Happiness research semiar presentation

What makes us happy!
Evidence from a national sample
Professor Alan Nevill
Faculty of Education,
Health and Wellbeing,
University of Wolverhampton

School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure

Introduction
! The World Health Organization estimates that millions
of people experience mental health problems, with one
in four experiencing a mental illness at some point in
their lives (WHO, 2011).
! Perceived happiness has been associated with longevity,
better physical health and protection from becoming ill
(Bjørnskov, 2008; Pawlowski, Downward & Rasciute,
2011; Caporale, Georgellis, Tsitsianis & Yin, 2009;
Stoll, Michaelson & Seaford, 2012; Veenhoven, 2008).

Introduction
! Some researchers suggest that the protective effect of
happiness on longevity is similar in magnitude to the effect
of not smoking (Veenhoven, 2008).
! Based on these views, public policy makers should consider
prioritising lifestyle health interventions that promote
happiness.


Aims
! Hence, the primary aim of this study was to
determine the factors associated with happiness in a
national sample of adults living in Northern Ireland.
! Secondly, to determine whether the associations
identified differed according to self-reported health
status (those in good or poor health) and,
! Finally to determine the extent to which modifiable
lifestyle behaviours may influence self-reported
happiness in this population.


Survey design
! The study is based on a cross-sectional survey of Northern Irish
adults conducted in 2009/10 and known as SAPAS (Sport and
Physical Activity Survey).
! It was commissioned by Sport Northern Ireland and carried out
by an independent market-research agency.
!  A total of 4653 adults (aged 16+) completed face-to-face
interviews in their homes using computer assisted personal
interviewing.


Sample

! Participants completed a detailed interview (average time - 30
minutes) with a trained interviewer.
! A total 4,653 interviews were completed, representing a
response rate of 54.6%.
! The dataset was weighted to control for the oversampling in the
Belfast and Derry strata, differences in household size, and to
ensure that the age/gender of participants closely matched that of
the adult population of Northern Ireland.

Sample

! The survey instrument was designed in partnership with Sport
Northern Ireland and was cognitively tested and piloted by the
market research agency.
! The survey was based on the Active People Survey (Sport
England) conducted annually by Sport England since 2005-06.


Sample
! The 30 minute interview collected data on participation in sport
and physical activity, perceived health and happiness, diet,
alcohol consumption and smoking habits as well as sociodemographic information.
! The list of physical activities was taken from the Department of
Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and Sport England (Ipsos
MORI, 2007)


How did we measure happiness?

! Happiness was assessed in response to the self-rated question
“In general, how happy would you say you are?”
! Respondents answered on a 10 point scale (1 being the least
happy and 10 being the most happy).
! Responses were then dichotomised by assigning 1 to those
reporting above or equal to the median happiness score (found to
be 7) and 0 to those reporting below the median happiness score.


How did we measure
perceived health?
! Perceived health was obtained in response to the self-rated
health question “Over the past 12 months would you say your
health has been?” Respondents answered on a 5 point scale;
1=very good, 2=good, 3=average, 4=poor, 5=very poor.
! Responses to the self-rated health question were also
dichotomised by assigning 1 to those reporting either average,
poor, or very poor health; and 0 to those reporting very good or
good health.

Statistical methods

! Pearson’s chi-squared tests of independence were used to
investigate the association between the number of respondents
reporting happiness (as a dichotomy) and their perceived health,
also recorded as a dichotomy.
! Due to the likely influence of various confounding and/or
mediating variables e.g. social class, marital status and age etc.,
binary logistic regression was used to further explore the
differences and associations with happiness.

Results


! Respondents who report good health recorded above average
happiness scores (2062/2871=71.8%), see Table 1 above.
! Those respondents who recorded below average happiness
scores (1044/1770=59%) were also more likely to record poor
health.


Results
! Since the association between happiness and health is likely to
be influenced by a number of confounding or mediating
variables, we explored a wide range of other associations with
happiness using binary logistic regression
! a) for all respondents,
! b) for respondents reporting good health, and
! c) respondents reporting poor health.
! These associations are shown in Table 2.


Results
! The analysis identified that individuals who reported good or
very good health were over three times more likely to report
average or above average happiness scores, compared with those
reporting below average health (baseline level) having controlled
for a wide range of other confounding and modifiable/behavioral
variables.
! Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.19 (95% CI 2.79 to 3.66),


Results
! Women and men reported similar levels of happiness, while, the
logistic regression analysis identified a strong “U” shaped effect
of age where the middle-aged respondents (41-50) were nearly
1/3 less likely to report being happy (OR=0.37, 0.26-0.53)
compared with the 16-20 year-old baseline group and the oldest
71+ age group.


Results
! All social classes were more likely to report being happier than
the baseline unskilled manual class, with the managerial
OR=1.47 (1.16-1.85), skilled manual OR=1.30 (1.05-1.61) and
semi-skilled manual OR=1.30 (1.05-1.61) being significantly
more happy.


Results
! Marital status was identified as a very important source of
happiness.
! Those respondents who were either married or living as married,
were significantly happier OR= 1.53 (1.29-1.83) compared with
single respondents.
! Those respondents who were either divorced or separated were
more unhappy OR=0.78 (0.60 to 1.00) compared with their
single counterparts.


