Forecasting error for dormitory satisfaction: The underestimated impact of a happy roommate

& (2017). Forecasting error for dormitory satisfaction: The underestimated impact of a happy roommate. Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 31(2), 21-38, https://doi.org/10.21193/kjspp.2017.31.2.002

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Abstract

Do people fully recognize the impact of other people’s happiness on their own? We asked college freshmen, newly assigned to dormitories, to predict how much impact their roommates’ happiness would have on their satisfaction with dormitory life. Their predictions were compared with the reports of students who have actually lived in the same dormitories. Freshmen students expected that roommates’ happiness, compared to other factors (e.g, dormitory facilities and roommates’ habits), would play a less central role in their dormitory satisfaction (Study 1). Similar tendency was observed even among students currently residing in dormitories (Study 2). Contrary to their intuitions, however, roommates’ level of happiness was most predictive of their satisfaction with dormitory life (Study 3). These results illustrate people’s tendency to underestimate the importance of other people’s happiness on their own. Discussions on the possible societal consequences of happiness are offered.

keywords: 행복, 정서 예측 오류, 기숙사 만족도, 정서 전이, Happiness, affective forecasting error, dormitory satisfaction, emotional contagion

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Article Contents

Vol.31 No.2

Forecasting error for dormitory satisfaction: The underestimated impact of a happy roommate

Abstract

Reference

Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology