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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2026–03–30
nine papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | Milena Chełchowska |
| Abstract: | Personality traits are strong predictors of subjective well-being with meta-analyses supporting the relationships. However, the role of personality similarity in romantic couples, especially among older adults, remains unclear. This article aims to examine the actor and partner effects of personality traits on subjective well-being among older people in Europe. They include the effects on longitudinal development of subjective well-being as well as the under-researched impact of partners’ (dis)similarity in terms of personality traits. The study analyzes subjective well-being among older European couples using data from three waves of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (from 2017-2022). It employs APIM and DRSA models to examine actor, partner, and personality similarity effects. Subjective well-being is measured using the CASP-12 scale, while personality traits are assessed using the Big Five inventory. Personality predicted subjective well-being over time at actor and partner levels. Neuroticism showed the strongest negative, conscientiousness the strongest positive actor effect. Extraversion had the strongest partner effect. Actor effects were generally stronger than partner effects for subjective well-being levels, but the reverse was true for subjective well-being development. Similarity effects were limited, though trait combinations revealed nuanced interactions. The findings confirm the importance of both partners’ personality traits for long-term subjective well-being, with effects varying by trait and outcome. They underscore the value of a dyadic longitudinal approach in revealing complex, trait-specific dynamics beyond simple similarity effects. |
| Keywords: | Dyads, Older adults, Subjective well-being, Personality traits, Actor-partner interdependence model, Dyadic reponse surface analysis |
| JEL: | J14 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgh:kaewps:2026115 |
| By: | Milena Chełchowska |
| Abstract: | Research on lifestyle patterns in later life has predominantly examined isolated behaviors rather than integrated configurations of daily activities. Moreover, despite increasing partner interdependence in older adulthood, lifestyle research has maintained an individual-level focus, overlooking how activity patterns may operate as couple-level phenomena. This study integrates person-centered and dyadic perspectives to examine lifestyle configurations among older European couples and their associations with subjective well-being. Using longitudinal data from older couples, latent class analysis identified four distinct lifestyle patterns: Activity-Limited, Employment-Dominated, Home-Based Recreation, and Socially Engaged. These classes were systematically differentiated by sociodemographic, economic, health, and family role characteristics. Actor-partner interdependence models revealed that all three active lifestyle patterns predicted higher subsequent subjective well-being compared to the Activity-Limited pattern, with Socially Engaged showing the strongest effects. Significant partner effects emerged across all classes, demonstrating that one partner's lifestyle contributed to the other's subjective well-being beyond individual effects. Partners showed moderate lifestyle interdependence, particularly for Socially Engaged patterns. These findings highlight that lifestyle patterns operate as relationally-embedded phenomena in later life, with implications for both partners' subjective well-being. |
| Keywords: | Dyads, Older adults, Subjective well-being, Lifestyle, Actor-partner interdependence model, Latent class analysis |
| JEL: | J14 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgh:kaewps:2026116 |
| By: | Aatishya Mohanty; Nattavudh Powdthavee; Cheng Keat Tang; Andrew J. Oswald |
| Abstract: | Scientists agree about the urgency of the problem of climate change. Most citizens, however, pay little attention to gradually increasing temperature levels. Growing numbers of natural disasters in the world might then play a fundamental role as the key signal to alert humanity to the severity of the problem of the changing climate. But is that potential mechanism working? In this empirical examination (N>2 million over three decades in 93 countries), we show for the first time that a typical person's happiness and life satisfaction is barely affected by natural disasters in their region. Yet these are the individuals -- as opposed to the minority literally flooded or literally badly affected by hurricanes -- who effectively shape how governments act. This study's ``psychological near-irrelevance'' result is deeply troubling. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2603.12883 |
| By: | Ranucci, Immacolata; Abay, Kibrom A.; Tiberti, Luca |
