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Bruce Headey - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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national panel studies show substantial minorities recording long term change in life satisfaction implications for Set Point Theory
Stability of happiness theories and evidence on whether happiness can change, 2014Co-Authors: Bruce Headey, R J A Muffels, Gert G WagnerAbstract:Set Point Theory can be directly tested only with panel dataSets in which the life satisfaction/subjective well-being of adults has been measured repeatedly over a long period of time. Three long-running, high-quality panels are the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), and the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics Survey in Australia (HILDA). Evidence from these panels shows that substantial minorities of adults have recorded long-term change in life satisfaction. Explanations for change relate primarily to life priorities and behavioral choices, not discrete life events. Relevant life priorities are a commitment to pro-social and family values. Relevant behavioral choices include choice of partner, a preferred work–leisure balance, active social and community participation, volunteering, regular exercise, and churchgoing. Set Point Theory has led to a focus on factors that stabilize life satisfaction. It is suggested that although a “weak” version of Set Point Theory could perhaps be salvaged, it will be more productive in the future for researchers to focus on individual and public policy choices that can change life satisfaction.
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The Set Point Theory of Well-Being Has Serious Flaws: On the Eve of a Scientific Revolution?
Social Indicators Research, 2010Co-Authors: Bruce HeadeyAbstract:Set-Point Theory is the main research paradigm in the field of subjective well-being (SWB). It has been extended and refined for 30 years to take in new results. The central plank of the Theory is that adult Set-Points do not change, except temporarily in the face of major life events. There was always some ‘discordant data’, including evidence that some events are so tragic (e.g. the death of one’s child) that people never regain their Set-Point. It was possible to dismiss these events as ‘exceptions’ and maintain the Theory. However, several new findings are emerging, which cannot be dismissed as ‘exceptions’ and which appear to require substantial revisions or replacement of Set-Point Theory. Many of these findings are based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP 1984-), which provides the longest available time series on life satisfaction. Despite its centrality, the concept of the Set-Point is often not precisely defined. In this paper three alternative working definitions are offered. Depending on which definition is used, it is found that over 20 years 14–30% of German panel members recorded large and apparently permanent changes in their Set-Points. Changes of this magnitude are not compatible with Set-Point Theory as currently understood. The challenge for SWB researchers now is to develop a Theory which can account for change as well as stability.
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authentic happiness Theory supported by impact of religion on life satisfaction a longitudinal analysis with data for germany
The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2010Co-Authors: Bruce Headey, Jurgen Schupp, Ingrid Tucci, Gert G WagnerAbstract:Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP), this paper assesses the relationship between life satisfaction and religious practice. The main new result here is longitudinal. It is shown that individuals who become more religious over time record long term gains in life satisfaction, while those who become less religious record long term losses. This result holds net of the effects of personality traits, and also in fixed effects panel models. The paper has significant implications for the dominant, paradigm Theory in SWB research, namely Set-Point Theory. This Theory holds that the long term SWB of adult individuals is stable, because SWB depends on personality traits and other stable genetic factors. It is already clear from the German panel data that about 20% of the population have recorded large long term changes in SWB. New evidence in this paper and elsewhere about the effects of consciously chosen life goals, including religious ones, on SWB is hard to reconcile with Set-Point Theory. It is more in line with authentic happiness Theory.
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life goals matter to happiness a revision of Set Point Theory
Social Indicators Research, 2008Co-Authors: Bruce HeadeyAbstract:Using data from the long-running German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP), this paper provides evidence that life goals matter substantially to subjective well-being (SWB). Nonzero sum goals, which include commitment to family, friends and social and political involvement, promote life satisfaction. Zero sum goals, including commitment to career success and material gains, appear detrimental to life satisfaction. Finding that conscious life goals matter can potentially make an important contribution to SWB Theory. The most widely accepted Theory - Set-Point or dynamic equilibrium Theory - essentially claims that Set-Points are near-automatic consequences of hereditary characteristics, including personality traits. Life goals play no role in these theories and major life events are viewed as having only a transitory effect. The SOEP panel data show that, over a 15-20 year period, non-trivial minorities record substantial changes in their Set-Points. This paper shows linkages between these changes and (a) the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism and internal locus of control and (b) choice of life goals.
