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Social Comparisons and Life Satisfaction Across Racial and Ethnic Groups: The Effects of Status, Information and Solidarity

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  • Lewis Davis
  • Stephen Wu

Abstract

This paper explores the role of within group social comparisons on the life satisfaction of different racial and ethnic groups in the US. For Whites, we find that higher group income levels are associated with lower levels of life satisfaction, a result that is consistent with a preference for within group status. In contrast, life satisfaction is increasing in group income for Blacks. This result is consistent with the existence of social norms that emphasize Black solidarity. It is also consistent with an information effect in which Blacks rely on peer income levels to form expectations regarding their future prospects. We introduce a theoretical framework to help to distinguish between solidarity and information effects. Our empirical results provide strong support for the hypothesis that solidarity rather than information accounts for the positive relationship between average Black income and the subjective wellbeing of US Blacks. Finally, we consider two theories of social solidarity and find support for social salience but not social density in determining the strength of solidarity effects. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

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  • Lewis Davis & Stephen Wu, 2014. "Social Comparisons and Life Satisfaction Across Racial and Ethnic Groups: The Effects of Status, Information and Solidarity," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 849-869, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:117:y:2014:i:3:p:849-869
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0367-y
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lewis Davis & Stephen Wu, 2020. "The Taste for Status in International Comparison," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2237-2256, August.
    3. Laura Monteiro & Michael Haan, 2022. "The Life Satisfaction of Immigrants in Canada: Does Time Since Arrival Matter more than Income?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1397-1420, September.
    4. Davis, Lewis S., 2018. "Political economy of growth with a taste for status," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 35-46.
    5. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis Angel, 2022. "Regional comparisons of intergenerational social mobility: the importance of positional mobility," SocArXiv zgfvk, Center for Open Science.
    6. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    7. Karen Maguire & John V. Winters, 2017. "Satisfaction and Self-Employment: Do Women Benefit More from Being Their Own Boss?," Economics Working Paper Series 1713, Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business.
    8. Mduduzi Biyase & Liza-Mari Volschenk & Sheila De Carvalho, 2022. "Occupation status-subjective wellbeing nexus: A quantile regression analysis," Economics Working Papers edwrg-01-2022, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, revised 2022.
    9. Lewis Davis, 2019. "Growth, Inequality and Tunnel Effects: A Formal Mode," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1103-1119, April.
    10. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis, 2023. "The importance of positional mobility for regional comparisons," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 322-333.
    11. Paul Dolan & Chloe Foy & Georgios Kavetsos & Laura Kudrna, 2016. "Without my medal on my mind: counterfactual thinking and other determinants of athlete emotions," CEP Discussion Papers dp1436, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. David G. Blanchflower & Carol L. Graham, 2022. "The Mid-Life Dip in Well-Being: a Critique," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 287-344, May.

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