Is the Study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit?

This paper critiques the view that the study of happiness is not a worthy scientific pursuit. The happiness set point and hedonic treadmill theories denote the complexity of increasing happiness levels due to genetic limitations and adaptation, however, there is mounting evidence to suggest that with the use of appropriate measures and specific interventions aimed at fostering strengths and virtues, happiness can be increased. Furthermore, the benefits of investigating methods for increasing happiness include improvements in physical, psychological and social health and well-being. It is concluded that approaching human needs from a top down or holistic standpoint where individuals can use their strengths to overcome life’s challenges, is beneficial to health and well-being. Hence, the study of happiness is a worthy scientific pursuit.     

The Best and Worst Times of Life: Narratives and Assessments of Subjective Well-Being by Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) in the Eastern Cape,South Africa

The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) measure of subjective well-being (SWB) aims to reduce the problems of cultural bias and relativity to external standards by allowing people to define the endpoints or ‘anchors’ of the measurement scale. In medical terminology anamnestic denotes ‘based on memory’. The ACSA uses subjects’ memories of the best and worst periods in their lives to define the anchors of the scale. They then assess their current quality of life relative to these personal anchors. The South African pilot study tested the match between self-assessment of SWB with ACSA and the conventional single-item measures of life satisfaction and happiness used in the South African Quality of Life Trends Study and analysed the narratives of the best and worst times of life. The quota sample of 46 consisted of 26 residents of Makana district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and 20 patients undergoing treatment in the local TB hospital. Mean SWB ratings with all three measures of life satisfaction, happiness and ACSA were between 5 and 6 on a 0–10-point scale. Ratings on all three scales were positively correlated. However, on ACSA the TB patients rated their current SWB 1.84 points lower than the community respondents, suggesting a greater sensitivity of this measure. It was observed that the starting points of the life stories produced by respondents to define the anchor periods for ACSA were related to their current assessment of SWB. A typology was developed that combined the starting point of the life stories with current SWB. The majority of community respondents matched the ‘Achiever’ type who scored positively on ACSA (i.e., above the mid-point of the scale) and whose life stories started with the worst period of their lives and proceeded to the best period. The TB patients were the only respondents to represent the ‘Survivor’ type whose morale had recovered after misfortune in life. ‘Survivors’ started their narratives with the best period in their lives, then moved to the worst (often health-related) one, and gave positive ACSA ratings. Based on the qualitative analysis of narratives, it is concluded that ACSA is a sensitive measurement instrument and therefore particularly useful for monitoring the effects of treatments and social interventions in longitudinal studies. However, further research is required to verify its cross-cultural validity.

Life with and without heart disease among women and men over 50

This article uses a demographic approach and data from the Health and Retirement Survey, a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population, to investigate sex differences in the length of life lived with heart disease and after a heart attack for persons in the United States age 50 and older. On average, women live longer than men with heart disease. At age 50 women can expect to live 7.9 years and men 6.7 years with heart disease. The average woman experiences heart disease onset three years older and heart attacks 4.4 years older than men.     

The Relationship between Subjective Well-being and Domain Satisfactions in South Africa

This paper examines the relationship between subjective well-being and domain satisfactions. In the past different models have been specified. The most commonly applied model is the bottom-up model in which domain satisfactions affect subjective well-being. The more recent top-down model suggests a reversed relationship. Finally there is the supposition that the correlations between these variables can be spurious due to the effect of personality characteristics. Empirical research has shown that different models are found for different domains and in different countries. Focussing on the effects of the domain satisfactions of finances, housing and social contacts it has been found that subjective well-being is mainly affected by satisfaction with social contacts in Western developed countries and by satisfaction with finances in East European countries. The question we should like to answer in this study is whether a similar pattern obtains for the factors which influence subjective well-being among the different race groups in South Africa. Interestingly, coloured people and Asians did indeed show the expected effects but the groups with the most extreme living conditions did not. Evaluation of life circumstances by black and white South Africans was determined by expectations for the future rather than by current living conditions. This surprising result is discussed in the light of the political situation in South Africa.     

