does happiness have to cost the earth - tufts[1]

Does Happiness have to cost the Earth?Tufts UniversityBoston16th October 2008

Nic Markscentre for well-being, nef (the new economics foundation)

Who are nef?• An independent UK think-tank (founded 1986)• Inspired by 3 principles

1. Ecological Sustainability2. Social Justice3. People’s Well-being

• Well-being programme set up in 2001 to address question: What would policy look like if people’s well-being was its aim?

• centre for well-being - 2006

An experiment

A

B C

Which is more similar to A?

Feelings about Life on Earth

FEARANGERDEPRESSION

HAPPINESS(CHALLENGE)OPTIMISM ENGAGEMENT

And statistics: including nef’s Happy Planet Index

Insights from Science of W-B

Evolutionary role of emotions:

So-called negative emotions have been well-understood :

Fear, Anger, Disgust and Depression

but what are positive emotions such as happiness, joy and contentment about?

Evolutionary role of Emotions

Barbara Friedrickson’s theory of BROADEN and BUILD is however revolutionary:

1. Positive emotions BROADEN our thoughts & actions: paying more attention, being more creative & playful, open to relationships, and flexible.

2. Positive emotions BUILD psychological resources: resilience, coping, physical abilities, emotional intelligence, social skills and self mastery.

Role of Emotions at Work

Friedrickson and Losado: Positive teams at work

Study of 60 Strategic Business Unit teams, each of eight people, all from within the same organisation.

The SBUs performance categorised in terms of:– Profitability (SBU profit & loss accounts)– Customer satisfaction (surveys & interviews)– 360’ evaluations of team members

Each “utterance” in meeting was coded in terms of:– Positivity (support, encouragement, appreciation)– Negativity (disapproval, sarcasm, cynicism)



LOW (19)

MEDIUM (26)

HIGH (15)

Positivity / Negativity ratio

Team Performance



0.36LOW (19)

1.86MEDIUM (26)

5.61HIGH (15)


Team Performance



0.030.050.36LOW (19)

0.620.671.86MEDIUM (26)

0.941.145.61HIGH (15)

Other / Self

Inquiry / Advocacy


Team Performance

Role of Emotions at WorkHigh performance teams operate in an expanded chaotic (creative) emotional space.

Mid performance teams are still somewhat creative.

Low performance teams ‘collapse’ into a non-inquiring ‘strange attractor’.



Magic RatioPositive : Negative

3 : 1to

8 : 1

Feelings about Life on Earth

FEARANGERDEPRESSION

HAPPINESS(CHALLENGE)OPTIMISM ENGAGEMENT

And statistics: including nef’s Happy Planet Index

FEELING OUR WAY

A changing climate

1979 2003

Extreme Weather

FEELING OUR WAY

Death by Poverty:

Anger:

FEELING OUR WAY

DEPRESSION

We’re consuming too much

< 1 planet living

> 1 planet living

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

1961

1963

1965

1967

1969

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

Glo

bal h

ecta

res

(mill

ions

)

Global biocapacityGlobal footprint

USA: Five planet living

An experiment

A

B C


Marketing False Dreams

FEELING OUR WAY

HAPPINESS

FEELING OUR WAY

HAPPINESSWhat is

???

