nach oben

Social Indicators Research

Erschienen in:

01.03.2013

Zooming in on Life Events: Is Hedonic Adaptation Sensitive to the Temporal Distance from the Event?

verfasst von: Ekaterina A. Uglanova, Ursula M. Staudinger

Erschienen in: Social Indicators Research | Ausgabe 1/2013

Einloggen

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche, um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config

KI-gestützte Suche

Aus

Abstract

This paper analyzed the effect of major positive and negative life events (marriage, divorce, birth of child, widowhood, and unemployment) on life satisfaction. For the first time, this study estimated the effects of life events not with a precision of 12 months but of 3 months. Specifically, two questions were addressed: (1) Does the precision of the temporal localization of the event (i.e., 12 or 3 months) affect the observed trajectories of life satisfaction, and (2) is the precision of the temporal localization more important for negative life events? As expected, results showed that the precision of temporal localization allows a clearer view on hedonic adaptation, in particular following negative life events.

Vorheriger Artikel Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute

Nächster Artikel Is Personality Fixed? Personality Changes as Much as “Variable” Economic Factors and More Strongly Predicts Changes to Life Satisfaction

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Nur mit Berechtigung zugänglich

To our knowledge, only Frijters et al. (2011) apply quarterly timing of life events to large-scale panel data (HILDA); they do not focus, though, on the comparison of yearly and quarterly measurements.

On the other hand, Zimmermann and Easterlin (2006) apply different models to the same dataset (GSOEP) and report that individuals who remain married for 2 or more years do not go back to their pre-marriage baseline but rather remain at a higher level.

Moreover, continuous exposure to unemployment may evoke sensitization - an increase of the initial reaction rather than adaptation (Frederick and Loewenstein 1999; Luhmann and Eid 2009).

For women.

Given that the data in the cited sources were collected at different decades of the twentieth century, one may also hypothesize that, incidentally, cohort effects may play a role.

I.e. within 2 years following the loss of spouse, SBW increases significantly from one 6-month period to another. This pattern does not apply to divorce. This study takes into account only 2 years after divorce/widowhood; it is plausible that time becomes a predictor if longer time span is considered.

More precisely, for women, anticipation of unemployment, birth of child and layoff lasts for about 1 year, whereas men anticipate divorce for 3 years, marriage and widowhood—for 2 years. In females, there are no lead effects in cases of marriage and birth of child, unemployment is anticipated for about 1 year, widowhood—for 3 years and divorce—for 4 years.

The picture is, however, more complicated. Research on repeated life events reveals, in fact, different patterns of well-being dynamics; in case of repeated unemployment we observe sensitization rather than adaptation, whereas repeated marriages remain as good as the first one, whereas second divorces evokes weaker response than the first one (Luhmann and Eid 2009). Apparently, individual normality intertwines with other factors.

To analyze the anticipatory stage of adaptation process.

The first interview after the event took place.

Since the time span between two interviews is sometimes less than 12 months, it happens than an individual appears in two groups, i.e. once in the group of respondents who will experience an event in 10–12 months, and again in the group of those who will experience it within 3 months after the interview. The numbers of such cases is small: 17 for marriage, 5 for divorce, 13 for unemployment, 15 for birth of child, and 10 for widowhood.

If, for example, the sample were split into two equal halves, the problem of too small cell sized would have been encountered. In fact, even with 2/3 of the whole sample we encounter this problem in two subgroups in the case of unemployment.

Tables 3 and 4 present estimates obtained on the whole sample. The coefficients obtained with split sample provide virtually the same results.

With respect to the relationship between control variables and SWB, our findings, in general, support the exitant literature. Having health problems, being widowed (as compared to being single), being unemployed, having an unemployed partner, and higher number of children affect SWB negatively. Being married (as compared to being single), and higher household income are positively related to SWB.

*** Significant at 0.01; ** Significant at 0.05; * Significant at 0.1.

Even though divorce might be the exit from an unhappy marriage, its short-term consequences, as well as the period of anticipation, are associated with lower life satisfaction.

This brings us to the question whether events as discrete points are good markers of a critical loss or gain: if an event as such is a critical marker of change in SWB, how wide are the time brackets that limit the initial reaction?.

