I’m rather suspicious of the “people aren’t happier in warmer climates” evidence, too, because everything I’ve been able to dig up on that study doesn’t seem to say how happiness is measured. And based on my own experience, I would guess that by some measures (e.g., asking people how happy they are in general) it wouldn’t make a difference, but by others (like Kahneman’s Day Reconstruction Method for analyzing day to day happiness) it would.
Three types of evidence, I’m not sure which claim what anymore. ”How do you feel generally”
“Rebuild your yesterday experience?”
“We will be beeping you at random times during the day, please say your satisfaction level at the moment the beep beeped and what you were doing” I don’t know which were used in those studies, maybe Tim Czech who recently summarized all happiness hacks might
Okay, I actually dug up the paper. Last time I tried to find out about this I just used Google instead of my university’s research venue. Duh. Guess this is one of those instances where trivial amounts of effort/thought make a difference.
It turns out they just asked about overall life satisfaction, and then how they rated their satisfaction with various aspects of their life (job opportunities, academic prospects, social life, winter weather, summer weather). So I am indeed still somewhat skeptical of this result and would be more swayed by a DRM-style experiment...
If you haven’t read Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, I highly recommend it for the sections on different types of happiness. He is the one who did a lot of the original research on this, and the book explains it very well. (Doesn’t note the methodology used in the California study, though.)
My experience living in Texas (very warm) versus Michigan (seasonally warm):
People in Michigan enjoy warm weather a hell of a lot more than people in Texas do. I think the scarcity of good weather days make people take better advantage of them.
[ETA: Contrarily, I enjoy the winter here a lot more than most other people do. I -like- cold weather. I’m the crazy guy wearing shorts in the snow.]
Julia Galef’s argument that people who grew up in colder climates and then move to warmer ones will actually be made significantly happier is also compelling; maybe I will be happier if I move to California! (I sure as hell spend a lot of my time during the winter thinking “I hate this place, I’m moving to California.”)
I’m rather suspicious of the “people aren’t happier in warmer climates” evidence, too, because everything I’ve been able to dig up on that study doesn’t seem to say how happiness is measured. And based on my own experience, I would guess that by some measures (e.g., asking people how happy they are in general) it wouldn’t make a difference, but by others (like Kahneman’s Day Reconstruction Method for analyzing day to day happiness) it would.
Three types of evidence, I’m not sure which claim what anymore.
”How do you feel generally” “Rebuild your yesterday experience?” “We will be beeping you at random times during the day, please say your satisfaction level at the moment the beep beeped and what you were doing”
I don’t know which were used in those studies, maybe Tim Czech who recently summarized all happiness hacks might
Okay, I actually dug up the paper. Last time I tried to find out about this I just used Google instead of my university’s research venue. Duh. Guess this is one of those instances where trivial amounts of effort/thought make a difference.
It turns out they just asked about overall life satisfaction, and then how they rated their satisfaction with various aspects of their life (job opportunities, academic prospects, social life, winter weather, summer weather). So I am indeed still somewhat skeptical of this result and would be more swayed by a DRM-style experiment...
If you haven’t read Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, I highly recommend it for the sections on different types of happiness. He is the one who did a lot of the original research on this, and the book explains it very well. (Doesn’t note the methodology used in the California study, though.)
My experience living in Texas (very warm) versus Michigan (seasonally warm):
People in Michigan enjoy warm weather a hell of a lot more than people in Texas do. I think the scarcity of good weather days make people take better advantage of them.
[ETA: Contrarily, I enjoy the winter here a lot more than most other people do. I -like- cold weather. I’m the crazy guy wearing shorts in the snow.]
That might be true.
Julia Galef’s argument that people who grew up in colder climates and then move to warmer ones will actually be made significantly happier is also compelling; maybe I will be happier if I move to California! (I sure as hell spend a lot of my time during the winter thinking “I hate this place, I’m moving to California.”)
s/warmer/milder/. Running from one air-conditioned place to another is no fun, either.