| Study | Headey (2008): study DE 1990 |
| Title | Life Goals Matter to Happiness: A Revision of Set-Point Theory. |
| Source | Social Indicators Research, 2008, Vol. 86, 213 - 231 |
| DOI | DOI:10.1007/s11205-007-9138-y |
| Public | 16+ aged, general public, Germany, 1990-2004 |
| Sample | Probability multi-stage cluster sample |
| Non-Response | |
| Respondents N = | 3553 |
| Correlate | |
| Author's label | Current priority for life-goals |
| Page in Source | 222, 227 |
| Our classification | Current life-goals |
| Operationalization | Selfreport on questions on perceived importance of goals: a: being able to buy things b: fulfilling your potential c: success in job d: having children e: having a good marriage f: being involved in social and political activities g: helping other people Rated: 1 'very umimportant' to 4 'very important Grouped on the basis of factor analysis A: zero-sum goals: succes (a+b+c) B: non-zero-sum goals; family life (d+e) C: non-zero-sum goals altruism (f+g) |
| Error Estimates | T2-T3 over-time correlation: Success goals: r = +.49, Family goals r = +.49, Altruistic goals: r = +.41 |
| Remarks | T1: 1990, T2: 1995, T3: 2004 Assessed at T3. Average importance of ratings, transformed to dummy-variable by split at the mean |
| Observed Relation with Happiness | ||
| Happiness Measure | Statistics | Elaboration/Remarks |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | T3 Happiness by T3 priority life-goals | |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | r=+.11 | Priority for family-goals |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | Beta=+.26 p < .001 | |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | r=+.15 | Priority for altruistic-goals |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | Beta=+.16 p < .001 | |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | r=+.07 | Priority for succes-goals |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | Beta=-.09 p < .05 | Beta's controlled for -current priorities for the alternative goals -gender -age -extraversion -neuroticism -internal locus of control -having a partner -years of education -disposable household income -health disability Beta's very similar for men, women and respondents in prime age (25-59). |
| Code | Full Text |
| O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d | Selfreport on single question: Taking all things together, how satisfied are you with your life these days? Please answer with the help of this scale. For instance, when you are totally satisfied with your life, please tick '10'. When you are totally unsatisfied with your life, please tick '0'. You may use all values in between to indicate that you are neither totally satisfied nor totally unsatisfied." 10 totally satisfied 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 totally unsatisfied |
| Symbol | Explanation |
| Beta | STANDARDIZED REGRESSION COEFFICIENT by LEAST SQUARES (OLS) Type: test statistic. Measurement level: Correlates: all metric, Happiness: metric. Range: [-1 ; +1] Meaning: beta > 0 « a higher correlate level corresponds to a higher happiness rating on average. beta < 0 « a higher correlate level corresponds to a higher happiness rating on average. beta = 0 « no correlation. beta = + 1 or -1 « perfect correlation. |
| r | PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATION COEFFICIENT (Also "Pearson's correlation coefficient' or simply 'correlation coefficient') Type: test statistic. Measurement level: Correlate: metric, Happiness: metric Range: [-1; +1] Meaning: r = 0 « no correlation , r = 1 « perfect correlation, where high correlate values correspond with high happiness values, and r = -1 « perfect correlation, where high correlate values correspond with low happiness values. |