Even though, improvement in SWB can also be observed right after death of the partner; usually, such trajectory is characteristic for cases of long-term care.

Although there are highly predictable cases of caring for a sick partner, as mentioned above, uncertainty regarding the exact timing of the loss still persists.

Amato, P. R. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage & Family, 62(4), 1269–1287.CrossRef

Andersen, S. H. (2008). The short- and long-term effects of government training on subjective well-being. European Sociological Review, 24(4), 451–462.CrossRef

Andress, H., & Brackel, M. (2007). Income and life satisfaction after marital disruption in Germany. Journal of Marriage & Family, 69(2), 500–512.CrossRef

Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2004). Well-Being over time in Britain and the USA. Journal of Public Economics, 88, 1359–1386.CrossRef

Bonanno, G. A., Lehman, D. R., Tweed, R. G., Haring, M., Wortman, C. B., Sonnega, J., et al. (2002). Resilience to loss and chronic grief: A prospective study from preloss to 18-months postloss. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1150–1164.CrossRef

Brickman, P., & Campbell, D. T. (1971). Hedonic Relativism and planning the good society. In M. H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation-level theory (pp. 287–302). New York: Academic Press.

Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 917–927.CrossRef

Burke, C. T., Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2007). Individual differences in adjustment to spousal loss: A nonlinear mixed model analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(4), 405–415.CrossRef

Carnelley, K. B., Wortman, C. B., Bolger, N., & Burke, C. T. (2006). The time course of grief reactions to spousal loss: Evidence from a national probability sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 476–492.CrossRef

Clark, A. E., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y., & Lucas, R. E. (2008). Lags and leads in life satisfaction: A test of the baseline hypothesis. Economic Journal, 118(529), F222–F243.CrossRef

Clark, A. E., Knabe, A., & Rätzel, S. (2009). Unemployment as a social norm in Germany. Schmollers Jahrbuch, 129(2), 251–260.CrossRef

Cohen, A. (1983). Comparing regression coefficients across subsamples: A study of the statistical test. Sociological Methods & Research, 12(1), 77–94.CrossRef

Davern, M., Cummins, R. A., & Stokes, M. (2007). Subjective wellbeing as an affective/cognitive construct. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, 429–449.CrossRef

Diener, E., & Lucas, R. (1999). Personality and subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman & E. Diener (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 213–229). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill—revising the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61(4), 305–314.CrossRef

Diener, E., Suh, E., & Oishi, S. (1997). Recent findings on subjective well-being. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24, 25–41.

Erbes, J. T., & Hedderson, J. J. C. (1984). A longitudinal examination of the separation/divorce process. Journal of Marriage & Family, 46(4), 937–941.CrossRef

Farnsworth, J., Pett, M. A., & Lund, D. A. (1989). Predictors of loss management and well-being in later life widowhood and divorce. Journal of Family Issues, 10(1), 102–121.CrossRef

Forste, R., & Heaton, T. B. (2004). The divorce generation: well-being, family attitudes, and socioeconomic consequences of marital disruption. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 41(1/2), 95–114.CrossRef

Frederick, S., & Loewenstein, G. (1999). Hedonic adaptation. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 302–329). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Frijters, P., Johnston, D., & Shields, M. A. (2011). Happiness dynamics with quarterly life event data. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 113(1), 190–211.

Gähler, M. (2006). To divorce is to die a bit: A longitudinal study of marital disruption and psychological distress among Swedish women and men. Family Journal, 14(4), 372–382.CrossRef

Graham, C., Eggers, A., & Sukhtankar, S. (2004). Does happiness pay? An exploration based on panel data from Russia. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 55(3), 319–342.

Greve, W., & Staudinger, U. M. (2006). Resilience in later adulthood and old age: Resources and potentials for successful aging. In D. Cicchetti & A. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 796–840). New York: Wiley.

Grob, A., Little, T. D., Wanner, B., & Wearning, A. J. (1996). Adolescents’ well-being and perceived control across 14 sociocultural contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 785–795.CrossRef

Haisken-DeNew, J. P. & Frick, J. R. (Eds.). (2005). Desktop companion to the german socio-economic panel (SOEP).version 8.0. Berlin: DIW (German institute for economic research).

