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Hierarchical Needs, Income Comparisons and Happiness Levels

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  • Drakopoulos, Stavros

Abstract

The cornerstone of the hierarchical approach is that there are some basic human needs which must be satisfied before non-basic needs come into the picture. The hierarchical structure of needs implies that the satisfaction of primary needs provides substantial increases to individual happiness compared to the subsequent satisfaction of secondary needs. This idea can be combined with the concept of comparison income which means that individuals compare rewards with individuals with similar characteristics. These two notions could provide additional explanations of empirical findings indicating a positive relationship between income and happiness up to certain level of income

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  • Drakopoulos, Stavros, 2011. "Hierarchical Needs, Income Comparisons and Happiness Levels," MPRA Paper 48343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:48343
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    2. Namkee Ahn & Victoria Ateca-Amestoy & Arantza Ugidos, 2014. "Financial Satisfaction from an Intra-Household Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1109-1123, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income Comparisons; Hierarchical Needs; Happiness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Y80 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Related Disciplines - - - Related Disciplines

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