Unhappy About Happiness Research

Arnold Kling doesn’t seem too happy about happiness research (emphasis mine):

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With research into subjective well-being, economists are making statements about what constitutes the good life. In doing so, we are encroaching on territory once claimed by philosophers and theologians -- and, more recently, by self-help gurus. In the 70's, it was I'm OK, You're OK. Now, we are saying "I have positive net affect, you have positive net affect."

...Still, I have a feeling that if happiness research proceeds far enough, it will serve merely to rediscover some eternal truths. For example, this New York Times story cites work by Claudia Senik, who found that "that when people aspire to a better quality of life within the next 12 months, the attempt to reach that goal alone -- the anticipation independent of the outcome -- seems to bestow happiness in the present." Have the sages not been telling us this for centuries?

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My question is why is this a bad thing? To find statistical validation for sagely advice seems to be a great benefit from my perspective. It adds strength to what the sage says and makes their advice much more persuasive to many. If this helps to convey the wisdom of the ages, isn’t that a good thing? Might it actually end up helping people to identify how to pursue a happier life?

I’m sympathetic to Arnold’s concerns about government intervention and policies aimed at trying to make sure we’re all happy. (The idea of “happiness police” is certainly repulsive.) However, I don’t think it is a good idea to reject studies simply because we might not like the conclusions. I’d also speculate that happiness research would indicate that people are happiest when they are pursuing goals they select for themselves and more unhappy when pursuing goals put on them by others. This, by definition, would be a great argument against government intervention in trying to make people happy. And it would come out of happiness research itself.

Here’s an excerpt from a New York Times article that Arnold Kling links to:

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You can let go of the rather iffy rewards of getting and spending, and look for everyday pleasure while you are struggling to advance, improve, progress, achieve and attain.

As Easterlin pointed out, "If you recognize that the striving can be of value in itself, then instead of taking a job that pays you the most, you may be better off taking work you'll enjoy."

In other words, choose your treadmills carefully. They are where, like Sisyphus, most of us will spend our time.

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Seems like some good advice that a lot of people need to hear. I spent far too many years working in a profession I did not enjoy. I am now a poor graduate student who is many times happier because I’m now pursuing goals that matter to me. Certainly sagely advice could have predicted this, but is it bad that statistical evidence backs this up as well?

I heard Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman speak at a conference last November. I was surprised that a number of people didn’t attend because they didn’t like the potential policy conclusions of happiness research. I thought that was not a good reason for rejecting a research program. Shouldn’t academics be truth-seekers? Rejecting something because we don’t like the conclusion is not a good way to pursue either knowledge or wisdom.

Bryan Caplan seems to agree (emphasis mine):

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Arnold could point out a lot of flaws in this literature, but F&L have beaten him to the punch. They inventory a long list of inadequacies in existing research. But they diverge from Arnold in taking a constructive attitude toward happiness - separating the wheat from the chaff, noting areas with mixed results, and pointing out better approaches.

The bottom line is that I'm glad that smart, careful scholars like F&L are hard at work on this topic because I want the answers. Happiness is much too important to be left to the mush-heads in the New Age/Self-Help section.

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Well said!

Here’s to wishing us all success as we each exercise our right to the pursuit of happiness.

See more of my thoughts on happiness research here.

Hattip to Arnold Kling for discussing all of this.