WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index has, since January 2008, tracked Americans' collective well-being on a daily basis, surveying at least 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day, totaling more than 360, 000 Americans for the year. The Index provides an up-to-date measure of well-being every day and the basis for more in-depth discoveries regularly reported on Gallup.Com. In the following interview, Gallup's Chief Scientist for Workplace Management and Well-Being, Dr. Jim Harter, discusses the most significant findings from the first year of data collection.
Q. We now have a year's worth of data tracking the mood and well-being of Americans -- what have we learned?
A. There is such a wealth of findings that I probably can't do it justice here. But let me start by saying that the leading well-being scientists have been finding that there are different types of well-being measures that give us different insights into what is going on in people's lives. Life evaluation measures tell us how people reflect on the more stable aspects of their lives. We don't expect massive changes on the evaluation measures over short time intervals, but, given the significant economic changes in the United States this year, we have seen significant shifts in the percentage of Americans who are "thriving", "struggling", and "suffering". On the other hand, there are measures of daily mood that, as one might expect, fluctuate more significantly from day to day (rather than month to month). For instance, the percentage of people who report a lot of happiness-enjoyment without a lot of stress-worry has ranged from a high of 68% (Thanksgiving) to a low of 35% (when new jobless claims reached a 26-year high). From a daily mood perspective, the best days have been Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, Independence Day, Mother's and Father's day, and other holidays. Weekends are much better than weekdays (by an average of about 13 percentage points). There are big differences in the percentage of people that have good days on any given day, much larger than I would have expected. Mood hits its typical highs on weekends and holidays and its lows starting on Mondays, in particular days that have coincided with negative news in the financial markets.
But what predicts life evaluation is, in many ways, different from what predicts daily mood and experiences. The best predictors of good versus bad days are the amount of social time people spend with family or friends and feeling well-rested. Mood has a more resilient bounce-back than life evaluation. The best predictors of life evaluation are income and health.
Q. Tell us more about specific changes you recorded from January to December 2008.
A. In the first three months of the year, we had more people in the U.S. thriving than struggling. Economic changes, of the type we have witnessed this year, have had impact on both how people view their overall personal lives, and also the hope they have for the next five years. For instance, in January of 2008, 49% of Americans were thriving, 47% struggling, and 4% suffering. Later in the year (in November and December) 38% were thriving, 58% struggling, and 4% suffering. The 11-point swing in struggling Americans represents more than 22 million people.
Since we observe big differences in mood from day to day (particularly from weekday to weekend), slight trends in mood are masked by the more dramatic daily shifts. But mood has dropped (in aggregate) as the year has progressed. Weekends have gotten a bit worse, on average. The first three months of 2008, approximately half of people surveyed reported a lot of happiness-enjoyment without a lot of stress-worry. This number dropped to 44% on a typical day in the first half of December (46% after you add in the holiday time later in the month). That's a difference of about 11 million people with worse daily moods later in 2008. There are many things potentially contributing to this decline -- there is more worry about money, but there are also more colds and flu in the winter months, impacting daily mood. The largest aggregate declines in mood occurred starting in September, when the effects of the economic crisis and acute illness both started to increase. On the positive side of things, there are still well over 40% of Americans on most days who have a lot of happiness-enjoyment without a lot of stress-worry. And on some days, such as holidays, the percentage reaches the 60s. But I think we can learn some things from the best days we have recorded so far.
Q. What can we make of the increase in the number of Americans who are struggling?
A. The increase in percent struggling is a function both of how people feel about their present situation, and also how they view the next five years. The changes have been particularly felt among those working full-time, ages 35+ with children. And the changes have affected people at most income levels. Now, one might argue that this is a function of the negative news in the media. But the data suggest the change in percent struggling is highly associated with changes in how people view their personal standard of living, more than how they view the economic conditions of the overall country, but they are both related.
Q. Do you expect this trend to continue in 2009?
I sure hope the downward trend doesn't continue. We have observed a slight upward trend in the percent "thriving" during the holidays in late December and we are already seeing an upward trend in early January. While we are still about 10 points short of where we were last year at the same time, the percentage is increasing. The ability to compare days and months in 2009 to the same days from 2008 will make this year very interesting.
Q. Our large sample size allows us to examine different demographic groups in depth , can you tell us about any interesting findings relating to any group in particular ?
A. Among full-time workers, those that have felt the effects of the economy, in addition to those with children, are those with lower quality workplaces. What I mean by lower quality workplaces is not necessarily the type of work, but rather how they are treated at work. So we ask respondents about their supervisor: whether an open and trusting environment is encouraged, whether they are able to use their strengths, and about their general level of satisfaction with their work. About two-thirds of working people have one or more type of disease burden (from high blood pressure to high cholesterol to chronic pain, etc). We've had a chance to look at this particular subgroup with our partner researchers from Healthways. When you combine disease burden with a poor work environment, the chances of having sick days multiply significantly. There is an important compounding effect of disease burden and the quality of the work environment.
Q. Do you see rising unemployment as a contributing factor in the decline of Americans' collective well-being?
A. The drop in well-being has certainly coincided with the increase in unemployment. And the association seems undeniable, given the many influences of jobs on well-being -- psychological stress in addition to financial loss. Unemployment presents a big drain on well-being. People without a job are significantly more likely to be struggling or suffering than those with a job.
Q. Taking all of this into account, what makes up a person with high well-being?
A. The answer to this question depends on which aspects of well-being we are studying. Economics, good health, and a good job are consistent predictors of life evaluation. When we look at daily well-being, social time and feeling well-rested are key factors. For those who work, daily mood is also influenced by the quality of the work environment (in particular, having a good manager and the ability to use their strengths at work). For those with positive work environments, weekdays are much more like weekends. For those with poor work environments, weekdays are dramatically different from weekends.
Q. What do you expect to see in 2009?
A. Having a good job in America will continue to be one of the most important well-being determinants in 2009. This year, leaders may have more impact on the well-being of citizens than in any year in recent history. Our research has found that two of the qualities people look for in leaders are hope and stability. Leaders with the capacity to engage their people in the long-term future of their organization will have the highest probability of having a resilient workforce that holds its own during down times. Our research in 2008 has shown that workers in high quality work environments, while not immune to the effects of the economy, are cushioned from the substantial declines in well-being that have been observed in the general populace. Top economists are predicting a tough first six months. Comparing the daily trends in 2009 to those already recorded in 2008 will be very telling.
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