Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset
BackgroundPsychologists have developed frameworks to understand many constructs, which have subsequently informed the design of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) aimed at improving mental health outcomes. The science of happiness is one such domain that holds signif...
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JMIR Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e65658 |
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| author | Edel Ennis Raymond Bond Maurice Mulvenna Colm Sweeney |
| author_facet | Edel Ennis Raymond Bond Maurice Mulvenna Colm Sweeney |
| author_sort | Edel Ennis |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundPsychologists have developed frameworks to understand many constructs, which have subsequently informed the design of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) aimed at improving mental health outcomes. The science of happiness is one such domain that holds significant applied importance due to its links to well-being and evidence that happiness can be cultivated through interventions. However, as with many constructs, the unique ways in which individuals experience happiness present major challenges for designing personalized DMHIs.
ObjectiveThis paper aims to (1) present an analysis of how sex may interact with age, marital status, and parental status to predict individual differences in sources of happiness, and (2) to present a preliminary discussion of how open datasets may contribute to the process of designing health-related technology innovations.
MethodsThe HappyDB is an open database of 100,535 statements of what people consider to have made them happy, with some people asking to consider the past 24 hours (49,831 statements) and some considering the last 3 months (50,704 statements). Demographic information is also provided. Binary logistic regression analyses are used to determine whether various groups differed in their likelihood of selecting or not selecting a category as a source of their happiness.
ResultsSex and age interacted to influence what was selected as sources of happiness, with patterns being less consistent among female individuals in comparison with male individuals. For marital status, differences in sources of happiness were predominantly between married individuals and those who are divorced or separated, but these were the same for both sexes. Married, single, and widowed individuals were all largely similar in their likelihood of selecting each of the categories as a source of their happiness. However, there were some anomalies, and sex appeared to be important in these anomalies. Sex and parental status also interacted to influence what was selected as sources of happiness.
ConclusionsSex interacts with age, marital status, and parental status in the likelihood of reporting affection, bonding, leisure, achievement, or enjoying the moment as sources of happiness. The contribution of an open dataset to understanding individual differences in sources of happiness is discussed in terms of its potential role in addressing the challenges of designing DMHIs that are ethical, responsible, evidence based, acceptable, engaging, inclusive, and effective for users. The discussion considers how the content design of DMHIs in general may benefit from exploring new methods informed by diverse data sources. It is proposed that examining the extent to which insights from nondigital settings can inform requirements gathering for DMHIs is warranted. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-75d5fb031277419e9cd46509a194a0c8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-75d5fb031277419e9cd46509a194a0c82025-01-29T19:31:03ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2025-01-019e6565810.2196/65658Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open DatasetEdel Ennishttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9677-0725Raymond Bondhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1078-2232Maurice Mulvennahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1554-0785Colm Sweeneyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6915-505X BackgroundPsychologists have developed frameworks to understand many constructs, which have subsequently informed the design of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) aimed at improving mental health outcomes. The science of happiness is one such domain that holds significant applied importance due to its links to well-being and evidence that happiness can be cultivated through interventions. However, as with many constructs, the unique ways in which individuals experience happiness present major challenges for designing personalized DMHIs. ObjectiveThis paper aims to (1) present an analysis of how sex may interact with age, marital status, and parental status to predict individual differences in sources of happiness, and (2) to present a preliminary discussion of how open datasets may contribute to the process of designing health-related technology innovations. MethodsThe HappyDB is an open database of 100,535 statements of what people consider to have made them happy, with some people asking to consider the past 24 hours (49,831 statements) and some considering the last 3 months (50,704 statements). Demographic information is also provided. Binary logistic regression analyses are used to determine whether various groups differed in their likelihood of selecting or not selecting a category as a source of their happiness. ResultsSex and age interacted to influence what was selected as sources of happiness, with patterns being less consistent among female individuals in comparison with male individuals. For marital status, differences in sources of happiness were predominantly between married individuals and those who are divorced or separated, but these were the same for both sexes. Married, single, and widowed individuals were all largely similar in their likelihood of selecting each of the categories as a source of their happiness. However, there were some anomalies, and sex appeared to be important in these anomalies. Sex and parental status also interacted to influence what was selected as sources of happiness. ConclusionsSex interacts with age, marital status, and parental status in the likelihood of reporting affection, bonding, leisure, achievement, or enjoying the moment as sources of happiness. The contribution of an open dataset to understanding individual differences in sources of happiness is discussed in terms of its potential role in addressing the challenges of designing DMHIs that are ethical, responsible, evidence based, acceptable, engaging, inclusive, and effective for users. The discussion considers how the content design of DMHIs in general may benefit from exploring new methods informed by diverse data sources. It is proposed that examining the extent to which insights from nondigital settings can inform requirements gathering for DMHIs is warranted.https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e65658 |
| spellingShingle | Edel Ennis Raymond Bond Maurice Mulvenna Colm Sweeney Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset |
| title_full | Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset |
| title_short | Understanding Individual Differences in Happiness Sources and Implications for Health Technology Design: Exploratory Analysis of an Open Dataset |
| title_sort | understanding individual differences in happiness sources and implications for health technology design exploratory analysis of an open dataset |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e65658 |
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