Ruut Veenhoven
Biographic Data
| ID | 254075 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ruut Veenhoven |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ruut |
| FAMILY NAME | Veenhoven |
| SIGNATURE | VEENHOVEN R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5159-393X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 61 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1196 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 61 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1974 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 14 |
Happiness and Single Parenthood: A Literature Review Using an Online Findings Archive
Many isolated findings suggest that single parents report, on average, lower levels of happiness than others. These others, however, are not a single homogeneous group, and definitions vary according to the specific research question. Consequently, the picture of single parents’ happiness is still scattered. Drawing on the World Database of Happiness, we review systematically described research findings in a standardised manner, aiming to provide…
Does Happiness Foster Social Bonds? A Research Synthesis Using an Online Finding Archive
It is widely agreed that social bonds should be strengthened but is not clear how that can be achieved. One way could be to foster happiness, since happiness seems to foster social bonds. If so, two desirables can be achieved together: happier people and stronger social bonds. This raises the following questions: Does happiness really foster social bonds? If so, is that effect universal? How strong is the effect? Does the strength vary across per…
How bad is war? a review of effects on happiness
Happiness in urban environments: What we know and don’t know yet
There is no consensus on what makes for a livable urban environment. This requires empirical assessment of the relationship between urban characteristics and the happiness of residents. We took stock of the available research findings, using the World Database of Happiness; 445 findings are considered, from 20 nations over the years 1975–2022. We considered 3 aspects of the urban environment, 1) objectively assessed characteristics, 2) subjective…
What is in the name? Content analysis of questionnaires on perceived quality of one’s work life
There is a great demand for information on how workers evaluate the quality of their jobs. In response to this demand, a multitude of questionnaires has been developed, which are presented under different names and stress different aspects of work life. It is therefore difficult to see what questionnaire is best suited to one’s information demand. This problem can be solved by considering the content of the different questionnaires through the sa…
Effect van de Covid-19 pandemie op geluk in Nederland
Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on happiness in The Netherlands In the media we read mainly about negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our subjective wellbeing, such as increased depression, anxiety and loneliness. There is less attention for possible positive effects and for this reason it is worth examining how the life-satisfaction of the Dutch population has developed during the pandemic. In the short run, this will help policy makers…
Happiness and Consumption: A Research Synthesis Using an Online Finding Archive
There is a considerable amount of research on the effect of income on happiness, but only a limited number of studies have considered how the spending of income works out on one's happiness. In this article, we take stock of the scattered findings on the relation between consumption and happiness. We cover 379 research findings observed in 99 empirical studies. We use a new method of research synthesis, in which research findings are first descri…
Ways to Greater Happiness: A Delphi Study
In the first round of this Delphi study 14 experts suggested strategies for improving life-satisfaction. In a second round, experts rated these strategies for (a) effectiveness, (b) feasibility and (c) cost-effectiveness. They considered 56 strategies policy makers can use to raise average happiness in a nation and 68 ways in which individuals can raise their own happiness. Experts were informed about the average ratings made by the panel and abo…
The Origins of Happiness: The Science of Well-Being over the Life Course
Happiness was a topic in early sociology and a core concept in the work of its founding father Auguste Comte (Plé
Co-development of Happiness Research: Addition to 'Fifty Years After the Social Indicator Movement
Diversity in Survey Questions on the Same Topic
This book describes why conventional methods fall short to solve the comparability problem and introduces three successive innovations to overcome these shortcomings. Comparability of results from dif
Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Did the Promise of Enlightenment Come True
The ‘10 Excess’ Phenomenon in Responses to Survey Questions on Happiness
Happy Protest Voters: The Case of Rotterdam 1997-2009
Pooling Time Series Based on Slightly Different Questions About the Same Topic Forty Years of Survey Research on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in The Netherlands
Survey research on subjective wellbeing in The Netherlands started in the early 1970s. The time series happiness and life satisfaction that have emerged since then are unfortunately based on slightly different survey items of which one part uses verbal response scales and another part uses numerical response scales. The diversity of the survey items and a number of other measurement issues, such as the effects of changes in survey mode, hamper co…
Why are Locals Happier than Internal Migrants? The Role of Daily Life
Happiness: History of the Concept
Conversion of Verbal Response Scales: Robustness Across Demographic Categories
Stability of Boundaries Between Response Options of Response Scales: Does ‘Very Happy’ Remain Equally Happy over the Years
Sociology's Blind Eye for Happiness
Empirical studies on happiness have found that: a) most people are happy in modern nations, b) average happiness in nations is rising, c) inequality in happiness is going down, d) happiness depends heavily on the kind of society one lives in, but e) not very much on one's place in society. These remarkable findings are largely ignored in sociology, if not denied. This has several reasons. One reason is professional bias: most sociologists earn th…
Conditions of Happiness
Memory-Experience Gap in Early Adolescents’ Happiness Reports
Homogenizing Responses to Different Survey Questions on the Same Topic: Proposal of a Scale Homogenization Method Using a Reference Distribution
