[p2p-research] Income Aspirations, Television and Happiness

[Paul D. Fernhout]

From:
"Income Aspirations, Television and Happiness: Evidence from the World 
Values Survey by Luigino Bruni, Luca Stanca"
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=898252
"This paper investigates the role of television in producing higher material 
aspirations, by enhancing both adaptation and positional effects. Using a 
large sample of individuals from the World Values Survey, we find that the 
effect of income on both life and financial satisfaction is significantly 
smaller for heavy television viewers than for occasional viewers. This 
finding is robust to a number of specification checks and alternative 
interpretations. The results suggest an additional explanation for the 
income-happiness paradox: the pervasive and increasing role of television 
viewing in contemporary society, by raising material aspirations, 
contributes to offset the effect of higher income on individual happiness."

The paper:
http://dipeco.economia.unimib.it/pdf/pubblicazioni/wp89_05.pdf

Perhaps as people shift their activities away from TV and to peer production 
(as Clay Shirky suggests) we will see an increase in global happiness?
"Gin, Television, and Social Surplus"
http://www.shirky.com/herecomeseverybody/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/
http://www.beyondajoblessrecovery.org/