Global reports of well-being overestimate aggregated daily states of well-being

Researchers can characterize people's well-being by asking them to provide global evaluations of large parts of their life at one time or by obtaining repeated assessments during their daily lives. Global evaluations are reconstructions that are influenced by peak, recent, and frequently occurring states, whereas daily reports reflect naturally occurring variations in daily life. The present research compared the averages of individual global evaluations and corresponding aggregated daily states from an ordinary two-week period and used a range of well-being measures (life satisfaction, meaning in life, and affect) and related constructs (searching for meaning in life and nostalgia). Across all measures, global reports were significantly higher than aggregated daily states. That is, life is considered more satisfying, more meaningful, and is characterized to a greater extent by more intense positive and negative emotions when reflecting on life in general than when reflecting on daily life in real time.

Automated summary

The study found that individuals tend to rate their overall life satisfaction, meaning, and emotional intensity more positively when reflecting on life as a whole, compared to daily aggregations. This could be due to the tendency to focus on positive aspects when looking at life in general and being more influenced by the fluctuations of daily life.