The Exploring Happiness Index User Guide
This page is useful for both those that are already members and also those that are just interested in learning a bit more about the index. When you create an account with us, one of the first questions we ask is from a list of thirteen different individual types, which is most applicable to you? This allows us to slightly adjust the main parts of the index so it is as relevant to your life as possible.
These individual types are listed below with links to standalone pages which explain all of the components that make up that individual types index. The difference between single and combined individuals is simply that the combined individual types split their working life across more than one activity. Click on one of the links below to find out more!
Information about the weights of the index
When you create an account you will also be asked to rate each components within the index according to how important they are to you. The choices you have available for each component are “Not applicable”, “Low”, “Medium”, and “High”. As a result of these choices, the weights in the index will shift, making the index even more unique to you. The rationale for doing this is that the elements of your life that are most important to you, are also the ones that will be playing the biggest role in determining your life satisfaction, and therefore it makes sense to weight these values higher.
On the above individual type pages the default component weights are noted next to each of the variable names. This is the value given before any choices are made. These numbers were determined using empirical research on the main determinants of adult life satisfaction. For more detail on how we did this, please take a look at the technical methodology document for the index. Initially, the sub-components are an equal split of the overall component weight - although if you choose one sub-component to be more important to you than another sub-component, then the weights will shift to reflect that. Within the platform, on our visuals page you can view the values of the component weights that make up your index. You can also change your decision about how important each of the components in the index are to you whenever you want. Our suggestion is to refrain from doing this regularly. Of course, some of us may have an epiphany from time to time and decide the family life is much more important to them than working life and it’s important that the index picks up on these changes. But at the same time, these instances do not occur very often.