Unemployment Alters the Set Point for Life Satisfaction
Open accessAbstract
According to set-point theories of subjective well-being, people react to events but then return to baseline levels of happiness and satisfaction over time. We tested this idea by examining reaction and adaptation to unemployment in a 15-year longitudinal study of more than 24,000 individuals living in Germany. In accordance with set-point theories, individuals reacted strongly to unemployment and then shifted back toward their baseline levels of life satisfaction. However, on average, individuals did not completely return to their former levels of satisfaction, even after they became reemployed. Furthermore, contrary to expectations from adaptation theories, people who had experienced unemployment in the past did not react any less negatively to a new bout of unemployment than did people who had not been previously unemployed. These results suggest that although life satisfaction is moderately stable over time, life events can have a strong influence on long-term levels of subjective well-being.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
0 of 21 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged
- Findingown data
When adaptation-phase satisfaction was regressed on baseline and reaction-phase satisfaction, the reaction phase made a significant additional contribution (β=.69, SE=.08, t=9.09, p<.001).
“the reaction phase added significantly to the prediction ( = .69,S.E.= .08,t = 9.09, p < .001)when both average baseline satisfaction and average reaction phase satisfaction were entered into the equation.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Long after unemployment ended, average satisfaction remained below baseline.
“Table 1 shows that, on average, people do not return to baseline levels long after the period of unemployment has ended”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Reaction and adaptation parameters had a correlation of .67.
“the reaction parameter correlated .67 with the adaptation parameter”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Changes in a person's income over time had a significant positive association with life satisfaction, with a coefficient of .40.
“within-person changes in income had a significant and substantial positive effect on people's life satisfaction over the course of the study (a coefficient of .40)”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Even with within-person income controlled, satisfaction fell by more than half a point during the reaction phase.
“even after controlling for this effect, people become over one-half of a point less satisfied during the reaction phase of unemployment.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
- Findingown data
No person-level characteristic moderated the within-person adaptation parameter.
“The moderator analyses show that none of the person-level characteristics influenced this within-person adaptation parameter.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
The link between income changes and satisfaction was weaker for people with higher average income.
“people's average income moderates the effect of within-person changes in income -the higher a respondent's average income, the less changes in income influence life satisfaction.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
On average, satisfaction remained below its pre-unemployment level even after people found work again.
“However, on average, individuals did not completely return to their former levels of life satisfaction, even after they became re-employed.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Higher average income was associated with greater life satisfaction at the study's start.
“People with higher incomes began the study with higher levels of life satisfaction”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Even people whose satisfaction dropped sharply after unemployment showed some rebound toward baseline.
“Furthermore, even individuals who dropped dramatically after unemployment showed some rebound toward baseline, not the pattern we would expect from a downward spiral due to internal causes.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Those who were unemployed for over a year began with satisfaction about a quarter point below other respondents.
“people who were unemployed for more than one year began the study approximately one-quarter point lower than the other respondents in this sample.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
In this sample, most people who lost jobs remained unemployed for about a year or less.
“For example, in the current study, most of the individuals who become unemployed over the course of the study were only unemployed for approximately one year or less.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
Life events like unemployment or widowhood can shift a person's long-term satisfaction level.
“There is substantial stability in life satisfaction during adulthood, but events such as unemployment or widowhood can change people's long-term level.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
The results suggest that job loss may leave a lasting scar, lowering average satisfaction even after people return to work and after income is controlled.
“Our findings suggest that an unemployment experience might scar people in some way so that they are less satisfied with life on average even after re-employment and even controlling for income.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationreasoning
The authors interpret their evidence as most consistent with unemployment affecting long-term life satisfaction.
“Thus, we believe that the present evidence is most readily interpreted in terms of the effects of unemployment on long-term life satisfaction.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
A person's reaction to unemployment forecasts their longer-term adaptation.
“demonstrating that how one reacts to unemployment predicts how he or she will adapt in the long run.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
The event seems to have established a lower long-term satisfaction baseline, nearly one standard deviation below the initial level.
“Thus, the experience of unemployment seems to have created a new baseline level of life satisfaction that is almost one standard deviation lower than their initial levels before the unemployment began.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Factors like health, income, and attractiveness account for only a small portion of the variance in SWB.
“Personal life circumstances including one's health, income, and beauty often account for a very small percentage of variance in SWB (Argyle, 2001;Diener et al., 1999;Myers, 1992).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked- cites Argyle, 2001
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- cites Diener et al., 1999 source
- cites Myers, 1992
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Interpretationown data
Higher initial satisfaction predicted a lower likelihood of returning to baseline.
“Thus, people who were more satisfied to begin with were less likely to adapt back to baseline.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisenone given§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Many prospective longitudinal studies have samples too small to study large numbers of people who went through the same event.
“However, these studies often do not have large enough samples to examine large numbers of people who have experienced the same event.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisereasoning§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Since many events are not randomly assigned, pre-existing differences may affect who experiences them.
“In addition, because many events do not occur randomly, pre-existing differences might influence the experience of events.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisereasoning§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Stable average SWB can coexist with large instability at the individual level.
“However, even if average levels are stable, there could be a great deal of individual-level instability.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Wortman and Silver (1990) reported that parents who showed little immediate grief after a child's death had better well-being years later.
“For example, Wortman and Silver (1990) found that parents who did not show extreme grief immediately following the death of their child had higher levels of long-term well-being a number of years after the death.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Wortman and Silver (1990)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Premisereasoning§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Combining different event types prevents researchers from learning how much and how quickly people adapt to any particular event.
“This aggregation makes it impossible to determine the extent and time course of adaptation to specific life events.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisereasoning§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction
Prior research on adaptation to life events generally overlooks differences among individuals in how they react.