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The Set-Point Theory of Well-Being: Negative Results and Consequent Revisions
Social Indicators Research, 2008Co-Authors: Bruce HeadeyAbstract:An adequate Theory of happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) needs to link at least three Sets of variables: stable person characteristics (including personality traits), life events and measures of well-being (life satisfaction, positive affects) and ill-being (anxiety, depression, negative affects). It also needs to be based on long-term data in order to account for long-term change in SWB. By including personality measures in the 2005 survey, the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) became the first available dataSet to provide long-term evidence about personality and change in one key measure of SWB, namely life satisfaction. Using these data, the paper suggests major revisions to the Set-Point Theory of SWB; revisions which seek to account for long-term change. Previously, Theory focused on evidence that individuals have their own Set-Point of SWB and revert to that Set-Point once the psychological impact of major life events has dissipated. But the new SOEP panel data show that significant minorities record substantial and apparently permanent upward or downward changes in life satisfaction. The paper aims to explain why most people’s SWB levels do not change, but why a minority do. The main new result, which must be regarded as tentative until replicated, is that the people most likely to record large changes in life satisfaction are those who score high on the personality traits of extraversion (E) and/or neuroticism (N). These people in a sense ‘roll the dice’ more often than others and so have a higher than average probability of recording long-term changes. Data come from the 3130 SOEP respondents who rated their life satisfaction every year from 1985 onwards, among whom 2843 also completed a Set of questions about their personality in 2005.
Gert G Wagner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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national panel studies show substantial minorities recording long term change in life satisfaction implications for Set Point Theory
Stability of happiness theories and evidence on whether happiness can change, 2014Co-Authors: Bruce Headey, R J A Muffels, Gert G WagnerAbstract:Set Point Theory can be directly tested only with panel dataSets in which the life satisfaction/subjective well-being of adults has been measured repeatedly over a long period of time. Three long-running, high-quality panels are the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), and the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics Survey in Australia (HILDA). Evidence from these panels shows that substantial minorities of adults have recorded long-term change in life satisfaction. Explanations for change relate primarily to life priorities and behavioral choices, not discrete life events. Relevant life priorities are a commitment to pro-social and family values. Relevant behavioral choices include choice of partner, a preferred work–leisure balance, active social and community participation, volunteering, regular exercise, and churchgoing. Set Point Theory has led to a focus on factors that stabilize life satisfaction. It is suggested that although a “weak” version of Set Point Theory could perhaps be salvaged, it will be more productive in the future for researchers to focus on individual and public policy choices that can change life satisfaction.
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authentic happiness Theory supported by impact of religion on life satisfaction a longitudinal analysis with data for germany
The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2010Co-Authors: Bruce Headey, Jurgen Schupp, Ingrid Tucci, Gert G WagnerAbstract:Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP), this paper assesses the relationship between life satisfaction and religious practice. The main new result here is longitudinal. It is shown that individuals who become more religious over time record long term gains in life satisfaction, while those who become less religious record long term losses. This result holds net of the effects of personality traits, and also in fixed effects panel models. The paper has significant implications for the dominant, paradigm Theory in SWB research, namely Set-Point Theory. This Theory holds that the long term SWB of adult individuals is stable, because SWB depends on personality traits and other stable genetic factors. It is already clear from the German panel data that about 20% of the population have recorded large long term changes in SWB. New evidence in this paper and elsewhere about the effects of consciously chosen life goals, including religious ones, on SWB is hard to reconcile with Set-Point Theory. It is more in line with authentic happiness Theory.
Fatima Rodriguez - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Set Point Theory and obesity
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 2011Co-Authors: Maria Magdalena Farias, Ada M Cuevas, Fatima RodriguezAbstract:Abstract Obesity is a consequence of the complex interplay between genetics and environment. Several studies have shown that body weight is maintained at a stable range, known as the “Set-Point,” despite the variability in energy intake and expenditure. Additionally, it has been shown that the body is more efficient protecting against weight loss during caloric deprivation compared to conditions of weight gain with overfeeding, suggesting an adaptive role of protection during periods of low food intake. Emerging evidence on bariatric surgery outcomes, particularly gastric bypass, suggests a novel role of these surgical procedures in establishing a new Set-Point by alterations in body weight regulatory physiology, therefore resulting in sustainable weight loss results. Continuing research is necessary to elucidate the biological mechanisms responsible for this change, which may offer new options for the global burden of obesity.
