My primary research focuses on subjective well-being (e.g. happiness or life satisfaction). My current work aims to improve quantitative research used to explore causal effects of various factors on subjective well-being.  There are widespread misconceptions about how to construct models and to select control variables for this purpose.  In line with well-established methodological clarity on this topic in recent years, I explore implications of distinguishing between “confounders” (variables that are antecedents not only of the outcome but of the focal independent variable) and “intervening variables” (i.e., they intervene in a path from the causal variable to the outcome).   To estimate a causal impact, we would control for confounders but exclude intervening variables.

So, using this distinction, we would not need any control variables to estimate the impact of age on life-satisfaction — because no individual-level variables are causally prior to age. Another recent article on this topic, in the Journal of Happiness Studies, demonstrates the need to “look beyond statistical significance” in evaluating whether the relationship is “u-shaped”. (Mostly it isn’t u-shaped.)

That article also highlights the misuse of statistical significance for evaluation of quantitative results.  Many people use p<0.05 to “validate” their results, i.e. as a basis for believing their results are right — a misguided practice.  It also makes no sense to use statistical significance with non-random samples.

I have written extensively about the relationship between migration and happiness.  In general, gaining more money doesn’t make people happier, and so I’m led to wonder whether migration to a wealthier country increases happiness for migrants; I suspect that it makes many of them less happy, that economic migration is sometimes counterproductive insofar as people make great sacrifices to gain more income in the (possibly misguided) belief that the increase will make them happier. 

A key publication on a different topic: an article recently appearing in European Sociological Review, on the way economic inequality influences life satisfaction.  While increased inequality lowers the life satisfaction of lower earners, it raises the life satisfaction of higher earners. Against the “spirit level” idea (which suggests that inequality is harmful to everyone), wealthier people manifestly benefit from economic inequality — and is it really a surprise??

These and other studies have received extensive media coverage, including articles in The Guardian, Time, Women’s Health, The Independent, The Telegraph, and interviews on BBC Radio 4’s “Thinking Allowed”.

Recent publications also draw on a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council for a project titled “The UK Citizenship Process: Understanding Immigrants’ Experiences“, conducted with Leah Bassel (PI), Barbara Misztal and Pierre Monforte.

I am Editor-in-chief of Social Indicators Research.  I was co-editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies for ~8 years, responsible for sociology submissions.  Until July 2023 I was President of RC31, the International Sociological Association’s research committee on international migration.  In August 2023 I received a “Research Fellow Award” by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. I gained my PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and a BA from Kenyon College.