“Existing studies of adaptation to life events also suffer from an additional limitation: These studies usually neglect individual differences in reaction to events.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
- May combine two claims. 23
- Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 17
May combine two claims.
Findingown dataSex, age, income, and unemployment duration did not alter how strongly people reacted.
“Thus, reactions to unemployment were similar regardless of sex, age, income, or length of time one remained unemployed.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataIndividually, some people gained a little satisfaction after adapting, while others stayed much lower for years.
“At the individual level, people's set-point changed in that some individuals' life satisfaction increased slightly after adaptation to the unemployment experience, whereas other people's life satisfaction stayed substantially lower even after many years.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataBaseline satisfaction had correlations of -.11 with reactivity and -.30 with adaptation.
“Initial baseline levels of satisfaction correlated -.11 with the reactivity parameter and -.30 with the adaptation parameter.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataAnalyses within persons showed wide variation in both how people reacted to unemployment and how they adapted.
“Within-person analyses showed, however, that there are considerable individual differences in reaction and adaptation to unemployment.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataAdaptation was significantly weaker than reaction, showing that people did begin moving back toward baseline during that phase.
“although the adaptation parameter is significantly smaller than the reaction parameter ( 2 = 6.57, df = 1, p < .05),which shows that people do start shifting back towards baseline during the adaptation phase”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingown dataBefore unemployment, selected respondents scored roughly a quarter point above average on life satisfaction.
“Table 1 shows that the respondents who met our selection criteria were approximately onequarter of a point higher than average on life satisfaction before they became unemployed.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
FindingcitationThe meaning and impact of unemployment vary across people, with clear individual differences in how they react.
“It is important to note, however, that an event such as unemployment does not have the same meaning or influence on everyone -there are clear individual differences in reactions to these events”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataA separate model found baseline satisfaction correlated .73 with reactivity and .62 with adaptation; reactivity correlated .80 with adaptation.
“Satisfaction in the baseline period correlated .73 and .62 with satisfaction in the reactivity and adaptation periods, respectively.Satisfaction in the reactivity period correlated .80 with satisfaction in the adaptation phase.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataAlthough satisfaction was quite stable over the years, unemployment still shifted long-term levels.
“Although there was substantial stability in life satisfaction over the years, unemployment did influence long-term levels, thus suggesting that in addition to personality, long-term subjective well-being can also be influenced by life circumstances.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataIn a 15-year longitudinal study, people showed a strong initial reaction to unemployment and then moved partway back toward their earlier satisfaction baseline.
“In accordance with set-point theory, individuals first reacted strongly to unemployment and then shifted back toward their former (or”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataBefore losing their jobs, those who later became unemployed reported high life satisfaction and showed no signs of the lower levels that initial alcohol or dysphoria problems would predict.
“First, prior to unemployment, the individuals who would eventually become unemployed reported a high level of life satisfaction, and did not show evidence of lower levels that would likely result from initial problems with alcohol, dysphoria, and so forth.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
PremisecitationLucas et al. (2001) reported that widows experience a steep drop in life satisfaction and, on average, remain below their earlier levels five years later.
“Second, it should also be noted that Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, and Diener (2001) found that widows show a sharp decline in life satisfaction and do not on average return to their former levels even after five years”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, and Diener (2001)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
May combine two claims.
Interpretationown dataThe data reveal high temporal stability in life satisfaction, a pattern consistent with temperament having a strong influence.
“Our data show strong temporal stability in life satisfaction, which is compatible with the idea of a strong temperament influence (Tellegen et al., 1988).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Tellegen et al., 1988
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionMeasures of subjective well-being tend to be fairly stable over time and usually shift only a little after major life events.
“Research shows that these variables are moderately to strongly stable over time and often change only slightly following major life events.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999 source
May combine two claims.
Interpretationown dataBaseline satisfaction explains much of the adaptation level, but reaction-phase satisfaction still improves prediction of eventual adaptation.
“This indicates that although the baseline phase captures a substantial amount of variance in the adaptation level, satisfaction during the reaction phase adds variance to the prediction of one's eventual adaptation level.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
InterpretationreasoningIn aggregate, respondents reported lower satisfaction well after unemployment ended, which suggests the event reduced their average set-point.
“At the aggregate level, people were less satisfied long after unemployment, suggesting that the event lowered the average set-point of these respondents.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Study design and conductown dataSatisfaction scores were centered by survey year and by four population groups: West Germans, East Germans, immigrants to Germany, and foreigners in Germany.
“Because of certain trends in the data, we centered life satisfaction scores within each year of the survey and within four sub-samples of the larger population (West Germans, East Germans, immigrants to Germany, and foreigners living in Germany; see Lucas et al., for details).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionHigher happiness predicts later increases in income, better health, and more positive life events.
“For example, longitudinal studies have shown that happiness prospectively predicts higher income levels (e.g., Diener, Nickerson, Lucas, & Sandvik, 2001;Marks & Fleming, 1999), better health (Danner & Snowdon, 2001), and the experience of various positive life events (Magnus, Diener, & Fujita, 1996).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checkedMay combine two claims.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionLucas et al. (2001) reported that adaptation to marital transitions was often incomplete, varied greatly across people, and that stronger reactions predicted whether someone ever fully adapted.
“They found that people often showed incomplete adaptation to marital transitions.Furthermore, Lucas et al. demonstrated that there were considerable individual differences in these reactions, and that the strength with which one reacted to an event was strong predictor of whether or not he or she would ever completely adapt.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, and Diener (2001)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionInborn temperament may account for roughly 80% of the variance in long-term SWB.
