Consumption and Happiness SS-163

CS/SS 163: Consumption and Happiness (Fall 2008)

Contact: Melissa Burch and Omar Dahi

Course description: This course will explore the increase in human consumption from a multi- disciplinary perspective. Specifically, it will focus on the consequences of this increased consumption (as well as exclusion from this consumption) on the happiness of human beings, including the role of consumption on relative well-being of individuals across cultures. It will also make connections between economics and other disciplines including sociology, political science, and psychology. The course topics and questions will include how economic theory describes (or prescribes) the relation between consumption and happiness. How the quest to satisfy (or create) consumption needs influences production, labor, employment, and the environment both domestically and internationally. Throughout the course, we will consider methodologies from psychology and economics for assessing well being and examining its relation to consumption. The course will also require students to reflect on their own experiences and those of their peers. REA, WRI, QUA, MCP, PRS

Course goals
Through the course, students will: 1) be able to define happiness and its measurement 2) understand standard views of relations between consumption and happiness in economics and psychology 3) think critically of these views as well as implications for individuals and society 4) experience working with research participants to address these issues

Course structure
The course will begin with an introduction to standard views about happiness, consumption, and well-being in economics and psychology. Included in this section is a special focus on the structure, logic, and implications of mainstream (neo-classical) economic theory’s view on the relationship between happiness and consumption. We will also explore implications of psychological theory for the individuals’ economic decision-making. At the end of the first section, we will conduct an in class market simulation experiment that attempts to ‘test’ whether the standard view accurately captures human behavior. Next, the course will study various challenges to the standard views from within economics and psychology, including results of recent empirical studies. This section will also end in an experiment that tries to capture decision making, under different circumstances than the first. The course will then turn towards a focus on the macro- consequences of increased individual consumption, including the effects on society, the environment, and economic growth. Throughout the course, we will pay attention to cross-cultural comparisons of these same issues. Students are expected to undertake a research project in groups of 4 and will present the findings of their projects to the class at the end of the semester. As the semester progresses we will dedicate class time for you to form and work with your groups.

Evaluation Criteria
To receive an evaluation, you are required to attend class and participate regularly and must complete all written assignments (see attendance policy below). Assignments include: 1) four short essays on standard views on happiness and consumptions and  violations of these views and decision-making 2) a series of assignments related to your final presentation and project 3) group presentation 4) final individual written summary of project 5) participation in 2 in class experiments

In addition, you are required to turn in one written comment on each reading to bring to class (see attendance policy below).

Assignments and Late Work
We will not accept late papers unless you have contacted both of us ahead of time, with a legitimate excuse, and we have agreed on an alternate due date. All assignments must be turned in on time at the beginning of class. (This means printed out and turned in to us. Make sure that you have access to a printer. This is your responsibility!) On-time completion of assignments is critical because written assignments will provide the basis of discussion for the day or in other cases be essential for the timely completion of your group project.

Attendance Policy
You are expected to come to class and to be prepared by having read the day's assignment. Your attendance and participation is essential for making this class a success; in other words, the course cannot continue as normal without your commitment. Therefore, if you have more than 2 unexcused absences (and more than 4 total absences), you will not receive an evaluation for the course. An excused absence means illness or other emergency (that we will evaluate on a case by case basis). Your attendance will be documented by your daily completion of a comment/question on the readings. In other words, if you do not comment on the reading, you will be marked absent for that day.

Communication Policy
If you need to contact us, please email both of us (odahi@hampshire.edu; mburch@hampshire.edu) and copy yourself. This is important anytime that you need to inform us about an absence. We will try to respond to your message within 24 hours.

Special Needs
If you believe that you may have a learning disability or require special accommodation, please contact Joel Dansky (Disability Services Coordinator jdAC@hampshire.edu ) or CASA as soon as possible. Please talk to us before the first assignment so that we are aware of the arrangements that have been made with CASA.

Ethics of Scholarship
All students are expected to abide by the College’s “Ethics of Scholarship” guidelines available at: https://intranet.hampshire.edu/cms/index.php?id=7355. Plagiarism is a serious offense and includes false citation, false data, intentional poor documentation, papers written by others, unacknowledged multiple authors or collaboration, and unacknowledged multiple submission. Follow the link above to learn the definition of each of these components.

Portfolio
At the end of the semester you will submit a folder containing all the work you submitted for the class. Along with your class participation, the portfolio will be the basis of your evaluation. Please keep the work that is returned to you with the original comments. The portfolio is due Monday December 15, 2008.

COURSE SCHEDULE
(subject to change)

Sept. 3 	Course introduction

Happiness and Consumption: The Standard Views Sept. 8	Consumption, the consumer, and happiness? Frank, Robert. 1999. Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess, Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey. Chapter 2, “The Luxury Spending Boom.”

Lebergott, Stanley. 1993. Pursuing Happiness: American Consumers in the Twentieth Century, Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.

Aldridge, A. 2003. Consumption, Blackwell Publishing Inc: Malden, Chapter 1: “Consumption as a Key Concept.”

