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Huang on Happiness & law

By Lawrence Solum

Peter H. Huang (Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law) has posted Happiness Studies and Legal Policy (Annual Review of Law & Social Science, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Social scientists have conducted numerous empirical and experimental studies of self-reported happiness. This review focuses on two fundamental areas of research in happiness and law, namely alternative measures of happiness and various policies to foster happiness. There are many aspects, concepts, dimensions, and visions of happiness. Empirical findings often depend critically on which particular measure of happiness is analyzed. Happiness studies have applications to national well-being indices; policy evaluation; civil judicial and jury decision-making about liability and damages in cases of sexual harassment, employment discrimination, torts; optimal tax law design; family law; criminal sentencing, legal education, and legal practice. There are decision-making, health, productivity, and psychological benefits to various types of happiness. There are more or less paternalistic happiness interventions, including policies to encourage regular physical exercise, good sleep, and meditation. Hopefully analysis of these topics offers exemplars of possibilities and limits to utilizing happiness studies in designing legal policy.

And from the paper:

A leading happiness researcher, Ed Diener (2009a, pp.267-68) recently stated that: ?we should no longer ask whether people do or do not adapt to circumstances, but should ask instead, when, to what degree, and why they adapt. We should no longer debate whether people?s baseline levels of happiness can change, but should inquire about the conditions that can change them substantially. We should no longer ask only what correlates with ?happiness,? but we need to inquire about the effects of well-being on future behavior and success. I admonish those who continue to ask the questions of yesterday with the methods of yesterday ? we need more now. Not only should we be asking more sophisticated questions, but we should be using diverse and larger subject samples, often in longitudinal designs, and we should always employ measures of diverse types of well-being.? In developing legal policy applications of happiness studies, there is an even greater danger of basing recommendations upon outdated research and simplistic (mis)understanding of nuanced and subtle findings. To be robust, legal policy must be founded upon research examining multiple aspects of happiness. There should be greater reliance upon longitudinal as opposed to cross-sectional studies. There has to be greater theoretical understanding about happiness and not just its correlates but its causes and consequences. Ultimately happiness studies offer not only many possibilities, but also many pitfalls in developing legal policies.

Recommended.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on May 27, 2010 (boomark / email).