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The social contingency of momentary subjective well-being

Author

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  • Robb B. Rutledge

    (Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research
    Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London)

  • Archy O. de Berker

    (Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research
    Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London
    University College London)

  • Svenja Espenhahn

    (University College London)

  • Peter Dayan

    (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London)

  • Raymond J. Dolan

    (Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research
    Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London)

Abstract

Although social comparison is a known determinant of overall life satisfaction, it is not clear how it affects moment-to-moment variation in subjective emotional state. Using a novel social decision task combined with computational modelling, we show that a participant’s subjective emotional state reflects not only the impact of rewards they themselves receive, but also the rewards received by a social partner. Unequal outcomes, whether advantageous or disadvantageous, reduce average momentary happiness. Furthermore, the relative impacts of advantageous and disadvantageous inequality on momentary happiness at the individual level predict a subject’s generosity in a separate dictator game. These findings demonstrate a powerful social influence upon subjective emotional state, where emotional reactivity to inequality is strongly predictive of altruism in an independent task domain.

Suggested Citation

  • Robb B. Rutledge & Archy O. de Berker & Svenja Espenhahn & Peter Dayan & Raymond J. Dolan, 2016. "The social contingency of momentary subjective well-being," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11825
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11825
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    Cited by:

    1. Filip Gesiarz & Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Tali Sharot, 2020. "The motivational cost of inequality: Opportunity gaps reduce the willingness to work," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Samuelson Appau & Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Russell Smyth & Quanda Zhang, 2022. "Social Capital Inequality and Subjective Wellbeing of Older Chinese," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 541-563, April.
    3. Lucio Esposito & Shatakshee Dhongde & Christopher Millett, 2021. "Smoking habits in Mexico: Upward and downward comparisons of economic status," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1558-1575, August.

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