John W Osborn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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hypothesis Set Points and long term control of arterial pressure a theoretical argument for a long term arterial pressure control system in the brain rather than the kidney
Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, 2005Co-Authors: John W OsbornAbstract:SUMMARY 1. It has been hypothesised that the ‘Set-Point’ for the long-term control of mean arterial (MAP) resides within the kidney. In this model, the Set-Point of the ‘chronic renal function curve’ establishes the steady state relationship between renal perfusion pressure and urinary excretion of sodium and water, which, in turn, affects blood volume and cardiac output. The ‘renal–MAP Set-Point’ Theory predicts that the kidney controls MAP to maintain its own excretory function and that long-term regulation of blood volume and cardiac output are paramount to the regulation of arterial pressure. 2. An alternative hypothesis is proposed in which the ‘Set-Point’ for the long-term control of MAP resides within the central nervous system (CNS) rather than the kidney. In contrast with the ‘renal–MAP Set-Point’ model, the ‘CNS-MAP Set-Point’ model dictates that the brain controls MAP to maintain cerebral blood flow and CNS function. 3. The ‘CNS-MAP Set-Point hypothesis’ predicts that long-term regulation of MAP is paramount to the regulation of blood volume and cardiac output. It is proposed that the ‘CNS-MAP Set-Point’ system operates independently of the arterial baroreceptor reflex, which is a short-term controller of MAP. 4. The precise mechanisms by which the CNS ‘senses’ MAP are complex and remain to be discovered. The MAP ‘sensor’ likely involves integration of hormone levels linked to body fluid homeostasis and osmoreceptor and baroreceptor inputs. It is also proposed that an as yet undiscovered ‘central baroreceptor’ exists within the brain itself. 5. The ‘CNS-MAP Set-Point hypothesis’ predicts that many forms of experimental and essential hypertension are due to a primary shift in the CNS-MAP Set-Point.
Heidi L Weiss - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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do adaptive changes in metabolic rate favor weight regain in weight reduced individuals an examination of the Set Point Theory
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000Co-Authors: Roland L Weinsier, Tim R Nagy, Gary R Hunter, Betty E Darnell, Donald D Hensrud, Heidi L WeissAbstract:Background: Obese persons generally regain lost weight, suggesting that adaptive metabolic changes favor return to a preSet weight. Objective: Our objective was to determine whether adaptive changes in resting metabolic rate (RMR) and thyroid hormones occur in weight-reduced persons, predisposing them to longterm weight gain. Design: Twenty-four overweight, postmenopausal women were studied at a clinical research center in four 10-d study phases: the overweight state (phase 1, energy balance; phase 2, 3350 kJ/d) and after reduction to a normal-weight state (phase 3, 3350 kJ/d; phase 4, energy balance). Weight-reduced women were matched with 24 never-overweight control subjects. After each study phase, assessments included RMR (by indirect calorimetry), body composition (by hydrostatic weighing), serum triiodothyronine (T3), and reverse T3 (rT3). Body weight was measured 4 y later, without intervention. Results: Body composition‐adjusted RMR and T3:rT3 fell during acute (phase 2) and chronic (phase 3) energy restriction (P < 0.01), but returned to baseline in the normal-weight, energybalanced state (phase 4; mean weight loss: 12.9 ± 2.0 kg). RMR among weight-reduced women (4771 ± 414 kJ/d) was not significantly different from that in control subjects (4955 ± 414 kJ/d; P = 0.14), and lower RMR did not predict greater 4-y weight regain (r = 0.27, NS). Conclusions: Energy restriction produces a transient hypothyroid-hypometabolic state that normalizes on return to energybalanced conditions. Failure to establish energy balance after weight loss gives the misleading impression that weight-reduced persons are energy conservative and predisposed to weight regain. Our findings do not provide evidence in support of adaptive metabolic changes as an explanation for the tendency of weight-reduced persons to regain weight. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;72:1088‐94.