“In a later study, Lykken and Tellegen (1996) concluded that about 80 percent of the variance in long-term levels of SWB could be attributed to inborn temperament.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Lykken and Tellegen (1996) source
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Study design and conductown dataParticipants rated life satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 10.
“participants were asked how satisfied they were with their lives at the time of the survey, using a scale that ranged from 0 to 10.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.
Study design and conductcitationThe GSOEP used multi-stage random sampling of households and invited every member of each selected household to take part.
“Households were selected using multi-stage random sampling, and all members of each selected household were asked to participate.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Haisken-De New & Frick, 1998
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Classified as probably not a substantial claim.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionCross-sectional work has found that people without jobs are generally much less happy than those with jobs.
“Previous cross-sectional studies of unemployment have shown that unemployed individuals tend to be substantially less happy than employed individuals (Argyle, 2001;Clark and Oswald, 1994).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked- cites Argyle, 2001
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- cites Clark and Oswald, 1994 source
Classified as probably not a substantial claim.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionUnder set-point theory, people react to events at first and later go back to a baseline well-being level set by personality.
“According to this theory, people initially react to events, but then return to baseline levels of well-being that are determined by personality factors.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Headey & Wearing, 1992
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
May combine two claims.
Premisereasoning§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionBecause pre-event SWB is unknown, cross-sectional and post-event longitudinal designs cannot establish whether people recover to their earlier levels.
“Unfortunately, neither of these designs is ideal because pre-event levels of SWB are not known. Thus, these designs cannot determine whether people return to pre-event levels of SWB.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionPeople have inborn SWB set-points.
“Researchers have therefore claimed that people have inborn SWB”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Headey & Wearing, 1992
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.
Study design and conductreasoningThe multilevel approach let people with incomplete records still inform parameter estimates: 1,119 contributed to the fixed effects, while the 669 with complete data informed correlations among parameters.
“However, the multi-level modeling analytic technique allows participants to contribute to the estimate of parameters, even if they do not have complete data.Therefore, the 1,119 participants contribute to the fixed part of the model, but only the 669 participants with complete data contribute to the estimate of correlations among parameters.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionIndividual differences in personality and temperament strongly shape SWB levels.
“Furthermore, personality and temperament variables seem to play a strong role in determining individuals' levels of SWB (Diener & Lucas, 1999).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Diener & Lucas, 1999 source
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.
Study design and conductown dataThe model needed data from each person for at least two years on both sides of the unemployment spell; 669 respondents satisfied this stricter requirement.
“We should note that this model requires that all participants contribute data for at least two years before and after their period of unemployment, a criterion that is more restrictive than our initial selection criterion.Six hundred sixty-nine respondents met this more restrictive selection criterion.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionGenetic factors explain roughly half the variance in positive and negative affect.
“Tellegen et al. (1988), for example, used a twin study design to show that genes account for about half of the variance in positive and negative affect.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Tellegen et al. (1988)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionThe stability of SWB appears unaffected by major life events, since those who experienced them had long-term test-retest reliability similar to those who did not.
“Costa, McCrae, and Zonderman (1987) showed that the stability of SWB does not seem to be affected by the events that happen to people-individuals who experienced major life events exhibited similar long-term test-retest reliability on SWB measures as did those who experienced no such major life events.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Costa, McCrae, and Zonderman (1987) source
Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.
Study design and conductown dataData came from a 15-year longitudinal study with annual in-person interviews.
“Surveys were conducted yearly using face-to-face interviews.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Premisecitation§ Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life SatisfactionAccording to Suh et al., the impact of most life events on SWB lasts under two months.
“Suh, Diener, and Fujita (1996) estimated that most life events affect SWB for less than two months”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Suh, Diener, and Fujita (1996) source
Classified as probably not a substantial claim.
Study design and conductown dataThe analysis included only people who started employed, had a single spell of unemployment, then returned to work and stayed employed through the study's end.
“Participants were selected from the larger sample if they began the study employed, experienced one period of unemployment during the study, regained employment, and then stayed employed for the remainder of the study.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
SWB can be used to make a strong case for unemployment programmes given the significant reduction in SWB associated with any periods of unemployment.
“More specifically, SWB could be used to make a strong case for unemployment programmes given the significant reduction in SWB associated with any periods of unemployment (Clark et al., 2004;Clark, 2010).”
From Measuring Subjective Wellbeing: Recommendations on Measures for use by National Governments (2012) · cites this paper as Clark et al., 2004
The Results (page unavailable) report that life satisfaction fell by more than half a point, on average, during the reaction phase of unemployment. But the Method (page unavailable) limits the study to people who experienced one unemployment episode and then remained employed; it does not establish a significant reduction in all measures of SWB for any period of unemployment. The case for unemployment programmes is the citing authors’ policy inference, not a finding attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEmployment may be associated with positive outcomes such as increased physical and mental health.
“Employment may be associated with positive outcomes such as increased physical and mental health [11–13].”
From Supported employment: Meta-analysis and review of randomized controlled trials of individual placement and support (2019) · cites this paper as [11]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Reactivity row reports the wrong t statistic
MinorDividing the reactivity coefficient by its standard error gives approximately −10.96, not the positive 8.116 shown in the table. The discrepancy is too large to result from rounding.
Reported 8.116 · recomputed -10.959184
“| Intercept, 10 | -0.537 | 0.049 | 8.116 <0.001 | |”
Cites
Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods.
Longford, N. T., Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1993) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2075823 · Cited by 18,768 · see citing works
Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276 · Cited by 12,910 · see citing works
Self-citationWell-being : the foundations of hedonic psychology
Kahneman, D. J., Diener, E. F., & Schwarz, N. (1999) · Cited by 7,472 · see citing works
Self-citationHierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods.
