What do Happiness Data Mean? Theory and Survey Evidence
Daniel Benjamin
(1, 2)
,
Jakina Debnam Guzman
(3)
,
Marc Fleurbaey
(4, 5)
,
Ori Heffetz
(6, 7)
,
Miles Kimball
(8)
1
UCLA Anderson School of Management
2 David Geffen School of Medicine [Los Angeles]
3 Amherst College
4 PSE - Paris School of Economics
5 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
6 HUJ - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
7 Department of Management and Organizations, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
8 University of Colorado [Boulder]
2 David Geffen School of Medicine [Los Angeles]
3 Amherst College
4 PSE - Paris School of Economics
5 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
6 HUJ - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
7 Department of Management and Organizations, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
8 University of Colorado [Boulder]
Marc Fleurbaey
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 741339
- IdHAL : marc-fleurbaey
- ORCID : 0000-0002-5342-8065
- IdRef : 029286719
Résumé
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.
Domaines
Economies et financesFormat du dépôt | Notice |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Article dans une revue |
Titre |
en
What do Happiness Data Mean? Theory and Survey Evidence
|
Résumé |
en
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.
|
Auteur(s) |
Daniel Benjamin
1, 2
, Jakina Debnam Guzman
3
, Marc Fleurbaey
4, 5
, Ori Heffetz
6, 7
, Miles Kimball
8
1
UCLA Anderson School of Management
( 468788 )
- Los Angeles USA
- États-Unis
2
David Geffen School of Medicine [Los Angeles]
( 469696 )
- États-Unis
3
Amherst College
( 364513 )
- 220 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002
- États-Unis
4
PSE -
Paris School of Economics
( 301309 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
5
PJSE -
Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
( 578027 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
6
HUJ -
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
( 102986 )
- Jerusalem 91905
- Israël
7
Department of Management and Organizations, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
( 115578 )
- États-Unis
8
University of Colorado [Boulder]
( 302215 )
- Boulder, Colorado 80309
- États-Unis
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Nom de la revue |
|
Date de publication |
2023-04
|
Volume |
58
|
Numéro |
2
|
Page/Identifiant |
83-85
|
Vulgarisation |
Non
|
Comité de lecture |
Oui
|
Audience |
Internationale
|
Public visé |
Scientifique
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Mots-clés (JEL) |
|
DOI | 10.1093/jeea/jvad026 |
UT key WOS | 001010952100001 |
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