Happiness Raised by Raising Awareness: Effect of Happiness Using the Happiness Indicator

Abstract

The Happiness Indicator (www.happinessindicator.nl) is an online tool designed to make people more aware of their own happiness. Participants periodically record how happy they feel on the present day and how happy they have felt over the past month, using the Happiness Comparer. They also have the option of indicating in the Happiness Diary how happy they felt during the various activities of the previous day. Participants receive feedback in the form of a comparison with their earlier scores and with the average scores of similar participants. The theory behind the website is that a keener awareness of one’s own happiness helps users find an optimal lifestyle and consequently promotes happiness among participants. The website has been online since January 2011; 5,411 participants have participated at least twice, and 64% of them used the Happiness Diary one or more times. These numbers are now high enough to permit an initial analysis of the effect of the use of the Happiness Indicator on the participants’ happiness. We find that the use of the Happiness Comparer only marginally increases happiness. The effect of using the Happiness Diary turns out to be stronger. Using the Happiness Diary 10 times results in an average increase in happiness of 2%. This 2% increase in happiness can be compared to the effects of an increase of € 600 in annual income. In addition, we find that repeated use of the Happiness Diary had a particularly strong effect for those who felt less happy when they first used the Happiness Indicator. 1 Erasmus University Rotterdam, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology and Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization (EHERO) 2 Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics, Department of Applied Economics and Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization (EHERO) 3 VGZ insurance company, Arnhem, The Netherlands, Department of Innovation 4 Technical University Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Faculteit Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Department Industrial Engineering: 5 Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization (EHERO). Corresponding author: veenhoven@ese.eur.nl