期刊名称：DIW Diskussionspapiere / Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin
出版年度：2007
卷号：2007
出版社：Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin
摘要：Set-point theory has dominated the field of subjective well-being (SWB). It has
served as a classic Kuhn research paradigm, being extended and refined for
thirty years to take in new results. The central plank of the theory is that
adult set-points do not change, except just 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
recover back to their set-point. It was possible to dismiss these events as
'exceptions' and maintain the theory. However, several new findings are now
emerging, which it is increasingly difficult to dismiss as 'exceptions' and
which appear to require substantial revisions or replacement of set-point
theory. Many of these findings are based on data from the German Socio-Economic
Panel Survey (SOEP, 1984 - ) which provides clear evidence of large, long term
changes in the set-points of substantial minorities of the population. This
paper reviews recent findings and highlights lines of theory development which,
at minimum, represent substantial revisions to set-point theory and which may
perhaps lead to replacement of the paradigm. There is evidence to suggest that
individuals with certain personality traits are more likely to record long term
change in SWB than others. Also, SWB appears to depend partly on
choice/prioritisation of some life goals rather than others. Pursuit of non-zero
sum goals (family and altruistic goals) leads to higher SWB than pursuit of zero
sum goals (career advancement and material gains). Both these new lines of
theory appear promising and the second, in particular, cannot sensibly be
reconciled with set-point theory.
