The Origins of Happiness

The Origins of Happiness

followed up at intervals into their 40s; and the Avon sample

(ALSPAC) of people born in 1991– 92. The tables that fol-

low are based on the cross- sectional results from these three

surveys modified occasionally for reasons we explain.^6 All

the numbers are subject to potential margins of error, set

out in the preceding chapters.

Our findings are as relevant to every individual as they

are to policy makers. But we are particularly keen to see a

revolution in policy making— which will only come about

if policy makers can find the information in a convenient

form. So how would policy makers use these findings?

First, they would want to choose those areas that most

called for new policy initiatives. For this purpose they

would be interested in the factors that most account for the

huge variety in the quality of life in our society— ranging

from misery at one end to great fulfillment at the other. The

statistic that reflects how much a factor accounts for this

variety is the partial correlation coefficient or β- statistic. So

in the tables that follow we start with the β- coefficients.

But, having done this, policy makers would want to ex-

amine particular policy changes that could improve hap-

piness in the population. Each policy change would have

its cost and would produce a specific amount of extra hap-

piness. This requires tables that show how changing one

factor by one unit changes the amount of happiness in the

community measured in natural units on a scale 0– 10. So

we also give tables where the effects are measured in this

“absolute” way. Like all statistics in this book, these are the

best estimates but are subject to quite wide confidence in-

tervals that can be found in the Full Tables online. We are

now ready to start.