The contribution of temperament, popularity, and physical appearance to children’s happiness

The relation between the happiness of 9–12 year old children and their temperament, popularity, and physical appearance was examined. Participants included 432 children and their parents and teachers. Happiness in children was assessed using a selfrating scale, parents’ ratings, teachers’ ratings, and the Happiness and Satisfaction Subscale of the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale 2 (Piers-Harris 2) [Piers, E. V., & Herzberg, D. S. (2002). Manual for the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services]. Estimates of children’s temperament, popularity, and physical appearance included parents’ ratings, individual items on the Piers-Harris 2, and three domain scales from the Piers-Harris 2: the Freedom From Anxiety Subscale, Popularity Subscale, and Physical Appearance and Attributes Subscale. Children’s happiness was correlated with and predicted by ratings of their temperament, popularity, and appearance. Demographic variables did not account for appreciable variance in children’s happiness. The results parallel the common finding that internal factors (e.g., personality), but not external factors (e.g., demographics), predict adults’ happiness.