Efficient Heuristics for MRP Lot Sizing with Variable Production/Purchasing Costs*

Two heuristics based on branch and bound (B&B) are developed to solve closed-loop material requirements planning (MRP) lot-sizing problems that have general product structures and variable costs. A “look ahead method'’(LAM) heuristic allows for variable production/purchasing costs and uses a single-level B&B procedure to rapidly improve lower bound values; thus, LAM efficiently uses computer-storage capacity and allows solution of larger problems. The “total average modification'’(TAM) heuristic uses B&B, applied level by level, and modified setup and carrying costs to solve the variable production/purchasing costs MRP lot-sizing problem. LAM and TAM are tested on problems and compared to heuristics in the literature. TAM may be used to solve large MRP lot-sizing problems encountered in practice.     

Lowering Inventory Systems Costs by Using Regression-Derived Estimators of Demand Variability*

Scientific techniques for inventory management typically are applied to systems containing many items. Such techniques require an estimation of the demand variance (and mean) of each item from historical data. This research demonstrates a significant potential for improvement in system cost performance from using least-squares regression fits of a variance-to-mean functional relation instead of the standard statistical variance estimate. Even when there is a moderate degree of heterogeneity among items and when the form of the variance-to-mean relation is misspecified, substantial cost savings may be realized. The cost of statistical uncertainty may be reduced by half. The research also provides evidence that system cost is fairly insensitive to the number of items used to fit the regression. This paper provides the underlying reason why a regression-derived variance estimator yields lower cost: it is less variable than the usual individual item variance estimator.     

A Warning Zone Method for the Multiperiod Cost Variance Investigation Problem

This paper develops a warning zone approach to make variance investigation decisions for a multiperiod process. The assumed cost generation process varies between an in-control and out-of-control state. These states cannot be directly observed, but must be inferred from the reported cost variances. Using the warning zone method of inference, the manager investigates the process whenever an upper threshold is exceeded or a lower threshold is exceeded for two consecutive periods. A four-state Markov chain models the resulting decision process. Steady state probabilities are derived for this chain and are used to obtain explicit formulas for the effectiveness and efficiency of the decision process. These formulas permit computation of the cost savings attainable by the warning zone method. Compared to other decision rules, the warning zone method is much simpler than the theoretically optimal Bayesian revision method, but uses more information than the Markovian control limit method. Numerical comparison of results shows that the warning zone method usually captures most of the available cost savings, even in cases where the Markovian control limit method does not perform well.     

Women's “Justification” of Domestic Violence in Egypt

We explored the influences of women's social learning, marital resources and constraints, and exposure to norms about women's family roles on their views about wife hitting or beating among 5,450 participants in the 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey. One half justified wife hitting or beating for some reason. Women from rural areas who were exposed to domestic violence more often justified such acts. Dependent wives whose husbands had more schooling, were blood relatives, and were coresident more often justified such acts. In settings where women tended to marry at older ages, women less often justified such acts. Women's resources and constraints in marriage accounted for the largest share of the variability in their attitudes about domestic violence against women.     

In Vino Pecunia? The Association Between Beverage-Specific Drinking Behavior and Wages

The positive association between moderate alcohol consumption and wages is well documented in the economic literature. Positive health effects as well as networking mechanisms serve as explanations for the “alcohol–income puzzle.” Using individual-based microdata from the SOEP for 2006, we confirm that this relationship exists for Germany as well. More importantly, we shed light on the alcohol–income puzzle by analyzing, for the first time, the association between beverage-specific drinking behavior and wages. In our analysis, we disentangle the general wage effect of drinking into diverse effects for different types of drinkers. Mincerian estimates reveal significant and positive relationships between wine drinkers and wages as well as between multiple beverage drinkers and wages. When splitting the sample into age groups, the “drinking gain” disappears for employees under the age of 35 and increases in size and significance for higher age groups. We also find a “beer gain” for the oldest age group and male residents of rural areas as well as a “cocktail gain” for residents of urban areas. Several explanations for our empirical results are discussed in view of the likelihood that the alcohol–income puzzle is a multicausal phenomenon.