The Origins of Happiness

Chapter 6

negative.^24 More recently, the data from the English Longi-

tudinal Study of Aging provide another striking example.

Focusing on people’s happiness (measured by a few simple

questions), they interviewed a sample of British people aged

over 50 and then followed them for the next nine years, re-

cording whether they had died. Those who were least happy

to begin with were the most likely to die. The differences

were very striking. Even after controlling for age and any

Table 6.5. How physical and mental health are affected by childhood

outcomes and family (British Cohort Study) (β- coefficients)

Physical

health

Emotional

health

Has not seen a doctor

for emotional health

problems in the

last year

Intellectual
performance (16)

−0.02 (.01) 0.05 (.02) 0.03 (.02)

Behavioral skills
(16)

0.01 (.01) 0.04 (.02) 0.02 (.02)

Emotional health
(16)

0.05 (.01) 0.22 (.02) 0.13 (.02)

Family income −0.00 (.01) 0.02 (.02) −0.01 (.03)

Parents’ education −0.02 (.01) 0.04 (.02) 0.02 (.02)

Father’s
unemployment

−0.02 (.01) −0.07 (.02) −0.09 (.03)

Mother’s
employment

0.01 (.01) 0.01 (.02) 0.02 (.02)

Parental
involvement

0.00 (.01) 0.02 (.02) 0.06 (.03)

Family break- up −0.00 (.01) −0.01 (.02) −0.03 (.02)

Mother’s mental
health

0.03 (.01) 0.12 (.02) 0.06 (.02)