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The Focusing Illusion and Happiness: Evidence Using College Basketball Championship

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  • Edsel Beja

Abstract

The analyses of two online surveys involving college students found evidence that using a college basketball championship as focal event resulted in unstable subjective evaluations of happiness. However, the analyses also found that the focusing illusion had modest spillover on subjective evaluations for the other life domains in which a college basketball championship was immaterial in the consideration. The analyses therefore confirmed the separability of subjective evaluations across life domains and sustained their usefulness both as inputs to analysis and yardstick for policy and intervention. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Edsel Beja, 2015. "The Focusing Illusion and Happiness: Evidence Using College Basketball Championship," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 873-885, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:121:y:2015:i:3:p:873-885
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0667-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Dolan & Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2012. "Thinking about it: a note on attention and well-being losses from unemployment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 325-328, March.
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    6. Edsel Beja & David Yap, 2013. "Counting Happiness from the Individual Level to the Group Level," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 621-637, November.
    7. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger & David Schkade & Norbert Schwarz & Arthur A. Stone, 2006. "Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion," Working Papers 77, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    8. Dolan, Paul & Metcalfe, Robert, 2010. "'Oops...I did it again': Repeated focusing effects in reports of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 732-737, August.
    9. Naoki Nakazato & Ulrich Schimmack & Shigehiro Oishi, 2011. "Effect of Changes in Living Conditions on Well-Being: A Prospective Top–Down Bottom–Up Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 115-135, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Edsel L. Beja Jr., 2019. "Maximizing Versus Satisficing: Negative Correlation Between Maximizing Attitude and School Domain Satisfaction," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 64(1), pages 95-101, March.
    2. Beja, Edsel Jr., 2019. "Consumer Expectations Survey and Quarterly Social Weather Survey: Evidence of Convergent Validity and Causality," MPRA Paper 101074, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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