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. 2010 Oct 19;107(42):17922-6.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1008612107. Epub 2010 Oct 4.

Long-running German panel survey shows that personal and economic choices, not just genes, matter for happiness

Bruce Headey  1 , Ruud Muffels, Gert G Wagner
Affiliations

Long-running German panel survey shows that personal and economic choices, not just genes, matter for happiness

Bruce Headey et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Psychologists and economists take contradictory approaches to research on what psychologists call happiness or subjective well-being, and economists call subjective utility. A direct test of the most widely accepted psychological theory, set-point theory, shows it to be flawed. Results are then given, using the economists' newer "choice approach"--an approach also favored by positive psychologists--which yields substantial payoffs in explaining long-term changes in happiness. Data come from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2008), a unique 25-y prospective longitudinal survey. This dataset enables direct tests of theories explaining long-term happiness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Percentages recording large changes in life satisfaction: ≥25%, ≥33.3%, and ≥50% (aged 25–64 y; n = 853).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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