Goldstein, H., Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1993) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.2307/2290750 · Cited by 3,320 · see citing works
Introducing Multilevel Modeling
Kreft, I., & de Leeuw, J. (1998) · doi:10.4135/9781849209366 · Cited by 2,997 · see citing works
Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1994) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.2307/2234639 · Cited by 2,562 · see citing works
Self-citationLottery winners and accident victims: is happiness relative?
Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.36.8.917 · Cited by 2,225 · see citing works
Happiness Is a Stochastic Phenomenon
Lykken, D., & Tellegen, A. (1996) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00355.x · Cited by 1,719 · see citing works
Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?
Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff‐Bulman, R. (1978) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.36.8.917 · Cited by 1,707 · see citing works
Personality and Subjective Well-Being
Richard, E., & Diener, E. (2009) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_4 · Cited by 1,604 · see citing works
Self-citationWill Money Increase Subjective Well-Being?
Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2002) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1023/a:1014411319119 · Cited by 1,555 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For example, in a review of the income-SWB association, Diener and Biswas-Diener (2002) reported that most surveys find correlations in the range of .13 to .24.”
BackgroundSelf-citationArgyle, M. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315812212 · Cited by 1,549 · see citing works
Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study.
Danner, D. D., Snowdon, D. A., & Friesen, W. V. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.80.5.804 · Cited by 1,406 · see citing works
Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status.
Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.3.527 · Cited by 1,357 · see citing works
Self-citationHedonic relativism and planning the good society
Brickman, P., & Campbell, D. T. (1971) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,176 · see citing works
Scarring: The Psychological Impact of Past Unemployment
Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Sanfey, P. J. (2001) · Economica · doi:10.1111/1468-0335.00243 · Cited by 769 · see citing works
Self-citationMyers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1996) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0596-70 · Cited by 736 · see citing works
Self-citationExtraversion and neuroticism as predictors fo objective life events: A longitudinal analysis.
Magnus, K. B., Diener, E., Fujita, F., & Payot, W. (1993) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.65.5.1046 · Cited by 687 · see citing works
Self-citationEvents and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter.
Suh, E., Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1996) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.5.1091 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Self-citationExtraversion and neuroticism as predictors of objective life events: A longitudinal analysis.
Magnus, K., Diener, E., Fujita, F., & Pavot, W. (1993) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.5.1046 · Cited by 504 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Journal of Family Psychology
Levant, R. F. (1992) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e410072005-009 · Cited by 375 · see citing works
Costa, P. T., McCrae, R. R., & Zonderman, A. B. (1987) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1987.tb02248.x · Cited by 341 · see citing works
Social Psychology, Unemployment and Macroeconomics
Darity, W. A. J., & Goldsmith, A. H. (1996) · The Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.10.1.121 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Dispositional Affect and Job Outcomes
Diener, E., Nickerson, C., Lucas, R. E., & Sandvik, E. (2002) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1023/a:1019672513984 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Self-citationBowling, N. A. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_25 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Influences and Consequences of Well-being Among Australian Young People: 1980–1995
Marks, G. N., & Fleming, N. (1999) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1023/a:1006928507272 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
A Note on Unhappiness and Unemployment DurationPreprint
Clark, A. E. (2006) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.944467 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Self-citationLehman, D. R., Lang, E. L., Wortman, C. B., & Sorenson, S. B. (1989) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0080505 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
A longitudinal analysis of personality, life events, and subjective well-being
Magnus, K. B. (1991) · Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Everyday life experiences at home: An interaction diary approach to assess marital relationships.
Kirchler, E. M. (1989) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0080501 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Lehman, D. R., Lang, E. L., Wortman, C. B., et al. (1989) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/0893-3200.2.3.344
Events and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter: Erratum.
Suh, E., Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1996) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.71.5.842
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Haisken-De New J.P., 1998, Desktop companion to the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP)
- Headey B., 1992, Understanding happiness: A theory of subjective well-being
- Kahneman D., 1999, Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology, 3
- Raudenbush S.W., 2000, HLM 5
- Seligman M.E.P., 2002, Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment
- Silver R.L., 1982, Coping with an undesirable life event: A study of early reactions to physical disability
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803 · Cited by 7,143 · see citing works
“…& Hinsz, 2001 164 Seven-point semantic differentials Task performance .19 Krueger et al., 2001a 397 MPQ positive emotionality Self-reported altruism .44 Lucas et al., 2004 24,000 One-item happiness Income .20 Magen & Aharoni, 1991a 260 Four-item positive affect Transpersonal commitment .21 Magen &…”
Self-citationDevelopments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being
Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/089533006776526030 · Cited by 3,177 · see citing works
“#4 2 Source: Clark, Diener, Georgellis and Lucas (2003), using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel.”
InfluentialRelative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles
Clark, A. E., Frijters, P., & Shields, M. A. (2008) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.46.1.95 · Cited by 3,159 · see citing works
“More recent examples of adaptation in non-monetary spheres are Lucas et al. (2003) and Lucas (2005) with respect to marriage and divorce, Wu (2001) and Oswald and Powdthavee (2005) for adaptation to illness or disability, and Lucas et al. (2004) regarding unemployment.”
Self-citationDolan, P., Peasgood, T., & White, M. (2008) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2007.09.001 · Cited by 3,121 · see citing works
Beyond money: toward an economy of well-being
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00501001.x · Cited by 2,555 · see citing works
Self-citationAdvances in subjective well-being research
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Tay, L. (2018) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0307-6 · Cited by 2,003 · see citing works
Self-citationBeyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being.
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.61.4.305 · Cited by 1,946 · see citing works
“from work ( Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2004 ), and individuals who divorced (Lucas, 2005b) all reported long-lasting changes in life satisfaction after these life events.”
MethodSelf-citationIs Well-Being U-Shaped Over the Life Cycle?
Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2007) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.030 · Cited by 1,848 · see citing works
“…attracted attention from medical statisticians, psychologists, economists, and other investigators (including recently Easterlin 2003, Blanchflower and Oswald 2004, Helliwell and Putnam 2004, Lucas et al 2004, Layard 2005, Smith et al 2005, Ubel et al 2005, Gilbert 2006, and Kahneman et al 2006).”
Personality and Subjective Well-Being
Richard, E., & Diener, E. (2009) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_4 · Cited by 1,604 · see citing works
“ment and divorce, on the other hand, some amount of adaptation occurred, but this adaptation was incomplete (Lucas, 2005; Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationPsychological well-being: evidence regarding its causes and consequences
Huppert, F. A. (2009) · Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2009.01008.x · Cited by 1,583 · see citing works
Subjective well-being and adaptation to life events: A meta-analysis.
Luhmann, M., Hofmann, W., Eid, M., & Lucas, R. E. (2012) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025948 · Cited by 1,410 · see citing works
“The findings were perhaps most striking for unemployment: After the beginning of unemployment, mean levels of SWB were significantly below baseline, even if people became reemployed (Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationOn the promotion of human flourishing
VanderWeele, T. J. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1702996114 · Cited by 1,387 · see citing works
Subjective Well-Being: A General Overview
Diener, E., & Ryan, K. (2009) · South African Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1177/008124630903900402 · Cited by 1,381 · see citing works
Self-citationTheory and Validity of Life Satisfaction Scales
Diener, E., Inglehart, R., & Tay, L. (2012) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0076-y · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Lucas and Donnellan (2007) analyzed the life satisfaction of people over time in large data sets from Germany (SOEP), the United Kingdom (BHPS), and Australia (HILDA; see also Lucas 2007; Lucas and Clark 2006; Lucas et al. 2003, 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationLags and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis
Clark, A. E., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y., & Lucas, R. E. (2008) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02150.x · Cited by 1,171 · see citing works
“broadly, unemployment starts off bad and stays bad. Lucas et al. (2004) use hierarchical”
Self-citationHandbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Peteet, J. R. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190088859.001.0001 · Cited by 1,150 · see citing works
Advances and Open Questions in the Science of Subjective Well-Being
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Oishi, S. (2018) · Collabra Psychology · doi:10.1525/collabra.115 · Cited by 1,149 · see citing works
Self-citationThe IKEA effect: When labor leads to love
Norton, M. I., Mochon, D., & Ariely, D. (2012) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.08.002 · Cited by 1,049 · see citing works
“For example, being deprived of labor – in the form of unemployment – has clear financial repercussions, but also lasting psychological consequences; even when people obtain future employment, the adverse impact of job loss on well-being remains (Clark and Oswald 1994; Feather 1990; Lucas et al. 2004).”
BackgroundWhatever does not kill us: cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience
Seery, M. D., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0021344 · Cited by 954 · see citing works
Would You Be Happier Living in a Greener Urban Area? A Fixed-Effects Analysis of Panel Data
White, M. P., Alcock, I., Wheeler, B. W., & Depledge, M. H. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612464659 · Cited by 906 · see citing works
“Although we recognize the value in knowing, for instance, whether people adapt to living in areas with more or less green space (cf. Lucas et al., 2003, 2004, with respect to changes in marriage and employment status), our central aim was to quantify the impact green space might have on well-being…”
BackgroundThe Evolving Concept of Subjective Well-Being: The Multifaceted Nature of Happiness
Diener, E., Scollon, C. N., & Lucas, R. E. (2009) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_4 · Cited by 884 · see citing works
“46 for positive affect and negative affect in a student sample, and Costa and McCrae (1988) found 6-year stability coefficients in the 0.”
BackgroundSelf-citationDiener, E., Lucas, R. E., Schimmack, U., & Helliwell, J. F. (2009) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195334074.001.0001 · Cited by 868 · see citing works
Self-citationLife Satisfaction Set Point: Stability and Change.
Fujita, F., & Diener, E. (2005) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.1.158 · Cited by 821 · see citing works
“Another event that appears capable of moving people’s LS downward is unemployment (Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationLucas, R. E. (2007) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00479.x · Cited by 815 · see citing works
Self-citationHappiness in Everyday Life: The Uses of Experience Sampling
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Hunter, J. (2003) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1023/a:1024409732742 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
Doing the Right Thing: Measuring Well-Being for Public Policy
Seligman, M. E. P., Forgeard, M. J. C., Jayawickreme, E., & Kern, M. L. (2011) · International Journal of Wellbeing · doi:10.5502/ijw.v1i1.15 · Cited by 719 · see citing works
Neuroticism and common mental disorders: meaning and utility of a complex relationship.
Ormel, J., Jeronimus, B. F., Kotov, R., Riese, H., Bos, E. H., Hankin, B., Rosmalen, J. G. M., & Oldehinkel, A. J. (2013) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003 · Cited by 703 · see citing works
“…poor relationship quality, and chronic or repeated unemployment can lead to increases in neuroticism (P. Costa, Herbst, McCrae, & Siegler, 2000; Lucas et al., 2004; Lüdtke et al., 2011; Lüdtke et al., 2009) and CMD risk (Brown & Harris, 1989; K. S. Kendler, Gardner, & Prescott, 2002; K. S.…”
Longitudinal effects on mental health of moving to greener and less green urban areas
Alcock, I., White, M. P., Wheeler, B. W., Fleming, L. E., & Depledge, M. H. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es403688w · Cited by 665 · see citing works
Identity-based consumer behavior
Reed, A., Forehand, M., Puntoni, S., & Warlop, L. (2012) · International Journal of Research in Marketing · doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.08.002 · Cited by 658 · see citing works
Depression, self-esteem, and anger in emerging adulthood: Seven-year trajectories.
