LSE United States Politics and Policy blog (USAPP):
How some people can maximize their happiness even though they are not actively pursuing it
22 June 2016
One of people's most important goals tends to be the pursuit of happiness. In a new survey which measures people's subjective well-being (another way of thinking about happiness), the authors find that 90 percent of people are seeking to maximize their subjective well-being, though they are willing to sacrifice some of this in the short term to benefit their families and for their long-term well-being, They also find that the actual subjective well-being of those who are working to maximize it is lower than those who are not, something that they attribute to both disadvantage of opportunity and sacrificing of well-being in the short term to help others and themselves in the future.
This article was published online by the LSE United States Politics and Policy (USAPP) blog on June 22, 2016
Link to article here
Related publications
Do People Seek to Maximize Their Subjective Well-Being?, Marc Fleurbaey and Hannes Schwandt, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1391, November 2015
Related links
Hannes Schwandt webpage
Wellbeing Programme webpage
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