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Studies

Hunsberger (1985): study CA 1982

Publication

Author(s):
Hunsberger, B.E.
Title:
Religion, Age, Life Satisfaction and Perceived Sources of Religiousness: A Study of Older Persons.
Source:
Journal of Gerontology, 1985, Vol. 40, 615 - 620

Investigation

Public
65+ aged, general public, Ontario Canada, 1982
Sample
Respondents
N = 85
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Structured personal interview

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

Taking all things into account, how happy would you say you are these days?
1  not too happy
2  moderately happy
3  very happy
Classification:
O-HL-c-sq-v-3-ae
Author's label:
Happiness
Full text:
Self report on life graph:

Ss indicated their happiness on a graph, with 10-year time intervals and a happiness scale ranging from  +10 (very happy to -10 (very unhappy)
The last years rating serves as a measure of present happiness
20 |  + 10 very happy
19 |                
18 ¦                 
17 |                  
16 |                
15 ¦               
14 |                
13 |                
12 |                
11 |  0  neutral                        
10 |
9   |                
8   |               
7   |               
6   |               
5   |                
4   |                
3   |                
2   |                
1   |  -10  very unhappy
        ______________________________________
        10    20     30     40     50     60     70     80   year
Classification:
O-SLC-c-sq-lg-21-a
Author's label:
Happiness

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Christian orthodoxy Christian orthodoxy Background religiousemphasis Religious upbringing Agree with beliefs taught Change in religion Importance of beliefs Concern about religion Church Attendance Participation in church