Happiness, Health and Productivity

Andrew Oswald

Warwick Business School

Average GHQ Psychological Distress Levels Over Time in Britain: BHPS, 1991-Today

10.90

10.95

11.00

11.05

11.10

11.15

11.20

11.25

11.30

Average GHQ-12 (likert)

1991-1994 1995-1999 2000-2004

Equivalent results have been found for adults in the Netherlands, UK and Belgium.

Worsening GHQ levels through time

• Verhaak, P.F.M., Hoeymans, N. and Westert, G.P. (2005). “Mental health in the Dutch population and in general practice: 1987-2001”, British Journal of General Practice.

• Wauterickx, N. and P. Bracke (2005), “Unipolar depression in the Belgian population - Trends and sex differences in an eight-wave sample”, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

• Sacker, A. and Wiggins, R.D. (2002). “Age-period-cohort effects on inequalities in psychological distress”. Psychological Medicine.

Might this have something to do with work getting more stressful? [Yes]

Work by Francis Green, Keith Whitfield, et al.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1992 1997 2001 2006

%

Male s Fe male s

Proportion of High-Strain Jobs

Green (2008) Work Effort and Worker Well-Being in the Age of Affluence

Source: Skills Survey series

• A high-strain job is defined as having high required effort and low task discretion.

[The definition of low discretion is “at or below median”. High required effort is defined to be those who “strongly agree” that their job requires them to work very hard.]

Exactly how do we do this kind of work?

Using random samples from many nations:

Researchers try to understand what influences the psychological wellbeing of

(i) individuals

(ii) nations.

What kinds of things do we find?

There is an intriguing life-cycle pattern

The pattern of a typical person’s happiness through life

4.9

5.0

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

15-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70

Age group

Average life satisfaction score

This holds in various settings

This holds in various settings

For example, we see the same age pattern in mental health among a recent sample of 800,000 UK citizens:

[Blanchflower and Oswald, Social Science & Medicine, 2008]

The probability of depression by ageMales, LFS data set 2004-2006

-0.01

-0.005

0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990

Year of birth

Reg

ress

ion

co

effi

cien

t

-0.014

-0.012

-0.01

-0.008

-0.006

-0.004

-0.002

0

0.002

1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990

Depression by age among females: LFS data 2004-2006Q2

Year of birth

Reg

ress

ion

co

effi

cien

t

A time-series paradox:

Average Happiness and Real GDP per Capita for Repeated Cross-sections of Americans.

1.8

2

2.2

2.4

2.6

Mean Happiness

15000

18000

21000

24000

Real GDP per Capita

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995Year

Real GDP per Capita Mean Happiness

Happiness and mental well-being are of interest in themselves.

But there is another reason.

More broadly, there seem to be deep links between mind and body.

Happier human beings heal more quickly.

Author(s): Ebrecht M, Hextall J, Kirtley LG, Taylor A, Dyson M, Weinman J

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY    

Volume: 29    Issue: 6    Pages: 798-809    Published: JUL 2004 

“Every subject received a standard 4mm-punch biopsy, and the healing progress was monitored via high-resolution ultrasound scanning.”

“Every subject received a standard 4mm-punch biopsy, and the healing progress was monitored via high-resolution ultrasound scanning.”

Ebrecht et al 2004

• The overall results showed a significant negative correlation between speed of wound healing and GHQ scores (r = -.59; p < .01)

In other words, happier human beings heal more quickly.

Moreover, success raises your lifespan.

Two Studies of ‘Winners’

Two Studies of ‘Winners’

#1 Redelmeier and Singh, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2001

Oscar winners live 4 years longer than those merely nominated.

Two Studies of ‘Winners’

#2 Rablen and Oswald, 2006

Nobel scientists live 1.6 years longer than those merely nominated.

We need to understand these interconnections better.

Now to productivity.

With Eugenio Proto and Daniel Sgroi

With Eugenio Proto and Daniel Sgroi

We have been studying how happiness affects human productivity.

In our lab experiments, happiness raises productivity by 12%.

But does this generalize?

Yes

We also study the ‘natural experiment’ of bereavement and family illness.

These produce large negatives on productivity in the lab.

But how about high blood pressure as a national measure of well-being?

Across nations, hypertension and happiness are inversely correlated

(Blanchflower and Oswald, 2008 Journal of Health Economics)

0

10

20

30

40

50

Figure 2.The Inverse Correlation Between Hypertension and Life

Satisfaction: 16 European Nations Aggregated into Quartiles

Countries in the Countries in the lowest quartile highest quartile of blood-pressure of blood-pressure

Ire landDenmarkN'LandsSwede n

Spa inFra nceLuxUK Austria

Ita lyBe lgiumGree ce

E. Ge rmanyW. GermanyPortuga lFinland

Percentage of citizens very satisfied with their lives

Percentage of citizens very satisfied with their lives

It is known that heart rate rises under stress.

Stress comes in different forms

Stress comes in different forms

Stress comes in different forms

Stress comes in different forms

Stress comes in different forms

Stress comes in different forms

Stress comes in different forms

Stress happens sitting down.

• Nicolas Troubat et al (2009) European Journal of Applied Physiology

20 chess players – international and national-level players. They all played against a computer.

The computer standard was deliberately set one level higher.

The computer standard was deliberately set one level higher.

So all the players lost against the computer.

What happened?

What happened?

• Average heart-rate rose 11 beats a minute

• On average, players used up 140 calories playing the game

• Overall, the physiological changes were “similar…those … in moderate physical exercise”.

Pulse and Money

We find that for every extra £40,000 pounds a year, heart rate is 1 beat a minute slower.

Overall:

There are deep connections between happiness, money and health.

Some ideas to end:

Conclusions

#1 In the next century, new measures of human well-being will be required.

Conclusions

#2 There are profound connections between mental and physical health -- also between happiness and productivity.

Conclusions

#3 Heart-rate and blood pressure data have particular potential in policy design.

Conclusions

#4 Social scientists will, I believe, collaborate more with doctors and epidemiologists.

Ultimately, we are all interested in:

Happiness, Health and Productivity

Andrew OswaldWarwick Business School