What do Happiness Data Mean? Theory and Survey Evidence Journal Article

• Best Open Access

Overview

abstract

• Abstract; What utility notion—e.g. flow/lifetime, self/family-centered—do self-reported well-being (SWB) questions measure? Existing applications make different assumptions regarding the (i) life domains, (ii) time horizons, and (iii) other-regarding preferences captured by SWB data. To obtain relevant evidence, we ask survey respondents what they had in mind regarding (i)–(iii) when answering commonly used—life satisfaction, happiness, ladder���and new SWB questions. We find that respondents’ self-reports differ from researchers’ assumptions and differ across SWB questions and sociodemographic groups. At the same time, simple SWB-question wording tweaks are effective in moving self-reports toward desired interpretations. We outline actionable suggestions for SWB researchers. (JEL: D69, D90, I31)

CU Boulder Authors

• Kimball, Miles Spencer

publication date

• December 11, 2023

has restriction

• green

Date in CU Experts

• February 3, 2024 2:29 AM

Full Author List

• Benjamin DJ; Debnam Guzman J; Fleurbaey M; Heffetz O; Kimball M

author count

• 5

published in

• Journal of the European Economic Association  Journal

Other Profiles

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

• 1542-4766

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

• 1542-4774

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvad026

Additional Document Info

start page

• 2377

end page

• 2412

volume

• 21

issue

• 6