Researchers devising policies that might make people happier

WASHINGTON — Is it time to offer day care for ailing older parents to give their caregiving children a break? Time for much bigger incentives for carpooling? Time to extend maternity and paternity leave substantially?

The answer's yes to all three if you accept the findings of a new kind of public attitude polling that's gaining influence with corporate leaders and in government policy circles worldwide.

It's called well-being research or, by those who want to be seen as especially rigorous practitioners, behavioral economics. Personal trainers and life coaches who borrow from the same findings often call it happiness research.

Whatever the word, its pioneers intend that quantified self-assessments of satisfaction will someday be as powerful as the gross domestic product and other economic measures.

Indeed, well-being research came into vogue because of a powerful limitation in economic measures that was first noticed around 1980: While United States, Japan and Britain reported huge personal income growth over time, their citizens reported not the slightest uptick in personal happiness.

That triggered a new quest to find out what mattered more to people than money. More recently, a key aim has been to apply those insights to devising public policies that might make people happier.

Early next year, for example, the Gallup Organization will ask a sample of residents in 26 U.S. cities such questions as: Do you feel safe? Do you have confidence in your city's leadership? Is your city tolerant of people who are different? Would you tell a friend to move here?

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the sponsor of the three-year $2.1 million survey, hopes that it'll show cities and their leaders what they need work on to improve well-being and productivity, said Paula Lynn Ellis, the vice president for national and new initiatives at the Miami-based philanthropy.

"We want to see if communities in which people are emotionally attached and engaged prosper more than others," Ellis said.

Luring and keeping talented workers will help, she added. "And that will likely depend, once basic service needs are met, on factors such as the city's lifestyle, openness and trust."

Ed Diener, a University of Illinois psychologist, thinks that nations should take the same approach, and not just for economic gain.