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Studies

McCrae & Costa (1991): study US Baltimore County, Maryland 1979

Publication

Author(s):
McCrae, R.R.; Costa, P.T.
Title:
Adding 'Liebe und Arbeit': The Full Five Factor Model and Well-Being.
Source:
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1991, Vol. 17, 227 - 232

Investigation

Public
Single males and couples Baltimore USA, followed 7 years, 1979-86
Sample
Respondents
N = 429
Non Response
Assessment
Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on 10 questions:

During the past few weeks, did you ever feel ....?  (yes/no)
A   Particularly excited or interested in something?
B   So restless that you couldn't sit long in a chair?
C   Proud because someone complimented you on something  
     you had done?
D   Very lonely or remote from other people?
E   Pleased about having accomplished something?
F   Bored?
G   On top of the world?
H   Depressed or very unhappy?
I    That things were going your way?
J    Upset because someone criticized you?

Answer options and scoring:
yes = 1
no  = 0
Summation:
-Positive Affect Score (PAS): A+C+E+G+I
-Negative Affect Score (NAS): B+D+F+H+J
-Affect Balance Score (ABS): PAS minus NAS
Possible range: -5 to +5

Name: Bradburn's 'Affect Balance Scale' (standard version)
Classification:
A-BB-cm-mq-v-2-a
Author's label:
Affect Balance Scale
Remarks:
T1: M=2.81  SD=1.89     Ms'= 7.81  SDs'= 1.89
T2: M=2.89  SD=2.00     Ms'= 7.89  SDs'= 2.00
Full text:
Self report on single question:

How do you feel about your life as a whole.....?
7  delighted
6  pleased
5  mostly satisfied
4  mixed
3  mostly dissatisfied
2  unhappy
1  terrible

Name: Andrews & Withey's `Delighted-Terrible Scale'  (original version)
Classification:
O-DT-u-sq-v-7-a
Author's label:
Life-satisfaction
Remarks:
T1: M=4.50  SD= .98     Ms'= 5.80  SDs'= 1.63
T2: M=4.52  SD=1.02     Ms'= 5.86  SDs'= 1.70

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Positive affect Feeling elated (vs not) Negative affect Feeling down (vs not) Actual past happiness_C Past happiness ( 1 to 10 years ago) Life satisfaction O-DT by A-AB Actual past happiness_A Past happiness ( 1 to 10 years ago) Future happiness Past happiness ( 1 to 10 years ago) Life Satisfaction Index Satisfaction with multiple domains of life Actual past happiness_B Earlier life-appraisals Later life-appraisal Later life-appraisals Neuroticism Later psycho-somatic complaints Affect Balance Score O-SL by A-AB Conscientiousness Earlier conscientiousness
Conscientious
Extraversion Extraverted
Later locus of control
Agreeableness Kind
Later kindness
Openness to experience Open
Later openness