Results
! Smoking was also associated with a greater likelihood of being
unhappy, with regular daily smokers and occasional smokers
being more likely to report being unhappy compared with nonsmokers (OR=0.75 (0.63 to 0.88) and OR=0.60 (0.44 to 0.83)
respectively.
! However, regular daily smokers reported greater happiness than
occasional smokers.


Results
! Other modifiable behaviours associated with health;
! meeting the recommended PA guidelines (150 minutes of
moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity per week;
OR=1.33 (1.16-1.54) and
! eating five portions of fruit and vegetables or more per day
(OR=1.25 (1.10-1.43) significantly increased respondents
likelihood of reporting being happy.


Results
! Finally, those respondents having access to a car were also more
likely to report being happy OR=1.25 (1.05-1.75).
! Note that when body mass index was entered into the analysis
(either as a linear or quadratic effect) it was found not to have
any significant association with happiness.


Results
! When the respondents were divided into two groups; those
reporting good and poor health, the factors affecting happiness
remained similar for each group with the notable exceptions that
social class and eating five portions of fruit and vegetables
became unimportant to those who reported poor health in the
previous 12 months.
! Similarly, access to a car appeared unimportant to those who
reported good health. All the other sources of happiness: age,
marital status, smoking, and meeting the PA guidelines appeared
to have a similar effect in both good and poor health groups


Discussion/Conclusions (Health)

! This study provides an insight into the many variables that are
associated with happiness in a post conflict population in
Northern Ireland.
! We show that individuals in good health are three times more
likely to be happy than those in poor health.


Discussion/Conclusions (Age)
! The U shaped relationship exists between happiness and age
whereby those in the younger (16-20 years) and older age groups
(71+ years) were more likely to be happier than those in the
middle age groups.
! This association was present for all participants regardless of
being in good or poor health.
! Findings suggest that interventions to improve happiness should
be focused towards middle age people regardless of health
status.


Discussion/Conclusions (Social class)
! For the full sample all social classes were more likely to report
being happier than the baseline unskilled manual class (baseline
OR=1).
! However, perhaps surprisingly the highest social class status
group (professionals) were less happy than other groups and not
statistically different from the unskilled manual group.
! The social class with the highest levels of happiness would
appear to be the managerial group (1.47 (1.16-1.85)), a finding
reinforced amongst the health respondents (1.56 (1.15-2.11)).


Discussion/Conclusions (Social class)
! When analysed by health status, good health appeared to
influence this ordering wherein the most happy social classes
were the skilled manual group, closely followed by the
managerial classes.
! For those in poor health, no differences in the levels of
happiness were found between the different social class groups.
! Findings suggest that, provided you are in good health, being in
a skilled occupation (manual and non-manual) or in a managerial
position is associated with higher levels of happiness.


Discussion/Conclusions (Marital status)
! Those people who were married or living as married,
were more likely to be happy than those who are single.
Those who were divorced/separated or widowed were
more likely to be less happy.
! For respondents in good health, a similar association
emerged with those married/living as married and those
in a civil partnership tended to be happier, suggesting
that health and marriage combined is positive for
predicting happiness.
! However, despite good health, being divorced or
separated or widowed is associated with being less
happy.

Discussion/Conclusions (Smoking status)
! The association between smoking behaviours and self-reported
happiness is clear.
! Daily smokers, occasional smokers, ex-smokers and exoccasional smokers are all less happy compared to those who
have never smoked (in the case of daily and occasional smokers,
P<0.05).
! The same association is present regardless of health status.


Discussion/Conclusions
(Physical Activity)
! Achieving 150 minutes of physical activity per week was shown
to be associated with happiness, irrespective of whether
participants were in good or poor health.
! It appears that even among those reporting poor health, meeting
the 150 minutes of physical activity per week was associated
with greater levels of happiness (Full sample OR= 1.33; poor
health sample OR= 1.42).
! This supports previous work on the relationship between
physical activity and psychological wellbeing (Department of
Health, 2011) and extends findings to those in poor health.

Discussion/Conclusions (Diet)

! Similar to the findings for physical activity, adherence to the
public health message to eat at least five portions of fruit and
vegetables is associated with happiness.
! This is the case for all participants and those in good health.
! For those in poor health eating five fruit and vegetables a day
was not associated with happiness.
! An explanation for this finding is that health status appears to
over-ride an individual’s concerns regarding health eating/diet.

Discussion/Conclusions (Assess to a car)
! Finally access to a car was associated with happiness for
participants who reported poor health.
! This suggests that those in poor health value the mobility
provided by car access whereas this is viewed as less important
for those who are in good health.


Conclusions
! Clearly these differences and associations in happiness are only
true for the population of Northern Ireland.
! In light of the World Health Organization estimate that millions
of people across the world experience mental health problems
and governments are investing too little in mental health services
(WHO, 2011), promoting happiness by targeting selected health
behaviours should be considered.


Conclusions
! These findings have implications for policy makers in the
promotion of wellbeing and happiness in a nation that recently
has moved on from political and cultural violence known as the
troubles.
! Promoting happiness in populations through a healthy lifestyle
may have a positive effect on reducing the number of people
who experience mental health problems as outlined by the WHO
(2011).


Any questions?


Happiness research semiar presentation

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (12)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (15)

Similar to Happiness research semiar presentation

Similar to Happiness research semiar presentation (20)

Happiness research semiar presentation