Life Satisfaction

All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole nowadays? Extremely

Dissatisfied 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Satisfied

“A cognitive measure of well-being with some affect components” – Ed Diener

“Someone’s thoughts about their feelings” – Daniel Nettle

“What you feel when you think about your life” – Danny Kahnemann

Happiness in the UK- as measured by life satisfaction

Distribution of Life Satisfaction -UK

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Life Satisfaction Score

% o

f cas

es

-1.25

-1.00

-0.75

-0.50

-0.25

0.00

0.25

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Years

Cen

tere

d Li

fe S

atis

fact

ion

Year of Widowhood

Micro data: Widowhood and Well-being

-1.25

-1.00

-0.75

-0.50

-0.25

0.00

0.25

-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Years

Cen

tere

d Li

fe S

atis

fact

ion

Micro data: Divorce and Well-being

Year of Divorce

Micro data: Marriages and Well-being

Marriage Paths of Life Satisfaction

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Years of Marriage

Adj

uste

d Li

fe S

atis

fact

ion

Mean Positive GroupNegative Group

GDP and Life SatisfactionA Challenge to the Political Status Quo

UK - GDP and Life Satisfaction 1973 - 2002

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

180%

200%

1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001

GDP

Life Satisfaction

Diminishing marginal returnsof well-being to income

Life satisfaction and Household income in the UK

5.00

5.50

6.00

6.50

7.00

7.50

8.00

£0 £20,000

£40,000

£60,000

£80,000

£100,000

£120,000

£140,000

Household total net income

Life

Sat

isfa

ctio

n (0

-10)

Diminishing marginal returnsof well-being to income

Life Satisfaction and Income Quintiles

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

Low Income Low-MediumIncome

MediumIncome

High-MediumIncome

High Income

Life

Sat

isfa

ctio

n (0

-10)

Average Social Connection

Income & Social Connections

Income and Social Connectedness

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

Low Income Low-MediumIncome

MediumIncome

High-MediumIncome

High Income

Life

Sat

isfa

ctio

n (0

-10)

Strong Social ConnectionsAverage Social ConnectionsPoor Social Connections

FEELING OUR WAY

Hopeful HAPPINESS

The future needs to be …

… Happier

… Fairer

… and lower carbon!

… and here’s how we can measure if we’re getting there

A Happy Planet Index

A Happy Planet Index

Launched by nef in July 2006HDI style rank order of nationsMeasure of the “Ecological efficiency with

which human well-being is delivered”Over 1,000,000 downloads to date

What do Indicators Indicate?

Ecosystem


Human system

Ecosystem


Human system

Ecosystem

Culture

Social Capital

Governance

Economy

Education Healthcare

Natural Capital

Biodiversity

CO2emissions

Soil erosion

Water quality Air quality


Human system

Ecosystem

Culture

Social Capital

Governance

Economy


Natural Capital

Biodiversity

CO2emissions

Soil erosion


Resource demand


Human system

Ecosystem

Resource demand

Ecosystem well-being

Human well-being

Culture

Social Capital

Governance

Economy


Natural Capital

Biodiversity

CO2emissions

Soil erosion


Ultimate Outcome measures

Human system


Human well-being

Resources – the link

Human system

Resource demand


Human well-being

Resources – the link

Human system

Resource demand

Human well-being

What HPI measures

Human system

Resource demand

Human well-being

What HPI measures

Human system

Resource demand

Human well-being

Happy and Long Lives

Resource Use

What HPI measures

Human system

Resource demand

Human well-being

Happy and Long Lives

Resource Use

(divided by)

What HPI measures

Human system

Resource demand

Human well-being

(Life Sat) * (Life Exp)

Eco Footprint

(divided by)

