harvard University, USA, 1957-60
- Sample
- Respondents
- N = 17
- Non Response
- 37%: 9 dropouts, incomplete; about the same happiness distribution.
- Assessment
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Multiple assesment methods
Mood diary kept 30 days and repeated interviews and tests during three years.
Correlate
- Authors's Label
- Organization of time
- Our Classification
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- Remarks
- The group of subjects was divided into two, ac- cording to their mean 'daily average mood' (AFF 3.1). Only significant correlations with average mood level were presented.
- Operationalization
- Temporal Behavior Questionnaire, in which 201 ways of experiencing, arrang- ing, and estimating time in work, daily activities, and fantasies were rated in terms of the degree to which the subject was characteristically disposed or not disposed to engage in them. Several scales derived.
a. Unfilled vs filled time perspective.
b. Life is felt as dicrete vs continuous.
c. Procrastinating and inefficient vs punctual and efficient use of time.
Observed Relation with Happiness
happy men commit and hold themselves to responsibilities and they plan and schedule their time far in advance.
The unhappy men shy away from long-term responsibilities and keep the future open and uncommitted. They are anxious about the unknown future.
The unhappy men experience event vs as discrete, and life as a series of abrupt transformations. For them time is broken, chopped up, and without direction.
The unhappy men never begin or finish a task on time. They procrastinate too long, and feel themselves working below capacity.