Findings on happiness in Nock (1981): study US 1973

Publication
Author(s)Nock, S.L.
TitleFamily Life-Cycle Transitions: Longitudinal Effects on Family Members.
SourceJournal of Marriage and the Family, 1981, Vol. 43, 703 -714
Investigation
Public16+ aged working force, USA, followed 5 years, 1973-1977
Collect period1-2
Last assesment1977
 T1: January/February 1973, T2 1977
Survey nameNot available
 Quality of Employment Surveys
SampleProbability area sample
 Within households one person of 16 years or older and working 20 or more hours or temporarily unemployed was interviewed Because the sample only includes members of the labor force, it has an under representation of women, especially married women. (62 % males)
Respondents N =963
 T1:1455 T2: 1086
Non ResponseNot available
AssesmentInterview: face-to-face
Happiness measure(s) used
Full textSelfreport on single question: Here are some words and phrases. We would like you to use these in describing how you feel about your present life. 1 not too happy 2 3 4 5 6 7 very happy Item in Campbell's semantic differential scale
ClassificationO-HL-c-sq-n-7-c
Author's labelHappiness
Page in publication706
Finding used in
nation ranks		Yes
Full textSelfreport on single question: Here are some words and phrases. We would like you to use these in describing how you feel about your present life. 1 not very satisfying 2 3 4 5 6 7 completely satisfying Item in Campbell's semantic differential scale
ClassificationO-SLu-c-sq-n-7-c
Author's labelLife satisfaction
Page in publication706
Finding used in
nation ranks		Yes

Correlational findings

Author's label Our subject description
Ageshow  Current age (in years)
Birth of additional child within past 5 yearsshow  Birth of children
Birth of additional child within past 5 yearsshow  Number of children, also classified as above ↑
Birth of first childshow  Birth of children
Divorceshow  Recent divorce/separation
Educationshow  Level of school-education
Evaluation of happiness in 1972-1973show  Past happiness ( 1 to 10 years ago)
Evaluation of life satisfaction in 1972-1973show  Past happiness ( 1 to 10 years ago)
First marriageshow  Recent marriage
Multiple transitionsshow  Specific earlier life-events
Multiple transitionsshow  Specific life-changes, also classified as above ↑
Raceshow  Ethnic status in the USA
Remarriageshow  Recent re-marriage
Sexshow  Sex (male vs female)
Summed effectsshow  Summed effects of earlier + current conditions
Widowhoodshow  Recent widowhood