Search Results (7)

The Easterlin paradox and recent distributional reassessments suggest that average effects obscure how subjective disadvantage is generated and reproduced over time. We propose the Social Comparison System (SCS), a framework that represents subjective well-being (SWB) as an internal state and relative income rank as an external conditioning variable within a feedback structure, with three structural properties: threshold activation, state-dependent gain, and rank-conditioned attractor displacement. The properties are recovered through a sample-isolated three-stage framework integrating tree-based machine learning, forest-based heterogeneity estimation, panel-data estimation, and hierarchical Bayesian Markov modeling on a balanced four-wave panel of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS; 8099 individuals; 32,396 person-wave observations). Stage 1 locates a discrete predictive discontinuity in relative income rank between rank 2 and rank 3 (SHAP jump = 0.383, permutation p < 0.001). Stage 2 carries this boundary into a disjoint validation panel and recovers a negative rank-by-prior-SWB interaction (β = −0.036) and a 2.30-fold larger conditional effect in low- than in high-prior-SWB strata. Stage 3 recovers a 22.6-percentage-point gap in the rank-conditioned occupancy of the lowest within-wave SWB quartile between low- and high-rank subsystems, which under a first-order Markov approximation corresponds to a long-run stationary gap, robust to alternative state-space discretizations. Throughout this paper, relative income rank is treated as a conditioning variable, and the rank-conditioned patterns are interpreted as associational; the long-run quantities are reported under a first-order dynamical approximation rather than as identified causal or fully validated long-run effects. Persistent subjective disadvantage is therefore characterized by unequal dynamics of activation, amplification, and escape, rather than by unequal resources alone. This reframing provides a methodological template for identifying rank-conditioned feedback structures in social-systems data. Full article

This paper advances two interrelated theses. As for the first thesis, it distinguishes well-being, on the one hand, from happiness, on the other hand. As for the second thesis, it differentiates between two important facets of happiness: what this paper calls “happiness-as-tranquility” and “happiness-as-aspiration”. Actually, in order to differentiate the two facets of happiness, we first need to distinguish happiness from well-being. This is the case because happiness, after all, is a by-product of reflecting upon and ruminating over well-being. Given it is the same well-being, how could it give rise to different facets of happiness? It can only do so if we stop conflating happiness with well-being. This entails taking to task the widely accepted concept of “subjective wellbeing”. Such concept is expressly designed to obfuscate the difference between well-being and happiness. As for the two facets of happiness (the second thesis), this paper relies upon the contrast of two famous works of literature: the story of Job and the story of Faust. The contrast uncovers the criticality of the temporal dimension in the acts of reflection upon and rumination over well-being. If people reflect on past accomplishments, they experience backward-looking happiness along the Job story—i.e., happiness-as-tranquility. If people reflect on desire, they experience forward-looking happiness along the Faust story—i.e., happiness-as-aspiration. While the two facets of happiness seem contradictory, they are indeed complementary if we recognize the temporal element when one reflects upon and ruminates over well-being. Full article

The background of the study is the analysis of social expenditure efficiency in European countries over time. Terminological considerations leading from hedonism and eudaimonism to the concept of subjectively perceived well-being and the Easterlin paradox are necessary to understand the differences in changes in the level of well-being among countries and over time. The purpose of the study is to analyse citizens’ declarations on subjective well-being as an indicator of the efficiency of social policy. The methods used for statistical analysis are conventional and dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques. The EU-SILC and OurWorldInData.org data analysed with DEA provided the main results. The study identified significant fluctuations in subjective well-being, with a clear long-term upward trend. Among the surveyed countries, there are those where progress is due to internal factors, while in the Mediterranean countries, external factors predominate. The level of the estimated DEA efficiency indicators (TC and EC) indicate the improvement in input efficiency in a substantive number of countries, e.g., Estonia and Cyprus, along with persistently low indicator values in some member states, Italy and Luxemburg. In conclusion, the author indicated areas in individual countries where attempts to improve social policy are needed to raise and maintain desirable levels of subjective well-being. Full article