Galambos, N. L., Barker, E. T., & Krahn, H. J. (2006) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.350 · Cited by 598 · see citing works
On the role of positive and negative affectivity in job performance: A meta-analytic investigation.
Kaplan, S. A., Bradley, J. C., Luchman, J. N., & Haynes, D. (2009) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0013115 · Cited by 592 · see citing works
Blustein, D. L. (2008) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.63.4.228 · Cited by 587 · see citing works
“Indeed, Lucas et al. (2004) found that German workers who lost their jobs experienced an expected decline in their well-being but also failed to return to their preunemployment levels of well-being even after they located new employment.”
BackgroundInfluentialDoes happiness adapt? A longitudinal study of disability with implications for economists and judges
Oswald, A. J., & Powdthavee, N. (2008) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2008.01.002 · Cited by 563 · see citing works
“In this sense, it appears to be compatible with a small number of emerging papers such as Lucas et al (2004) and Fujita and Diener (2005).”
Subjective well-being and academic achievement: A meta-analysis
Buecker, S., Nuraydin, S., Simonsmeier, B. A., Schneider, M., & Luhmann, M. (2018) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2018.02.007 · Cited by 571 · see citing works
Money and mental wellbeing: A longitudinal study of medium-sized lottery wins
Gardner, J., & Oswald, A. J. (2007) · Journal of Health Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.08.004 · Cited by 562 · see citing works
“Hedonic adaptation is discussed in modern research by, for example, Rayo and Becker (2004), Clark (1999), Clark et al (2004), Lucas et al (2003, 2004), Di Tella et al (2005), Gilbert et al (1998), Riis et al (2005), Frederick and Loewenstein (1999), Kahneman and Sugden (2005), Oswald and Powdthavee…”
Life cycle happiness and its sources
Easterlin, R. A. (2006) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2006.05.002 · Cited by 560 · see citing works
Does Happiness Promote Career Success?
Boehm, J. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2007) · Journal of Career Assessment · doi:10.1177/1069072707308140 · Cited by 569 · see citing works
Tan, J. J. X., Kraus, M. W., Carpenter, N. C., & Adler, N. E. (2020) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000258 · Cited by 582 · see citing works
UNEMPLOYMENT AND SELF-ASSESSED HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM PANEL DATA
Ilmakunnasb, P. (2016) · Cited by 540 · see citing works
National accounts of subjective well-being.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2015) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/a0038899 · Cited by 544 · see citing works
Self-citationThe ‘What’, ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Employee Well-Being: A New Model
Page, K. M., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2009) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-008-9270-3 · Cited by 550 · see citing works
“Similar results were found in relation to unemployment ( Lucas et al. 2004 ).”
ResultStrine, T. W., Chapman, D. P., Balluz, L. S., Moriarty, D. G., & Mokdad, A. H. (2007) · Journal of Community Health · doi:10.1007/s10900-007-9066-4 · Cited by 496 · see citing works
“Factors such as employment [2, 6, 8, 11, 51, 52], marital status [2, 8, 11, 53], race [3] and education [40] have consistently shown associations with life satisfaction in previous research.”
ResultExplaining Away: A Model of Affective Adaptation
Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00085.x · Cited by 500 · see citing works
“…domains than they do in others; for example, Frederick and Loewenstein (1999) noted that people adapt more easily to incarceration than to unpleasant noises, and Lucas et al. (2004) found that losing one’s job is particularly difficult to adapt to and has a long-term impact on life satisfaction.”
Time Does Not Heal All Wounds: A Longitudinal Study of Reaction and Adaptation to Divorce
Lucas, R. E. (2005) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01642.x · Cited by 492 · see citing works
Self-citationHappiness and Public Policy: A Challenge to the Profession
Layard, R. (2006) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2006.01073.x · Cited by 487 · see citing works
“9 Lucas et al. (2004).”
Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., & Norton, M. I. (2011) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9267-5 · Cited by 484 · see citing works
“For instance, divorce (Lucas 2005), disability (Lucas 2007), and unemployment (Lucas et al. 2004) have been shown to exert a lasting negative impact on well-being.”
BackgroundLucas, R. E. (2007) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.717 · Cited by 463 · see citing works
“In other research, I have shown that these changes are often linked with specific life events like the experience of unemployment or divorce (Lucas, 2005; Lucas et al., 2004 ).”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citationThe Quality-of-Life (QOL) Research Movement: Past, Present, and Future
Sirgy, M. J., Michalos, A. C., Ferriss, A. L., Easterlin, R. A., Patrick, D. L., & Pavot, W. (2006) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-005-2877-8 · Cited by 456 · see citing works
Kim‐Prieto, C., Diener, E., Tamir, M., Scollon, C. N., & Diener, E. (2005) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-005-7226-8 · Cited by 427 · see citing works
“People who lost their jobs showed a decline in life satisfaction and never fully recovered to their former levels (Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationStability and specificity of meaning in life and life satisfaction over one year
Steger, M. F., & Kashdan, T. B. (2006) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-006-9011-8 · Cited by 418 · see citing works
How Can Measures of Subjective Well-Being Be Used to Inform Public Policy?
Dolan, P., & White, M. P. (2007) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00030.x · Cited by 416 · see citing works
Measuring Subjective Wellbeing: Recommendations on Measures for use by National Governments
DOLAN, P., & METCALFE, R. (2012) · Journal of Social Policy · doi:10.1017/s0047279411000833 · Cited by 404 · see citing works
Beyond Money: Toward an Economy of Well-Being
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2009) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_9 · Cited by 406 · see citing works
Self-citationHappiness adaptation to income and to status in an individual panel
Tella, R. D., Haisken‐DeNew, J. P., & MacCulloch, R. (2010) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2010.09.016 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
“The adaptation effects we investigate are consistent with the model of Pollak (1970), Wathieu (2004), Rayo and Becker (2005), inter alia.”
