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Life Satisfaction, Income Comparisons and Individual Traits

Author

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  • Santi Budría
  • Ada Ferrer‐I‐Carbonell

Abstract

People gain utility from occupying a higher ranked position in the income distribution of the reference group. This paper investigates whether these gains depend on an individual's set of personality and affective traits. Using the 2000 to 2013 waves of the German Socio‐economic Panel dataset (SOEP), a subjective question on Life Satisfaction, and three different measures of personal and affective traits, we find significant and robust differences across groups and conclude that traits determine the relationship between rank and life satisfaction. The heterogeneity on the importance of income comparisons is relevant, for example, when building economic models, predicting individuals' behavior, or making welfare judgments.

Suggested Citation

  • Santi Budría & Ada Ferrer‐I‐Carbonell, 2019. "Life Satisfaction, Income Comparisons and Individual Traits," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 337-357, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:65:y:2019:i:2:p:337-357
    DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12353
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2021. "The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 693-723, April.
    2. Jeffrey R. Bloem & Andrew J. Oswald, 2022. "The Analysis of Human Feelings: A Practical Suggestion for a Robustness Test," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(3), pages 689-710, September.
    3. Seonghoon Kim & Andrew J. Oswald, 2021. "Happy Lottery Winners and Lottery‐Ticket Bias," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 317-333, June.
    4. Eiji Yamamura, 2021. "Where do I rank? Am I happy?: learning income position and subjective-wellbeing in an internet experiment," Papers 2107.11185, arXiv.org.
    5. Hong, Yan-Zhen & Su, Yi-Ju & Chang, Hung-Hao, 2023. "Analyzing the relationship between income and life satisfaction of Forest farm households - a behavioral economics approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    6. Dusanee Kesavayuth & Robert E Rosenman & Vasileios Zikos, 2022. "Leaving the labor market: Exit routes, personality traits and well-being," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-20, March.
    7. A. l. Moro-Egido & M. Navarro & A. Sánchez, 2022. "Changes in Subjective Well-Being Over Time: Economic and Social Resources do Matter," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2009-2038, June.
    8. Lous, Bjorn, 2020. "On free markets, income inequality, happiness and trust," Other publications TiSEM e2480eed-722b-4e2a-8e29-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Bjorn Lous & Johan Graafland, 2022. "Who Becomes Unhappy when Income Inequality Increases?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 299-316, February.

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