Headey, B. (2008). The set-point theory of well-being: Negative results and consequent revisions. Social Indicators Research, 85, 389–403.CrossRef

Headey, B., & Wearing, A. (1989). Personality, life events, and subjective well-being: Toward a dynamic equilibrium model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 731–739.CrossRef

Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1984). Choices, values and frames. American Psychologist, 39, 341–350.CrossRef

Kitson, G. C., & Morgan, L. A. (1990). The multiple consequences of divorce: A decade review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 913–924.CrossRef

Lucas, R. E. (2005). Time does not heal all wounds. Psychological Science, 16(12), 945–950.CrossRef

Lucas, R. E. (2007). Long-term disability is associated with lasting changes in subjective well-being: Evidence from two nationally representative longitudinal studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 717–730.CrossRef

Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2004). Unemployment alters the set point for life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 15(1), 8–13.CrossRef

Lucas, R. E., Georgellis, Y., Clark, A. E., & Diener, E. (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3), 527–539.CrossRef

Luhmann, M., & Eid, M. (2009). Does it really feel the same? Changes in life satisfaction following repeated life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(2), 363–381.CrossRef

Lyubomirsky, S. (2011). Hedonic adaptation to positive and negative experiences. In S. Folkman (Ed.), Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping (pp. 200–224). New York: Oxford University Press.

Mundlak, Y. (1978). On the pooling of time series and cross section data. Econometrica, 46, 69–85.CrossRef

Oishi, S., Diener, E., Choi, D.-W., Kim-Prieto, C., & Choi, I. (2007). The dynamics of daily events and well-being across cultures: When less is more. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(4), 685–698.CrossRef

Ratnikova, T. A. (2006). Introduction to econometric analysis of panel data. HSE Economic Journal., 2, 267–316.

Staudinger, U. M. (2000). Viele Gründe sprechen dagegen und trotzdem fühlen viele Menschen sich wohl: Das Paradox des subjektiven Wohlbefindens [Many reasons speak against it but many people are happy: The well-being paradox]. Psychologische Rundschau, 51, 185–197.CrossRef

Staudinger, U. M., Marsiske, M., & Baltes, P. B. (1995). Resilience and reserve capacity in later adulthood: Potentials and limits of development across the life span. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (Vol. 2: Risk, disorder, and adaptation; pp. 801–847). New York: Wiley.

Stutzer, A., & Frey, B. S. (2006). Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married? Journal of Socio-Economics, 35(2), 326–347.CrossRef

Suh, E., Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1996). Events and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(5), 1091–1102.CrossRef

Vallin, J., & Nizard, A. (1977). La mortalité par état matrimonial. Mariage sélection ou mariage protection. Population (French Edition), 32, 95–125.CrossRef

Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). Explaining away: A model of affective adaptation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 370–386.CrossRef

Zimmermann, A. C., & Easterlin, R. A. (2006). Happily ever after? Cohabitation, marriage, divorce, and happiness in Germany. Population & Development Review, 32(3), 511–528.CrossRef

Titel: Zooming in on Life Events: Is Hedonic Adaptation Sensitive to the Temporal Distance from the Event?
verfasst von: Ekaterina A. Uglanova
Ursula M. Staudinger
Publikationsdatum: 01.03.2013
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Social Indicators Research / Ausgabe 1/2013
Print ISSN: 0303-8300
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0921
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0004-1

Springer Professional

Abstract

Bitte loggen Sie sich ein, um Zugang zu Ihrer Lizenz zu erhalten.

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 1/2013

Food Self-Provisioning in Czechia: Beyond Coping Strategy of the Poor: A Response to Alber and Kohler’s ‘Informal Food Production in the Enlarged European Union’ (2008)

A Comparative Analysis of the Validity of US State- and County-Level Social Capital Measures and Their Associations with Population Health

Personality and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from South Korea

Political Regime and Human Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis

Work Hours and Well Being: An Investigation of Moderator Effects

Exploring the Myth of Unhappiness in Former Communist Countries: The Roles of the Sex Gap in Life Expectancy and the Marital Status Composition