Sept. 10	Hedonism or Eudaimonism? Bentham, J. 1781. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Chapters 1: Of the Principle of Utility (Points I through XIV) Available at: http://www.utilitarianism.com/jeremy-bentham/index.html

Nussbaum, M. C. 2005. “Mill between Aristotle and Bentham,” in Economics and Happiness, L. Bruni and P.L. Porta, eds. Oxford University Press: New York: pp. 170-183.

Sept. 15	Functionings and Capabilities Sen, A. 1998. “The Living Standard,” in Ethics of Consumption: The Good Life, Justice, and Global Stewardship, Crocker, D.A., and T. Linden, eds. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: New York, pp. 287-311

Dean, J.W. (2007). National welfare and individual happiness: Income distribution and beyond. Journal of Policy Modeling, 29, 567-575.

**Assignment #1: Complete Happy Planet Index (www.happyplanetindex.org).. Pick the top 10 countries and look at their ranking for HPI and Human Development Index**

Sept. 17	Happiness: Adaptation theory Diener, E. 2006. The hedonic treadmill: Revising the Adaptation Theory of Well-Being. American Psychologist, 61, 305-314.

Brickman, P. Coates, D., Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 917-927. Sept. 22	Discussion: Theories of Happiness Diener, E., Diener, M., Diener, C. (1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 851-864.

Ryan, R.M. & Deci, E.L. (2001). Happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141-66.


 * Assignment #2 due—Views of happiness. Details to follow on course website***

Sept. 24	Neoclassical economics Wolff, S.A & Resnick, R.D. (1987). “Ch. 2 Neoclassical theory.” Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MA, pp. 38-60.

Sept. 29	Neoclassical economics Wolff, S.A. & Resnick, R.d. (1987). “Ch. 2 Neoclassical theory.” Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MA, pp. 61-95.

Oct. 1		Experiment #1


 * Assignment #3—Neoclassical theory and happiness—Details to follow on course website***

Challenges to the Standard View Oct. 6		Criticisms of neoclassical theory Royo, M. G. 2007. “Well-being and consumption: towards a theoretical approach based on human needs satisfaction,” in Handbook on the Economics of Happiness, L. Bruni and P.L. Porta, eds. Edward Elgar: Northampton, pp. 151-169.

Oct. 8		Prospect Theory Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1984). Choices, values, and frames. American Psychologist, 4, 341-350.

Novemsky, N & Kahneman, D. (2005). The boundaries of loss aversion. Journal of Marketing Research, 42, 119-128. Oct. 13		Fall Break—No Class!

Oct. 15		Applications of framing effects Maheswaran, D. & Meyers-Levy, J. (1990). The influence of message framing and issue involvement. Journal of Marketing Research, 27, 361-367.

Smith, G.E. (1996). Framing in advertising and the moderating effect of consumer education. Journal of Advertising Research, 49-64.

Oct. 20	Overview of Group Projects and Presentations: Guidelines for Data Collection and Ethics

Oct. 22		Relative Goods/ Contrast Effects Easterlin, R. A. (1974). Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. In P. A. David & M.W. Reder (Eds.), Nations and households in economic growth (pp. 89–125). New York: Academic Press.

Solberg, E.C., Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Lucas, R.E., Oishi, S. (2002). Wanting, having, and satisfaction: Examining the role of desire discrepancy in satisfaction with income. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 725-734.

Oct. 27		Experiment #2 ***Project topic due***

Oct. 29		Discussion: Making decisions under different contexts/ scenarios ***Writing Assignment #4 due***

Extension of Views on Consumption and Happiness Nov. 3		Affluenza Aldridge, A. 2003. Consumption, Blackwell Publishing Inc: Malden, Chapter 3: “Consumer society: Utopia or dystopia?”

website www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza and affluenza.org

Nov. 5		Advising Day—No Class!

Nov. 10	Story of Stuff Marx, Karl. 1990. Capital, Volume I, Chapter 1 : The Commodity.

Nov. 12	Negative consequences of consumption Nickerson, C., Schwarz, N., Diener, E., & Kahneman (2003). Zeroing in on the dark side of the American Drean: A closer look at the negative consequences of the goal for financial success. Psychological Science, 14, 531-536.

Richins, M.L. & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 303-316.

Nov. 17	Orientations toward consumption Bowles, Samuel. 2008. “Policies Designed for Self-Interested Citizens May Undermine “The Moral Sentiments:” Evidence from Economic Experiments,” Science, 320: 1605-1609.

Srivastava, A. Locke, E.A., & Bartol, K.M. (2001). Money and subjective well-being: It’s not the money, it’s the motives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 959-971.

Diener, E. & Seligman, M. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81-84.

Nov. 19	Consumption and happiness across cultures Henrich, J., R. Boyd, S. Bowles, C. Camerer, E. Fehr, H. Gintis, and R. McElreath. In Search of Homo Economicus: Results from Experiments in different societies. The American Economic Review, May 2001: 73-78.

Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R.E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-425.

Nov. 24	Decision making and the brain Trepel, C., Fox, C.R., Poldrack, R.A. (2005). Prospect theory on the brain? Toward a cognitive neurosicence of decision under risk. Cognitive Brain Research, 23, 34-50.

Work in groups

Nov. 26	Thanksgiving Break—No Class!

Dec. 1		Group Presentations

Dec. 3		Group Presentations

Dec. 8		Group Presentations

Dec. 10	Course wrap-up