Discovering ‘the New Science of Happiness’ and Subjective Well-being

Abstract

AbstractThe ‘new science of happiness’ was not really discovered, but was a coming together of people, publications, projects, politicians, agencies and disciplines around the turn of the twenty-first century. This moment foregrounded the issue of how people feel (subjective well-being), changing how this is understood and measured, driving the ‘second wave’ of well-being. This chapter reviews these interlinked histories to contextualise the ‘new’ well-being data. It presents definitions, theories and methods to help understand what went on behind the scenes and under the bonnet of these data practices. We look at the establishment of the UK’s subjective well-being measures and address the question of what subjective well-being can do that differs from previous well-being measures.