| Abstract: | Subjective well-being rankings are increasingly used to target social protection programs, yet their ability to capture relative welfare and wealth remains debated. This study benchmarks self-, peer-, and elite-based poverty rankings against consumption- and wealth-based measures using Ethiopian household survey data, where about 20 households per village were ranked from neediest to least needy by themselves, peers, and community leaders. We assess concordance between subjective and conventional welfare rankings and explore sources of divergence. Subjective rankings align more with relative wealth than consumption and with total rather than per capita welfare, suggesting they overlook household composition. Elite-based rankings best capture conventional measures, followed by peers’ and self-rankings. Subjective rankings also better reflect relative deprivation among households exposed to covariate shocks. A composite index combining all three improves agreement with standard metrics. Information asymmetries, favoritism, and welfare dynamics partly explain discrepancies, offering insights for enhancing targeting in data-scarce settings. |
| Keywords: | needs; poverty; living standards; social welfare; targeting; social protection; Ethiopia; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Eastern Africa |
| Date: | 2025–12–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:178967 |
| By: | Nadia Sourial; Erin C. Strumpf; Roxane Borgès Da Silva; Maude Laberge; Géraldine Layani |
| Abstract: | Résultats d’un sondage auprès des médecins de famille Physician well-being is a crucial element not only for the practice of family medicine but also for the performance of the health care system. Family medicine in Quebec faces major challenges, including declining retention, a shortage of family physicians, and a lack of attractiveness of the profession. In 2023, the Table nationale de concertation sur la valorisation de la médecine de famille was established with the mandate to develop a plan to bring together all measures needed to enhance the value of family medicine practice and ensure their coordination. This study stems from a collaboration between the research team and the Table’s monitoring committee. A cross-sectional survey sent to the 10, 591 family physicians practising in Quebec between December 2023 and July 2024 was used to provide a portrait of the state of well-being and job satisfaction among family physicians practising in Quebec and examine the factors associated with their well-being. A total of 1, 252 respondents were included in the study. The analyses show that more than half of physicians (62.5%) were at risk of distress. The survey identified the following factors as being statistically associated with the well-being of family doctors in Quebec, in order of importance: work–life balance followed by a sense of fulfillment in the role of family physician, exposure to unreasonable expectations or verbal abuse from patients, satisfaction with human resources, and lack of awareness of initiatives aimed at improving physicians well-being. By clearly identifying these key factors, the study paves the way for identifying priority levers that can improve physicians working conditions, professional satisfaction, and, ultimately, the performance of the health care system. Résultats d’un sondage auprès des médecins de famille Le mieux-être des médecins de famille est un élément crucial non seulement pour la pratique de la médecine de famille, mais aussi pour la performance du système de santé. La médecine de famille au Québec se heurte à des défis majeurs, notamment la baisse de la rétention, la pénurie de médecins de famille et le manque d’attractivité de la profession. En 2023, une Table nationale de concertation sur la valorisation de la médecine de famille a été mise sur pied avec comme mandat d’élaborer un plan concret pour valoriser la pratique de la médecine de famille et en assurer la coordination. Cette étude découle d’une collaboration entre l’équipe de recherche et le comité de suivi de la Table. Un sondage transversal diffusé auprès des 10 591 médecins de famille en exercice au Québec entre décembre 2023 et juillet 2024 a permis de brosser un portrait de l’état de mieux-être et de satisfaction au travail des médecins de famille et d’examiner les facteurs associés à leur mieux-être. Au total, 1252 répondants ont été inclus dans l'étude. Les analyses révèlent que plus de la moitié des médecins (62, 5 %) étaient à risque de détresse. Le sondage a fait ressortir les facteurs suivants comme étant statistiquement associés au mieux-être des médecins de famille au Québec, par ordre d’importance : la satisfaction à l’égard de la conciliation travail-vie personnelle, l’épanouissement dans le rôle de médecin de famille, le fait de se heurter fréquemment à des attentes démesurées ou à de la violence verbale de la part des patients, la satisfaction à l’égard des ressources humaines et le manque de connaissance des initiatives visant à améliorer le bien-être des médecins. En désignant clairement ces déterminants clés, l'étude ouvre la voie à des mesures structurantes susceptibles de rehausser la satisfaction professionnelle des médecins et leur mieux-être tout en contribuant à une meilleure performance du système de santé. |
| Keywords: | Family medicine, well-being, satisfaction, associated factors, Médecine de famille, mieux-être, satisfaction, facteurs associés |
| Date: | 2026–03–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirpro:2026rp-05 |
| By: | Clara Schäper; Katharina Wrohlich; Sabine Zinn |
