Counting the smiles with Radio Four

Professor Paul Dolan features in the BBC's More or Less programme on the subject of measuring happiness

Professor Paul Dolan from the Healthcare Management Group has been working with Radio Four producers on the latest More or Less programme.  He contributed and advised on programme focusing on the matter of happiness.

Everything from political speeches to prime-time television series promote the idea that our happiness can be enhanced through the right policy.   The programme (aired on Monday 12 November) called on Professor Dolan’s expertise to examine whether it is really plausible and useful to measure human well-being using numbers.

Professor Dolan took the programme’s journalist, Tim Harford, around the College campus to explore whether economists are able to make us happier. He explained how measures of happiness are taken using the College’s Atheist and Christian Societies as a sample. 

He also discussed existing evidence on how happy commuters are by visiting Liverpool Street station with the journalist for vox pops.

The programme also interviewed Neuropsychologist Professor Angela Clow, University of Westminster and Professor Lord Layard, LSE on the matter. 

The programme can be heard online at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/more_or_less/