Findings on happiness in Levin & Taylor (1998): study US 1979

Publication
Author(s)Levin, J.S.; Taylor, R.J.
TitlePanel Analyses of Religious Involvement and Well-Being in African Americans: Contemporaneous vs. Longitudinal Effects.
SourceJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1998, Vol. 37, 695 - 709
Investigation
Public18+ aged Blacks, USA, followed 1979 to 1992
Last assesment1992
 T1: 1979 (wave I), T2: 1992 (Wave IV)
Survey nameNot available
 National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA).
SampleProbability multi-stage cluster sample
 Sampling was based on the national disrtribution of African Americans from the 1970 Census, and 76 primary sampling units (PSU) were selected for interviewing. After these PSUs were racially stratisfied, smaller geographical clusters were randomly drawn. Professionally trained interviewers visited each cluster and identified all habitable, occupied households using special screening procedures developed to locate African-American homes. One member of each selected household was then chosen for interview.
Respondents N =1988
Non Response32%
AssesmentInterview: face-to-face
Happiness measure(s) used
Full textSelfreport on single question: In general, how satisfied are you with your life these days? Would you way that you are....? 4 very satisfied 3 somewhat satisfied 2 somewhat dissatisfied 1 very dissatisfied
ClassificationO-SLW-c-sq-v-4-aa
Author's labelLife satisfaction
Page in publication701
RemarksT1 (1979) : M = 3,04 SD = 0,82 T2 (1992) : M = 3,21 SD = 0,76
Finding used in
nation ranks		Yes
 On original range 1 - 4On range 0 - 10
Mean3.13
Standard deviation0.79

Full textSelfreport on single question: Taken all together, how would you say things are these days? Would you say that you are....? 3 very happy 2 pretty happy 1 not too happy
ClassificationO-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa
Author's labelHappiness
Page in publication701
RemarksT1 (1979) : M = 2,13 SD = 0,66 T2 (1992) : M = 2,06 SD = 0,65
Finding used in
nation ranks		Yes
 On original range 1 - 3On range 0 - 10
Mean2.10
Standard deviation0.66

Correlational findings

Author's label Our subject description
Ageshow  Current age (in years)
Asking for prayershow  Praying
Asking for prayershow  Change in religion
Asking for prayershow  Praying, also classified as above ↑
Church activityshow  Participation in church
Church activityshow  Change in religion
Church activityshow  Participation in church, also classified as above ↑
Church membershipshow  Church-member or not
Earlier church membershipshow  Earlier religion
Earlier religious attendanceshow  Earlier religion
Educationshow  Level of school-education
Employedshow  Current employment status
Femaleshow  Sex (male vs female)
Health satisfactionshow  Satisfaction with health
Listening to religious TV/Radioshow  Current religious practices
Listening to religious TV/Radioshow  Tv watching, radio listening, also classified as above ↑
Listening to religious TV/Radioshow  Change in religion
Listening to religious TV/Radioshow  Tv watching, radio listening, also classified as above ↑
Marriedshow  Married state (compared to non-married states)
Prayershow  Praying
Prayershow  Change in religion
Prayershow  Praying, also classified as above ↑
Reading religious booksshow  Current religious practices
Reading religious booksshow  Reading, also classified as above ↑
Reading religious booksshow  Change in religion
Reading religious booksshow  Reading, also classified as above ↑
Religious attendanceshow  Current religious practices
Southernshow  Region in USA
Subjective religiosityshow  Satisfaction with religion
Subjective religiosityshow  Change in religion
Subjective religiosityshow  Satisfaction with religion, also classified as above ↑
Urbanshow  Rural vs urban dwelling