| Abstract: | Many countries use job-retention schemes, such as short-time work (STW), to stabilize the labor market during economic downturns. While these schemes might prevent unemployment (UE) and its adverse effects on workers, STW could also deter workers from moving to more productive firms, thereby negatively affecting their labor market outcomes in the long run. We analyze the long-term effects of STW and UE on individual workers using survey data from the SOEP for 1984–2023, which allows us to examine a broad set of yearly measured outcome variables, including employment, weekly working hours, real hourly wages, time spent on unpaid care work and life satisfaction. For the empirical analysis, we employ a two-step procedure that includes propensity score matching and an event-study model with individual fixed effects. Our findings suggest that, in the German institutional context, STW had no significant negative effects on workers’ labor market outcomes in the financial crisis of 2008/2009 and the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that STW did not deter workers from switching to more productive firms. For the economic crisis following German reunification in the 1990s, however, we find that STW negatively affects workers’ long-term outcomes, albeit less strongly than episodes of UE. These findings suggest that the stabilizing effect of STW strongly depends on the economic context. |
| Keywords: | labor market shocks, job loss, short-time work, unemployment, event-study analysis |
| JEL: | H31 E32 J13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2160 |
| By: | Xiaoyue Shan |
| Abstract: | Does group gender diversity benefit individuals? I examine this question with a field experiment randomizing 3, 060 students to small study groups at university entry. Assignment to mixed-gender rather than single-gender groups improves performance and well-being for both men and women: first-year grades increase by about 0.10 SD, well-being by 0.15 SD, and program dropout falls by 6 pp (24%). However, mixed-gender groups also induce more traditional attitudes toward family gender roles. Mechanism analyses suggest that gender diversity fosters collaboration and shifts gender attitudes by reinforcing gendered roles in social interaction: while women coordinate and ask questions, men compete and explain. |
| Keywords: | gender diversity, performance, well-being, gender roles |
| JEL: | C93 D91 I21 I31 J16 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12565 |
| By: | Noriko NUMATA; Yoichi SEKIZAWA; Yijing BAI; Akari MATSUZAWA; Yoshikazu NODA; Tsubasa SASAKI; Eiji SHIMIZU |
| Abstract: | Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of a digital healthcare intervention based on a cognitive behavioral approach for women suffering from depressive symptoms caused by physical and psychosocial changes associated with menopause. Methods: Women aged 40 to under 60 years were recruited online, and 968 participants who met the eligibility criteria were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 488) or a control group (n = 480). For four weeks the intervention group was provided with a self-care application mainly focused on psychoeducation (five days per week). The primary outcome was measured with the “Coping with Menopausal Symptoms Scale.” Secondary outcomes included depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), menopausal symptoms (Simplified Menopausal Index: SMI), and mental well-being (WHO-5). Data were analyzed using a mixed model for repeated measures (MMRM). Results: For the primary outcome, the intervention group did not show a statistically significant improvement compared with the control group. For PHQ-9, GAD-7, and WHO-5 the intervention group showed significant improvements compared with the control group. No significant difference was observed in the SMI between the two groups. Limitations: Only 238 participants (approximately 50%) in the intervention group implemented the intervention, and outcome measures were not collected from participants who did not participate in the intervention. Therefore, the effects of the intervention may have been overestimated. Conclusion: This digital self-care intervention may be effective in improving depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and subjective well-being among perimenopausal and menopausal women. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:26016 |
| By: | Li, Y. |
| Abstract: | People naturally tend to compare themselves to those who are better off. Yet up-ward comparison remains a puzzle since people generally dislike being worse off than others. This paper rationalizes upward comparison using a model in which individuals dislike lagging behind their comparison group but also prefer to affiliate with higher-status groups because doing so provides status benefits. The main results characterize who in the income distribution is more likely to compare upward. Individuals engage in upward comparison when the expected income of those below them exceeds a threshold relative to their own income. Moreover, everyone compares upward when there are sufficiently many people "close below" at every income level. Comparative statics with respect to the income distribution show that greater affluence or higher equality can lead individuals across the distribution to engage in more upward comparison. Surprisingly, a second-order stochastic shift in the income distribution reduces the utility of holding a fixed level of income at all income levels. This provides a mechanism through which higher affluence or lower inequality need not be associated with happiness. |
| Date: | 2026–01–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2614 |