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Studies

Linn et al. (1986): study US Wisconsin 1974

Publication

Author(s):
Linn, L.S.; Cope, D.W.; Yager, J.
Title:
Factors Associated with Life Satisfaction among Practicing Internists.
Source:
Medical Care, 1986, Vol. 24, 830 - 837

Investigation

Public
18+ aged, general public, NW-Wisconsin, USA, 1974
Sample
Respondents
N = 1423
Non Response
7-24 %
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Structured interview

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

In general, how happy would you say you are these days.....?
7  extremely happy
6  very happy
5  pretty happy
4  not too happy
3  a bit unhappy
2  pretty unhappy
1  very unhappy
Classification:
O-HL-c-sq-v-7-a
Author's label:
Happiness
Remarks:
happy 36%, pretty happy 53%, a bit happy 9%, unhappy 2%.
Error estimates:
Reliability: range 1-7 M=5.4 Ms'=7.3 Validity:
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 1 - 7 On range 0-10
Mean:
5.40 7.30
SD:
- -
Full text:
Self report on single question:

Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your life as whole.....?
7   completely satisfied
6   satisfied
5   mostly satisfied
4   satisfied/dissatisfied
3   dissatisfied
2   very dissatisfied
1   completely dissatisfied
Classification:
O-SLW-u-sq-v-7-a
Author's label:
Life-satisfaction
Remarks:
Satisfied 87%, mixed (satisfied/dissatisfied) 11%, dissatisfied 2%.
Error estimates:
Reliability: range 1-7 M=5.2 SD=0.9 Ms'=7.0 Validity:
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 1 - 7 On range 0-10
Mean:
5.20 7.00
SD:
0.90 -

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Education Level of school-education Income Household income Occupation 'Objective' socio-economic status Health problems Degree of restriction Divorce/separation Married (vs divorced) Unemployment Current employment status Male sex Sex: male (vs female) Age Current age (in years) Contact with friends Current contacts with friends Joint effects Summed socio-demographic + health + life events