Happiness Is a Personal(ity) Thing
Weiß, A., Bates, T. C., & Michelle Luciano, A. (2008) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02068.x · Cited by 402 · see citing works
“…differences in the subjective well-being set point, but also that environmental events can lead to lasting changes in this set point and that the degree of adaptation to circumstances differs among individuals (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003; Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2004).”
BackgroundLife satisfaction and self-employment: a matching approach
Binder, M., & Coad, A. (2012) · Small Business Economics · doi:10.1007/s11187-011-9413-9 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
In Pursuit of Happiness: Empirical Answers to Philosophical Questions
Kesebir, P., & Diener, E. (2008) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00069.x · Cited by 377 · see citing works
“Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, and Diener (2003, 2004) , for example, have observed in a 15-year longitudinal study that individuals who experienced unemployment or widowhood did not, on average, fully recover and return to their earlier life satisfication levels.”
BackgroundSelf-citationDissatisfied with Life but Having a Good Day: Time‐use and Well‐being of the Unemployed
Knabe, A., Rätzel, S., Schöb, R., & Weimann, J. (2010) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02347.x · Cited by 348 · see citing works
“…influences, including the respondents’ income, social contacts or health.1 These answers represent a respondent’s personal assessment of general life satisfaction, but give only limited insights into what makes people unhappy when they are unemployed or what makes them happy when they are employed.”
InfluentialSubjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience
Stone, A. A., & Mackie, C. (2013) · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Happily Ever After? Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Happiness in Germany
Zimmermann, A. C., & Easterlin, R. A. (2006) · Population and Development Review · doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00135.x · Cited by 324 · see citing works
“Elsewhere, they conclude that unemployment has a lasting effect on well-being, altering the happiness setpoint (Lucas et al. 2004).”
BackgroundSchimmack, U., Schupp, J., & Wagner, G. G. (2008) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-007-9230-3 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
“Most prominently, the effect of unemployment on CWB has been demonstrated in several studies (Lucas et al. 2004; Murphy and Athanasou 1999; Winkelmann and Winkelmann 1998).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialTransactions between life events and personality traits across the adult lifespan.
Denissen, J. J. A., Luhmann, M., Chung, J. M., & Bleidorn, W. (2018) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspp0000196 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Van Boven, L. (2005) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.132 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
Anusic, I., & Schimmack, U. (2015) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspp0000066 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Back to Baseline in Britain: Adaptation in the British Household Panel Survey
Clark, A. E., & Georgellis, Y. (2012) · Economica · doi:10.1111/ecca.12007 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Self-citationThe role of career adaptability and work conditions on general and professional well-being
Maggiori, C., Johnston, C. S., Krings, F., Massoudi, K., & Rossier, J. (2013) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2013.07.001 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
How Does Subjective Well-Being Evolve with Age? A Literature Review
Ulloa, B. F. L., Møller, V., & Sousa‐Poza, A. (2013) · Journal of Population Ageing · doi:10.1007/s12062-013-9085-0 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Using wellbeing for public policy: Theory, measurement, and recommendations
Adler, A., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2016) · International Journal of Wellbeing · doi:10.5502/ijw.v6i1.429 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
“Even for employed individuals, providing opportunities to engage in meaningful activities is individually, socially, and economically beneficial (Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundLove, work, and changes in extraversion and neuroticism over time.
Scollon, C. N., & Diener, E. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.6.1152 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Self-citationLife Goals Matter to Happiness: A Revision of Set-Point Theory
Headey, B. (2007) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-007-9138-y · Cited by 275 · see citing works
“Using these data, Diener and colleagues observe that some respondents appear to have recorded long term and perhaps permanent changes in their SWB (Lucas et al. 2003; Clark et al. 2004; Fujita and Diener 2005).”
BackgroundZhang, J. W., Howell, R. T., & Stolarski, M. (2013) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-012-9322-x · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., Sweetman, D. S., & Harms, P. D. (2012) · Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies · doi:10.1177/1548051812465893 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Life Satisfaction Dynamics with Quarterly Life Event Data*
Frijters, P., Johnston, D. W., & Shields, M. A. (2011) · Scandinavian Journal of Economics · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9442.2010.01638.x · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Studying Changes in Life Circumstances and Personality: It's about Time
Luhmann, M., Orth, U., Specht, J., Kandler, C., & Lucas, R. E. (2014) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.1951 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
“For instance, unemployment has been associated with persistent changes in life satisfaction (Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe Challenge of Staying Happier
Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2012) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167212436400 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Income and happiness across Europe: Do reference values matter?
Caporale, G. M., Georgellis, Y., Tsitsianis, N., & Yin, Y. P. (2008) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2008.06.004 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
“According to Lucas et al. (2004), adaptation to unemployment is slow and incomplete. months) on well-being is strongly positive and statistically significant for the Scandinavian countries, and weakly positive but statistically insignificant for the Western European countries.”
BackgroundSelf-citationBeyond the Hedonic Treadmill: Revising the Adaptation Theory of Well-Being
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2009) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_5 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Self-citationHedonic Adaptation to Positive and Negative Experiences
Lyubomirsky, S. (2010) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195375343.013.0011 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Unemployment and mental health scarring during the life course
Strandh, M., Winefield, A. H., Nilsson, K., & Hammarström, A. (2014) · European Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1093/eurpub/cku005 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Boyce, C. J., Wood, A. M., & Brown, G. D. A. (2010) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2010.05.001 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Social desirability bias in self-reported well-being measures: evidence from an online survey
Caputo, A. (2017) · Universitas Psychologica · doi:10.11144/javeriana.upsy16-2.sdsw · Cited by 194 · see citing works
“…analyses, socio-demographic variables show that being female, not married/ cohabitant, less educated, and unemployed tend to lower subjective well-being, as demonstrated in previous studies (Lucas et al., 2004; Myers, 2000; Piccinelli & Wilkinson, 2000; Sigmon et al., 2005; Watson et al., 2010).”