Happiness is the eternal pursuit of human beings, and subjective well-being is an essential indicator for evaluating happiness. Research on subjective well-being mainly focuses on material, economic, and psychological factors, and there is insufficient research on the impact of social factors on subjective well-being. Focusing on the influence of social factors on subjective well-being can help us better understand the “Easterlin Paradox”. Based on the theoretical model of social quality, this paper analyzes the influence of the current Chinese social quality on Chinese people’s subjective well-being using the data from the China Social Survey 2021 (CSS2021). It is found that the higher the social quality, the stronger the people’s subjective well-being, and this conclusion is stable for different groups. By dimension, socio-economic security, social cohesion, and social inclusion significantly affect people’s subjective well-being, but social empowerment does not significantly affect subjective well-being. This paper provides new evidence to explore the impact of social quality on people’s well-being. Full article

In recent decades, China’s rapid economic growth has substantially improved average living standards; however, this has not been accompanied by greater happiness among the Chinese population. This phenomenon is known as the Easterlin Paradox (i.e., there is no link between a society’s economic development and its average level of happiness) in Western countries. This study examined the effects of subjective social class on subjective well-being and mental health in China. Consequently, we found that individuals in a relatively low social class had lower levels of subjective well-being and mental health; self-class discrepancy partially explains the relationship between subjective social class and subjective well-being and fully explains the relationship between subjective social class and mental health; and subjective social mobility moderates the path from self-class discrepancy to subjective well-being and mental health. These findings suggest that enhancing social mobility is an important method for reducing class differences in subjective well-being and mental health. These results have important implications, indicating that enhancing social mobility is an important method for reducing class differences in subjective well-being and mental health in China. Full article

Big data modelling using microblogs is applied to acquire nationwide representative panel data on subjective well-being. The analysis directly validates the influence of China’s Livelihood Index on subjective well-being. Using panel data on subjective well-being collected for the period from 2010 to 2021 from users of the Weibo (Sina Corporation, Beijing, China) microblogging platform, this study finds Granger causality running from China’s Livelihood Index to subjective well-being and that the two are positively correlated. We also find Granger causality running from a life stress indicator to a life satisfaction indicator. The education indicator model is found to be positively correlated with life satisfaction and positive emotions, whereas the life stress indicator and life satisfaction are negatively correlated. Medical and health indicators are positively related to life satisfaction, while a negative correlation is found between the traffic indicator model and life satisfaction. The relationship between economic development and subjective well-being also displays bidirectional Granger causality and a positive correlation. However, in China’s provinces and prefecture-level cities with relatively strong economic growth, the correlation between the livelihood index and economic development appears to be weaker. We suggest boosting gross domestic product per capita and absolute per capita income to increase subjective well-being in less developed western China. Bridging the gross domestic product per capita gap nationwide may also positively influence subjective well-being. To achieve this, we suggest measures that include improving medical and health services, alleviating traffic congestion, increasing the teacher–student ratio and improving the education universalisation rate. These steps would improve the equitable and balanced development of China’s Livelihood Index across the country’s 31 provinces. Full article

The recent literature developed in the field of happiness economics highlights the overvaluation of income and material prosperity as determinants of happiness, and calls into question many of the assumptions of traditional economic theory linked to “rationality” and the “non-satiety” of the consumer. This article aimed to study which factors explain individual subjective well-being, paying special attention to the role of income and the incidence of social variables and focusing on the case of Spain. As a novelty, this research introduces variables such as trust or the perception of justice, among others. Based on the analysis of the European Social Survey and through the estimation of an ordered logit, we find that, in line with the theory of happiness economics, the material aspects do not play a relevant role as explanatory of subjective well-being, unlike social aspects, such as sociability and trust in people (social capital). In addition, our results indicate that in the case of Spain, the most materialistic people are associated with a lower level of happiness. Thus, it seems that the excess of concern for material and economic issues in the pursuit of happiness undermines socioeconomic and environmental sustainability by causing the “wealth destruction effect”. Full article