What Do People Want?

Philosophical perspectives on human desires and values vary; economic theory-driven measurement techniques can provide relevant empirical evidence. We elicited over half a million stated preference choices over 126 dimensions or “aspects” of well-being from a sample of 896 online respondents. We also elicited, via self-reported well-being (SWB) questions, respondents’ current levels of the aspects. From the stated preference data, we estimate for each aspect its relative marginal utility per point on our 0-100 response scale. We validate these estimates by comparing them to alternative methods for estimating preferences, and we offer a range of estimates between those that take self-reports at face value and those that (over-)correct for potential social-desirability reporting bias. Our findings suggest that our respondents value, first and foremost, three basic things: family, money, and health (not necessarily in this order). While commonly studied concepts—such as happiness, life satisfaction, life’s ranking on a ladder, and meaning—are all important, respondents place the highest marginal utilities on aspects related to family well-being and health, and financial freedom and security. We document substantial heterogeneity in preferences across respondents within—but not between—demographic groups, with aspects’ current levels predicting preferences for the aspects.