Sears (1977): study US 1921 /1
Publication
- Author(s):
- Sears, R.R.
- Title:
- Sources of Life Satisfactions of the Terman Gifted Men.
- Source:
- American Psychologist, 1977, Vol. 32, 119 - 128
Investigation
- Public
- Gifted men (IQ>135), followed 50 years, California, USA, 1921-72
- Sample
- Non-probability purposive-quota sample
- Respondents
- N = 857
- Non Response
- Attrition in 1972: 25%
- Assessment
-
Interview: face-to-face
Repeated interviews and questionnaires.
Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings
- Full text:
-
Self report on 2 questions:
A
"How important was each of the following goals in life in the plans you made for yourself in early adulthood?"
-
-
- joy in living
4 of prime importance to me
3
2
1 less important to me than to most people
B.
"How successful have you been in the pursuit of these goals?"
5 had excellent fortune in this respect
4
3
2
1 little satisfaction in this are
Computation:
Life satisfaction score = A * B - (A - B)
Maximal range 1-21
Computation: General Satisfaction 5 is the quotient obtained by multiplying the planned goal (early adulthood) by the reported success in attaining that goal, adding the five of these multiplied areas and dividing them by the sum of the planned goals for each of the areas.
Pa.Sa + Pb.Sb + Pc.Sc + Pd.Sd + Pe.Se
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pa + Pb + Pc + Pd + Pe
Pa = planned goal a (1-5)
Sa = success goal a (1-5) - Classification:
- M-AC-h-mq-v-21-a
- Author's label:
- Computed life-satisfaction
- Remarks:
- Importance of joy in living in early adulthood rated retrospectively at age 62.
Though Ss had not held joy in living as amajor goal, they felt they hd a lot of it. - Page in publication:
- 121/122
- Observed distribution
- Summary Statistics
- On original range 1 - 21 On range 0-10
- Mean:
- 13.00 -
- SD:
- - -