Would you be happier if you were richer?

Subjective well being across countries over decades www.themegallery.com

why the illusion happens? Focusing illusion --definition: It is a cognitive bias that occurs when people place too much importance on one aspect of an event, causing an error in accurately predicting the utility of a future outcome. --also when people consider the impact of a single factor on subjective well being. --example: how happy are you with your life in general? how many dates did your have last month? R=-0.01 reverse the order: r= 0.66

Prediction of the percentage of time in bad mood of people in different life circumstances. www.themegallery.com

Income only has a transitory effect on happiness --reallocate attention eventually Correlation between income and general subjective well being is higher than the correlation between income and experienced happiness. --experienced happiness: moment to moment happiness. Asking feelings from 0 to 3(not happy to pretty happy) every 25 min. r=0.01

Why does income have such a weak effect on subjective well being? Relative income but not absolute income this can explain: --why countries’ GDP increase but not people’s subjective well being; --why the correlation between income and global happiness is higher than income and experienced happiness; -- why income just has a transient effect on subjective well being.

People may adapt to material goods, moreover, people’s aspirations rise together with their income level. Income increases, but leisure time sacrificed.

Thank You ! www.themegallery.com