Soichiro Matsuda

Soichiro Matsuda

he/his

Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba | Behavioral Design Lab

Daily Happiness in Contexts: Associations of Activities, Social Companions, and Humor Use across Two 2-Month Experience Sampling Studies

Published in Journal of Happiness Studies, 2026

Summary

This study examined everyday happiness across two 60-day experience sampling studies conducted in naturalistic settings. Rather than characterizing happiness ratings in isolation, the studies related them to two complementary sources of information: the activity–companion contexts surrounding happiness reports and the breadth of humor-related ways participants engaged with everyday experience.

Across both studies, momentary happiness varied systematically across activity and social contexts. Study 2 further showed that perceived intimacy with companions was positively associated with happiness when others were present. In both studies, broader humor repertoire breadth was positively associated with happiness, at both daily and momentary assessment scales.

The findings demonstrate how intensive longitudinal measurement can characterize everyday well-being in relation to multiple features of naturally occurring contexts. From an HCI perspective, the study provides a basis for context-aware systems that combine repeated self-report with information about activities, social situations, and everyday engagement to support longitudinal measurement and personalized well-being interventions.

Research line

  • Measuring: intensive longitudinal measurement of everyday happiness through experience sampling
  • Context-Aware Computing: characterizing happiness in relation to activities, social companions, and perceived intimacy
  • Digital Well-Being: identifying contextual and behavioral information that can inform personalized well-being technologies
  • Experience Sampling: repeated measurement across daily and momentary timescales in naturalistic settings

Kumasaki, N., Todo, N., & Matsuda, S. (2026). Daily happiness in contexts: Associations of activities, social companions, and humor use across two 2-month experience sampling studies. Journal of Happiness Studies, 27, Article 113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-026-01095-3

Recommended citation: Kumasaki, N., Todo, N., & Matsuda, S. (2026). Daily happiness in contexts: Associations of activities, social companions, and humor use across two 2-month experience sampling studies. *Journal of Happiness Studies, 27*, Article 113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-026-01095-3
Download Paper