Country comparisons

UK

Mexico

Canada

USA

Costa Rica

HPIEco Foot

Life Exp

Life SatCountry

Country comparisons

7.1UK

6.9Mexico

7.6Canada

7.4USA

7.5Costa Rica

HPIEco Foot

Life Exp

Life SatCountry

Country comparisons

78.47.1UK

75.16.9Mexico

80.07.6Canada

77.47.4USA

78.27.5Costa Rica

HPIEco Foot

Life Exp

Life SatCountry

Country comparisons

5.478.47.1UK

2.575.16.9Mexico

6.480.07.6Canada

9.577.47.4USA

2.178.27.5Costa Rica

HPIEco Foot

Life Exp

Life SatCountry

Country comparisons

40.3 (108th)5.478.47.1UK

54.4 (38th)2.575.16.9Mexico

39.8 (111th)6.480.07.6Canada

28.8 (150th)9.577.47.4USA

66.0 (3rd)2.178.27.5Costa Rica

HPIEco Foot

Life Exp

Life SatCountry

FEELING OUR WAY

CHALLENGE

HPI in Europe over time

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001

% c

hang

e si

nce

1961

HLYFootprintEfficiency

HPI 2050: One Planet Living©

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001

%ch

ange

sinc

e19

61

FootprintHLYEfficiency

2050

60 - 80% reduction in CO2 emissions

Life Expectancy 80yrsLife Satisfaction 8/10

Resource efficiency to improve by over 80%

FEELING OUR WAY

OPTIMISM

A reason to be optimistic

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Footprint centile group

Life

sat

isfa

ctio

n (0

-10)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Ecological Footprint

Mean Life Satisfaction

One planet living

No.

of p

lane

ts (0

-10)

Figure 2: Ecological Footprint andsubjective life satisfaction in the UK

We can do it together…

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Footprint centile group

Life

sat

isfa

ctio

n (0

-10)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Ecological Footprint

Mean Life Satisfaction

One planet living

No.

of p

lane

ts (0

-10)

Figure 2: Ecological Footprint andsubjective life satisfaction in the UK

FEELING OUR WAY

ENGAGEMENT

An experiment

A

B C


An experiment

A

B C


Attention to the detail

Attention to the relationship

What else we are doing?

Well-being at workBuilt environment and well-beingCampaign about children’s well-beingInnovation and well-beingNational Accounts of Well-being

What Nat Accounts measure

Human system

Ecosystem

Resource demand


Human well-being

Culture

Social Capital

Governance

Economy


Natural Capital

Biodiversity

CO2emissions

Soil erosion



Human system

Human well-being

Culture

Social Capital

Governance

Economy



Human system

Personal well-being

Culture

Social Capital

Governance

Economy


Social

well-being

Draft Structure of Accounts

National Well-being

Personal Well-being Social Well-being


Personal well-being

Emotional well-being

Meaning and

purpose

Engage-mentAutonomy+ve Affect -ve Affect

(Physical) Vitality

Positive function-

ing

Satisfying life

Resilience and self-esteem

Self-esteem Optimism Resilience Compet-

ence


Social well-being

Supportive relationships

Sense of community

Family Friends Belonging Trust

Preliminary Results

Well-beings

4.00

4.50

5.00

5.50

6.00

6.50

4.00 4.50 5.00 5.50 6.00 6.50

Personal

Soci

al

Preliminary Results

Austria

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00health

vitality

-ve affect

+ve affect

lifesat

resources

autonomy

competence

engagement

community

friends

family

Preliminary Results

Spain

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00health

vitality

-ve affect

+ve affect

lifesat

resources

autonomy

competence

engagement

community

friends

family

Austria

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00health

vitality

-ve affect

+ve affect

lifesat

resources

autonomy

competence

engagement

community

friends

family

Preliminary Results

Ukraine

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00health

vitality

-ve affect

+ve affect

lifesat

resources

autonomy

competence

engagement

community

friends

family

UK

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00health

vitality

-ve affect

+ve affect

lifesat

resources

autonomy

competence

engagement

community

friends

family

What can you do?

For a Lasting Happiness – be kinder to yourself and others, invest your effort in activities you are passionate about

For a Contagious Happiness – random and targeted acts of kindness, pro-social activities, generosity/altruism

For a Just Happiness – consider people less fortunate than yourself, become engaged in projects that genuinely impact them, question the dominant economic paradigm.

For a Lighter Happiness – savor the slower life, enjoy the familiarity of home and local spaces, value the quality of your experiences rather than material goods, develop your own good life (don’t buy into the marketing companies’ false promises)

For a Happy Planet – get the report, do the on-line questionnaire, join nef, or even make a career of working towards a happier, fairer and lower carbon world

Happiness doesn’t have to cost the Earth!

Contact Details: Nic [email protected]

Reports downloadable fromwww.neweconomics.orgwww.happyplanetindex.org

does happiness have to cost the earth - tufts[1]

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