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The happiness-income paradox revisited.

ABSTRACT: The striking thing about the happiness-income paradox is that over the long-term--usually a period of 10 y or more--happiness does not increase as a country's income rises. Heretofore the evidence for this was limited to developed countries. This article presents evidence that the long term nil relationship between happiness and income holds also for a number of developing countries, the eastern European countries transitioning from socialism to capitalism, and an even wider sample of developed countries than previously studied. It also finds that in the short-term in all three groups of countries, happiness and income go together, i.e., happiness tends to fall in economic contractions and rise in expansions. Recent critiques of the paradox, claiming the time series relationship between happiness and income is positive, are the result either of a statistical artifact or a confusion of the short-term relationship with the long-term one.

SUBMITTER: Easterlin RA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3012515 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The happiness-income paradox revisited.

Easterlin Richard A RA McVey Laura Angelescu LA Switek Malgorzata M Sawangfa Onnicha O Zweig Jacqueline Smith JS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20101213 52

The striking thing about the happiness-income paradox is that over the long-term--usually a period of 10 y or more--happiness does not increase as a country's income rises. Heretofore the evidence for this was limited to developed countries. This article presents evidence that the long term nil relationship between happiness and income holds also for a number of developing countries, the eastern European countries transitioning from socialism to capitalism, and an even wider sample of developed ...[more]

PMID: 21149705

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Project description:BackgroundAcross the globe, lockdowns have been enforced as a pandemic response to COVID-19. Such lockdown coupled with school closures and stay-at-home orders made women more vulnerable in terms of higher responsibility and spending more time with an abusive partner, if any.MethodsThis study investigates the situation of women during COVID-19 induced lockdown by focusing on their happiness and inquiring about the incidence of violence. Using the zero-inflated negative binomial model, our findings ascertained that family settings, type of relationship with a spouse, and age significantly affects the positive count of violence during the lockdown. We further estimated the determinants of happiness and found that years of schooling, the role of women in household decision making, and feeling empowered is affecting their happiness.ResultsWomen having higher education have more odds of zero violence. Unemployed women and women who are not working have higher odds of zero violence as compared to women who are working. During this lockdown after the COVID-19 pandemic, women living in urban areas, having higher education, having an adequate household income to meet the expenditures, having lesser anxiety, not facing violence, feeling empowered when their husband is around, and have higher decision-making power are happier.Discussion and conclusionThe study is important in the context of happiness and violence inflicted on women during the lockdown and provides the basis to improve the pandemic response policy. The inclusion of women's safety and happiness in pandemic response policy is important to ensure the well-being of women and to devise better health and economic policy. Our estimates suggest higher education results in less incidence of violence which could be argued as desirable outcomes for building healthy, productive, and happy communities. In addition to this, as pandemic induced lock-down is likely to result in higher unemployment across the globe including Pakistan, therefore, in light of our estimates pertaining to the role of unemployment in the incidence of violence, policymakers should deploy more resources to enhance income and to combat the rising unemployment. As a counter-intuitive outcome of these policy interventions, incidence of violence will be dampened, educational attainment and women empowerment will be increased which will certainly increase happiness.

Project description:IntroductionPrevious research has established a positive correlation between income and subjective wellbeing (SWB). This correlation is attributed to income's ability to provide material circumstances and influence one's perceived socioeconomic rank in society, known as subjective socioeconomic status (SES).ObjectiveThis study sought to examine whether social comparison processes could mediate the relationship between income and SWB. Specifically, we aimed to explore the impact of comparing one's current socioeconomic situation to individuals from a similar socioeconomic background (referred to as Comsim) on SWB, based on the similarity hypothesis of social comparison theory.MethodsData stem from two separate two-wave surveys. Study 1 comprised 588 participants, with 294 men and 294 women; age range 25-60 years; mean age 41.5 years). Study 2 comprised 614 participants, with 312 men and 302 women; age range 25-60 years; mean age 43.5 years. In both studies, data on predictors and SWB were collected 3 months apart.ResultsIn both study 1 and study 2, bivariate analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between income and SWB. However, multivariate regression models revealed that income did not have a direct effect on SWB. Instead, in both studies, subjective SES and Comsim emerged as significant predictors of SWB, with Comsim being the most influential. Furthermore, our formal mediation analysis indicated that subjective SES and Comsim fully mediated the relationship between income and SWB, when combined. Additionally, in study 2, we found that cognitive factors such as personal control, as well as affective factors like self-esteem, played a mediating role between the social comparison processes and SWB.ConclusionThis study contributes to existing research by emphasizing the importance of two distinct social comparison mechanisms in mediating the relationship between income and SWB.ImplicationsTherapeutic interventions to improve SWB should also consider social comparison processes. From a political standpoint, policies addressing income inequality can mitigate the negative effects of social comparisons on wellbeing. Providing support to those in lower socioeconomic positions can also enhance SWB.

Project description:BackgroundDespite existing studies favoring cemented fixation for patients older than 75 years, a trend toward increased use of uncemented fixation has been described in a 2013 study that used arthroplasty registry data from 2006 to 2010. Updated summarized data are needed beyond 2010 to investigate contemporary trends in the usage of uncemented fixation, especially in patients older than 75 years, and to draw attention to a potential continuing conflict between trends in fixation choice and reported revision risk. Thus, healthcare policy and practice can change and surgeons can make better implant fixation choices.Questions/purposes(1) Has the percentage of primary THAs performed with uncemented fixation changed since 2010? (2) Has the percentage of primary THAs performed in patients older than 75 years performed with uncemented fixation changed since 2010? (3) After stratifying by age, which fixation strategy (cemented versus uncemented and hybrid versus uncemented) is associated with the lowest risk of revision?MethodsNational annual reports from hip arthroplasty registers were identified, and data were extracted from registers published in English or a Scandinavian language, with at least 3 years of reported data in the period from 2010 to 2017. These included Australia, Denmark, England-Wales, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, which are all countries with high completeness rates. Data regarding rates of revisions (all causes) related to fixation methods and secondary to different age groups, were taken directly from the registers and no re-analysis was done. The risk estimates were presented as either hazard ratios, rate per 100 component years or as Kaplan-Meier estimates of revision. The age groups compared for Denmark were younger than 50, 50-59, 60-69,70-79, and older than 80 years, and for Australia, New Zealand, England-Wales, and Finland, they were younger than 55, 55-64, 65-74, and older than 75 years. No data were pooled across the registers.ResultsThe current use of uncemented fixation in primary THAs varies between 24% (Sweden) and 71% (Denmark). Increasing use of uncemented fixation has been reported in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, whereas decreasing use of uncemented fixation has been reported in England-Wales, Australia, New Zealand, and Finland. Examining the group of patients older than 75 years, we found that the use of uncemented fixation has been stable in Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, and England-Wales. The use of uncemented fixation is still increasing in Denmark and Australia. In Finland, the use of uncemented fixation has decreased (from 43 % to 24 %) from 2010 to 2017. When compared with uncemented fixation, the risk of revision for hips using cemented fixation was lower in patients older than 75 years for all registers surveyed, except for the oldest males in the Finnish register. In this group, no difference was found between cemented and uncemented fixation.ConclusionOur findings should be used in healthcare policy as feedback on current THAs being performed so as to direct surgeons to choose the right implant fixation, especially in patients older than 75 years, thereby reducing revision risk and increasing the long-term survival of primary THAs. It appears that femoral stem fixation may be the most important revision risk factor in older patients, and future studies should examine this perspective.Level of evidenceLevel III, therapeutic study.

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The happiness-income paradox revisited.

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The happiness-income paradox revisited.

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