[p2p-research] More detail on money and happiness

[Ryan]

  Sent to you by Ryan via Google Reader: More detail on money and
happiness via Deric Bownds' MindBlog by mdbownds at wisc.edu (Deric
Bownds) on 4/16/10
Yet another study, this one by Boyce et al. (open access), confirming
that money doesn't buy happiness, people gain "utility" from occupying
a higher ranked position within an income distribution rather than from
either absolute income or their position relative to a reference wage:
Does money buy happiness, or does happiness come indirectly from the
higher rank in society that money brings? We tested a rank-income
hypothesis, according to which people gain utility from the ranked
position of their income within a comparison group. The rank hypothesis
contrasts with traditional reference-income hypotheses, which suggest
that utility from income depends on comparison to a social
reference-group norm. We found that the ranked position of an
individual’s income predicts general life satisfaction, whereas
absolute income and reference income have no effect. Furthermore,
individuals weight upward comparisons more heavily than downward
comparisons. According to the rank hypothesis, income and utility are
not directly linked: Increasing an individual’s income will increase
his or her utility only if ranked position also increases and will
necessarily reduce the utility of others who will lose rank.
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