Article summary of Can and should happiness be a policy goal? Policy insights from the behavioral and brain sciences by Oishi & Diener. - Chapter

What is this article about?

This article is a review of happiness research that demonstrates that self-reported happiness could be used to evaluate public policies. The thesis is that self-report well-being measures can be used to track objective societal and economic conditions and that we can use them to make society better in a variety of different ways. The ideal society is the society in which citizens are happy, fee satisfied, and find their lives meaningful.

Should happiness be a policy goal?

Since the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, how well a society is doing is being measured by their production value. The progress of a society is measured by economic progress in the form of national income as the net value of all economic goods produced by the nation. The gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP) are two of the most frequently used overall economic well-being measures.

The first problem with this is that pure economic indicators leave out many aspects of life that are central to residents' daily lives. The second problem with this is that economic indicators do not include harms and by-products of economic activities such as environmental pollution and occupational hazards. We are told we are doing well as a society as long as we are making money, but a lot of the times this doesn't align with how well we actually feel. The dissatisfaction with purely economic indicators of societal well-being led to the quality of life movement in the late 1960s. How overall well-being is defined and what measures people think should be used to measure it, has changed over the years. But the initial idea of the movement is still thriving: we need to make people's well-being a priority over economic welfare. 

In conclusion, the ultimate goal of public policy should be to enhance citizens' subjective well-being. Economic growth should serve people's well-being, well-being should not be at the expense of economic growth. By changing the focus from economic measures to well-being measures, we can make society better for everyone in every aspect of life, not just in how much money they have.

Can happiness be a policy goal?

The last question that remains, is whether happiness can actually be a practical goal, or whether it is more of an ideal. Self-reported well-being does turn out to be sufficiently reliable and valid. Self-report measures track objective societal and economic conditions fairly well. It can also help to quantify people's suffering. For example, we know from research that a severe disability is twice as detrimental for well-being as unemployment. If we use this kind of research, we can make better decisions on policy that can make people overall happier.

Self-reported well-being also helps to evaluate the effectiveness of specific public policies. For example, after the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the happiness of single mothers increased significantly. By testing people's well-being, we are thus able to test the effectiveness of public policies. 

In conclusion, subjective well-being should and can be measured regularly to inform public policies. An ideal society is a society where citizens feel happy and there are efficient and reliable ways to test well-being and to enhance well-being through policy.