ResultHeadey, B., Muffels, R., & Wooden, M. (2008) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-007-9146-y · Cited by 239 · see citing works
“that repeated spells of unemployment have a ‘scarring’ effect and permanently lower life satisfaction ( Clark et al, 2004 ).”
Does Happiness Promote Career Success? Revisiting the Evidence
Walsh, L. C., Boehm, J. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2018) · Journal of Career Assessment · doi:10.1177/1069072717751441 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
“Thus, the evidence implies that well-being may offer some measure of protection against unemployment—a particularly negative life event that is difficult for individuals to adapt to and recover from (Anusic et al., 2014; Fritz, Walsh, & Lyubomirsky, 2017; Lucas et al., 2004).”
BackgroundWorking Time Mismatch and Subjective Well-being
Wooden, M., Warren, D., & Drago, R. W. (2009) · British Journal of Industrial Relations · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00705.x · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Does Migration Make You Happy? A Longitudinal Study of Internal Migration and Subjective Well-Being
Nowok, B., van Ham, M., Findlay, A. M., & Gayle, V. (2013) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1068/a45287 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Subjective Wellbeing, Objective Wellbeing and Inequality in Australia
Western, M., & Tomaszewski, W. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163345 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Doris, J. M., & The Moral Psychology Research Group (2010) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199582143.001.0001 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Residential mobility, well-being, and mortality.
Oishi, S., & Schimmack, U. (2010) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0019389 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
“Second, openness to experience (characterized by vivid fantasy, artistic sensitivity, depth of feeling, behavioral flexibility, intellectual curiosity, and unconventional attitudes; McCrae, 1996) might also buffer the experience of residential moves, as behavioral flexibility, one facet of openness to experience, shou…”
BackgroundWhen what one has is enough: Mindfulness, financial desire discrepancy, and subjective well-being
Brown, K. W., Kasser, T., Ryan, R. M., Linley, P. A., & Orzech, K. M. (2009) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2009.07.002 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Born to be Happy? The Etiology of Subjective Well-Being
Bartels, M., & Boomsma, D. I. (2009) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10519-009-9294-8 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
“Andrews and Withey (1976) found, for example, that life satisfaction formed a separate factor form positive affect and this finding was replicated 20 years later (Lucas et al. 1996).”
BackgroundFrederick, D. E., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212208 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
A Demonstration of Set-Points for Subjective Wellbeing
Cummins, R. A., Li, N., Wooden, M., et al. (2013) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-013-9444-9 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Bolstering and restoring feelings of competence via the IKEA effect
Daniel Mochon, B., Norton, M. I., & Ariely, D. (2012) · International Journal of Research in Marketing · doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.05.001 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Subjective well-being: genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change
NES, R. B., Røysamb, E., TAMBS, K., HARRIS, J. R., & REICHBORN-KJENNERUD, T. (2006) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291706007409 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
“…differences in SWB as well as shifts in life satisfaction levels according to societal changes (Inglehart & Klingemann, 2000), and some people do not seem to adapt to permanent changes following certain experiences, such as widowhood (Lucas et al. 2003) and unemployment (Lucas et al. 2004).”
BackgroundInfluential(The Feeling of) Meaning-as-Information
Heintzelman, S. J., & King, L. A. (2014) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868313518487 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Burger, K., & Samuel, R. (2016) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0608-x · Cited by 209 · see citing works
“…repeated or long-term unemployment, the onset of disability, or the loss of a partner can change life satisfaction in both the short and long term (Lucas et al. 2004; Luhmann et al. 2012), we do not know exactly at which points changes in adults’ levels of stress and self-efficacy bring about…”
BackgroundVolunteering, subjective well-being and public policy
Binder, M., & Freytag, A. (2012) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2012.11.008 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Estabrook, R., Schupp, J., Wagner, G. G., & Lindenberger, U. (2008) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.4.1148 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Matthews, R. A., Wayne, J., & Ford, M. (2014) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0036674 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Sheldon, K. M., Abad, N. S., Ferguson, Y. L., Gunz, A., Houser‐Marko, L., Nichols, C. P., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-009-9153-1 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
“Lucas and colleagues have addressed the happiness change question using large-scale longitudinal data, showing that negative life events such as divorce, disability, or unemployment can have enduring negative effects on peoples’ happiness levels (e.g., Clark et al. 2008; Lucas et al. 2003, 2004; Lucas 2007).”
Background
- Authors
- Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Département et Laboratoire d'Economie, Théorique et Appliquée, Paris, France
- Brunel University of London (GB)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lucas, Richard E.
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2004-01
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 8-13
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2022668144
- Semantic Scholar
- 4d01dc1a9709f1b491ea2c3ceeafdcdf3875cef3
- Cited by
- 1,260
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 88 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 61 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 62 · 2015: 57 · 2014: 76 · 2013: 83 · 2012: 76
- FWCI
- 37.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- bura.brunel.ac.uk
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Brunel University Research Archive (BURA) (Brunel University London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Repository (Kingston University London) (submittedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- unemployment, life satisfaction, subjective well-being, set-point theory, adaptation, reemployment, life events, happiness
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Life Change Events, Personal Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Unemployment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-09-29.
Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-09-29.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