Contentment and Affect in the Estimation of Happiness
Happiness: Also Known as “Life Satisfaction” and “Subjective Well-Being”
Is happiness relative
Developments in satisfaction-research
Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being
The cross-national pattern of happiness: Test of predictions implied in three theories of happiness
Wealth and Happiness Revisited - Growing National Income Does Go with Greater Happiness
Happy life-expectancy: A comprehensive measure of quality-of-life in nations
Is happiness a trait: Tests of the theory that a better society does not make people any happier
Quality-of-Life in Individualistic Society
The utility of happiness
Apparent Quality-of-Life in Nations: How Long and Happy People Live
Rising Happiness in Nations 1946–2004: A Reply to Easterlin
Well‐being in the welfare state: Level not higher, distribution not more equitable
Wellbeing' and 'welfare' are often bracketed together, in particular wellbeing and state-welfare. The level of wellbeing is believed to be higher in welfare states, and its distribution more equitable. This theory is tested in a comparative study of 40 nations 1980-1990. The size of state welfare is measured by social security expenditure. The wellbeing of citizens is measured in terms of the degree to which they lead healthy and happy lives. Con…
Livability of the welfare-state: Appreciation-of-life and length-of-life in nations varying in state-welfare-effort
Why are Locals Happier than Internal Migrants? The Role of Daily Life
Contentment and Affect in the Estimation of Happiness
Homogenizing Responses to Different Survey Questions on the Same Topic: Proposal of a Scale Homogenization Method Using a Reference Distribution
Finding the Key to Happy Aging: A Day Reconstruction Study of Happiness
The study extends activity theory by demonstrating that combining effortful activities with restful activities leads to greater happiness among older adults. Also, personality traits such as extraversion play a decisive role in the kind of activities that contribute most to daily happiness
Happiness Scale Interval Study. Methodological Considerations
Well-Being in Nations and Well-Being of Nations: Is There a Conflict Between Individual and Society
Human societies cannot exist without human beings and human beings cannot exist without a society. Still there can be a conflict of interest between the individual and society and there are historical examples of societies prospering at the cost of its members, and examples of people thriving at the cost of society. The degree of conflict or synergy will vary over time. This begs the question: How it is today? To what extent does the well-being o…
World Database of Happiness
The growing impact of marriage
Life is Getting Better: Societal Evolution and Fit with Human Nature
Cultural bias in ratings of perceived life quality: A comment on Ostroot & Snijder
Happiness in urban environments: What we know and don’t know yet
There is no consensus on what makes for a livable urban environment. This requires empirical assessment of the relationship between urban characteristics and the happiness of residents. We took stock of the available research findings, using the World Database of Happiness; 445 findings are considered, from 20 nations over the years 1975–2022. We considered 3 aspects of the urban environment, 1) objectively assessed characteristics, 2) subjective…
Co-development of Happiness Research: Addition to 'Fifty Years After the Social Indicator Movement
Is there an innate need for children
nIt is commonly assumed that we have an innate need for children, in particular, that women have a 'mother instinct'. This belief lives in the general public as well as among scientists. In this paper that theory is criticized on two grounds:\nFirstly, it is argued that the theory is implausible. One reason is that the innate need for sex is biologically sufficient to ensure procreation. Another is that in humans innate motivational tendencies ar…
The growing impact of marriage
The Concept of Happiness
Cultural bias in ratings of perceived life quality: A comment on Ostroot & Snijder
The utility of happiness
Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being
Is happiness relative
Is happiness a trait: Tests of the theory that a better society does not make people any happier
Livability of the welfare-state: Appreciation-of-life and length-of-life in nations varying in state-welfare-effort
The cross-national pattern of happiness: Test of predictions implied in three theories of happiness
World Database of Happiness
Happy life-expectancy: A comprehensive measure of quality-of-life in nations
Developments in satisfaction-research
Two State-Trait Discussions on Happiness. A Reply to Stones et al
Quality-of-Life in Individualistic Society
The Four Qualities of Life
Freedom and Happiness: A Comparative Study in Forty-four Nations in the Early 1990s
Freedom in nations can affect the happiness of citizens both positively and negatively.This study takes stock of the balance of effects.It considers 1) whether there is a positive net-effect at all, 2) which freedom variants contribute most to happiness 3) in what conditions.Freedom is conceived as chance to choose, requiring 'opportunity' to choose, and 'capability' to choose.Opportunity to choose is measured by absence of restrictions in econom…
Stability of Life-satisfaction over Time
Well‐being in the welfare state: Level not higher, distribution not more equitable
Wellbeing' and 'welfare' are often bracketed together, in particular wellbeing and state-welfare. The level of wellbeing is believed to be higher in welfare states, and its distribution more equitable. This theory is tested in a comparative study of 40 nations 1980-1990. The size of state welfare is measured by social security expenditure. The wellbeing of citizens is measured in terms of the degree to which they lead healthy and happy lives. Con…
Wealth and Happiness Revisited - Growing National Income Does Go with Greater Happiness
Advances in Quality of Life Theory and Research
Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Theories of Subjective Well-Being
Is Happiness a Trait?: Tests of the Theory that a Better Society does not Make People any Happier
Apparent Quality-of-Life in Nations: How Long and Happy People Live
Rising Happiness in Nations 1946–2004: A Reply to Easterlin
Psychology (54 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (50 works) · Happiness (49 works) · Social Psychology (48 works) · Social Psychology (33 works) · Sociology (28 works) · Quality of Life Research (23 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (22 works) · Economics (21 works) · Medicine (21 works)