Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

13. Experience versus evaluation of happiness: Baumeister, Vohs, et al. 2013; Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016; Kahneman 2011; Veenhoven 2010.

14. Context-sensitivity of ratings happiness versus satisfaction versus good life: Deaton 2011; Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016; Veenhoven 2010. Just average them: Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016; Kelley & Evans 2016; Stevenson & Wolfers 2009.

15. Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016, p. 4, table 2.1, pp. 16, 18.

16. Eudaemonia or meaningfulness: Baumeister, Vohs, et al. 2013; Haybron 2013; McMahon 2006; R. Baumeister, “The Meanings of Life,” Aeon, Sept. 16, 2013.

17. Adaptive function of happiness: Pinker 1997/2009, chap. 6. Different adaptive functions of happiness and meaningfulness: R. Baumeister, “The Meanings of Life,” Aeon, Sept. 16, 2013.

18. Percent happy: cited in Ipsos 2016; see also Veenhoven 2010. Average ladder placement: 5.4 on a 1–10 scale, Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016, p. 3.

19. Happiness gap: Ipsos 2016.

20. Money does buy happiness: Deaton 2013; Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016; Inglehart et al. 2008; Stevenson & Wolfers 2008a; Roser 2017.

21. Independence of happiness and inequality: Kelley & Evans 2016.

22. Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016, pp. 12–13.

23. Winning the lottery: Stephens-Davidowitz 2017, p. 229.

24. National happiness increases over time: Sacks, Stevenson, & Wolfers 2012; Stevenson & Wolfers 2008a; Stokes 2007; Veenhoven 2010; Roser 2017.

25. World Values Survey shows increasing happiness: Inglehart et al. 2008.

26. Happiness, health, and freedom: Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016; Inglehart et al. 2008; Veenhoven 2010.

27. Culture and happiness: Inglehart et al. 2008.

28. Non-monetary contributors to happiness: Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016.

29. American happiness: Deaton 2011; Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs 2016; Inglehart et al. 2008; Sacks, Stevenson, & Wolfers 2012; Smith, Son, & Schapiro 2015.

30. World Happiness Report 2016 rankings: 1. Denmark (7.5 rungs up from the worst possible life); 2. Switzerland; 3. Iceland; 4. Norway; 5. Finland; 6. Canada; 7. Netherlands; 8. New Zealand; 9. Australia; 10. Sweden; 11. Israel; 12. Austria; 13. United States; 14. Costa Rica; 15. Puerto Rico. The unhappiest countries are Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria, and Burundi (157th place, 2.9 rungs up from the worst possible life).

31. American happiness: A fall and rise is seen in the World Database of Happiness (Veenhoven undated), which includes data from the World Values Survey; see the online appendix to Inglehart et al. 2008. A slight decline is seen in the General Social Survey (gss.norc.org); see Smith, Son, & Schapiro 2015 and figure 18-4 in this chapter, which plots the “Very happy” trend.

32. Restriction of range in American happiness: Deaton 2011.

33. Inequality as part of the explanation for the American happiness stagnation: Sacks, Stevenson, & Wolfers 2012.

34. America as a happiness trend outlier: Inglehart et al. 2008; Sacks, Stevenson, & Wolfers 2012.

35. African American happiness increase: Stevenson & Wolfers 2009; Twenge, Sherman, & Lyubomirsky 2016.

36. Declining female happiness: Stevenson & Wolfers 2009.

37. Distinguishing age, period, and cohort: Costa & McCrae 1982; Smith 2008.

38. Older people are happier overall: Deaton 2011; Smith, Son, & Schapiro 2015; Sutin et al. 2013.

39. Dips in middle age and in the final years: Bardo, Lynch, & Land, 2017; Fukuda 2013.

40. Great Recession trough: Bardo, Lynch, & Land 2017.

41. Each successive cohort happier through the Baby Boomers: Sutin et al. 2013.

42. Gen X and Millennials happier than Baby Boomers: Bardo, Lynch, & Land 2017; Fukuda 2013; Stevenson & Wolfers 2009; Twenge, Sherman, & Lyubomirsky 2016.

43. Loneliness, longevity, and health: Susan Pinker 2014.

44. Both quotes are from Fischer 2011, p. 110.

45. Fischer 2011, p. 114. See also Susan Pinker 2014, for a judicious analysis of the changes and constancies.

46. Fischer 2011, p. 114. Fischer cites “a few sources of social support” in full awareness of a highly publicized 2006 report which announced that from 1985 to 2004 Americans reported a third fewer people with whom they could discuss important matters, with a quarter of them saying they had no one at all. He concluded that the result was an artifact of the survey methods: Fischer 2006.

47. Fischer 2011, p. 112.

48. Hampton, Rainie, et al. 2015.

49. Connectedness of social media users: Hampton, Goulet, et al. 2011.

50. Stress in social media users: Hampton, Rainie, et al. 2015.

51. Changes and constancies in social interaction: Fischer 2005, 2011; Susan Pinker 2014.

52. Suicide rates depend on availability of methods: Miller, Azrael, & Barber 2012; Thomas & Gunnell 2010.

53. Risk factors for suicide: Ortiz-Ospina, Lee, & Roser 2016; World Health Organization 2016d.

54. Happiness-suicide paradox: Daly et al. 2010.