Study Dermer et al. (1979): study US 1978

Public

Female students, moderately happy, USA, 1978

Sample

Respondents

N = 73

Non Response

Assessment

Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)

Correlate

Authors's Label

Pleasant imagination

Our Classification

Related specification variables

Operationalization

Experimental manipulation. Ss were lead to believe they participated in an experiment to study their conceptions of life in Milwaukee at the turn of the century. They were asked to view a series of slides describing this area, to vividly imagine the scene and to write a description of a day in the life of a typical Milwaukeean living in 1900.

1.Bad old days condition:             The Ss saw the slides accompanied by   negative descriptions:(a)Anymals and   people drank and washed themselves
  in the same public fountain.(b)People   all drank from the same filthy    communal drinking cup.(c)These cups    were vehicles for tuberculosis,        smallpox and other diseases.(d)Many    people were killed by these diseases.                                  2.Good old days condition:           The other half saw the slides    accompanied by positive   discriptions:(a)Beautifully carved   fountains.(b)Artfully sculpted   statues, charactaristic of the   craftmanship of European immigrants.
  (c)Fountains suplied a thirsty public   with cool water on sunny afternoons.

Observed Relation with Happiness