Who (Really) Wins with Basic Income: Personality and Values as Predictors of Happiness Trajectories

Julia Malinka (), Kristin Mitte and Matthias Ziegler
Additional contact information
Julia Malinka: Ernst-Abbe Hochschule Jena, University of Applied Science
Kristin Mitte: Ernst-Abbe Hochschule Jena, University of Applied Science
Matthias Ziegler: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2025, vol. 26, issue 1, No 10, 34 pages

Abstract: Abstract Universal Basic Income (UBI) might cause different effects in happiness depending on a person’s individual characteristics. In an online panel study of 573 basic income recipients in Germany, we examined whether personality traits (NEOAC) and certain personal values (self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, power, achievement, universalism, benevolence) predicted trajectories in happiness. Latent Growth Curve Analysis revealed that overall, most individuals experienced similar changes in happiness over time. For personality traits as predictors, higher neuroticism and openness to new experience were linked to growth in well-being. Additionally for personal values, significant growth in life satisfaction appeared to be associated with lower hedonism at the beginning of the study, and growth in well-being was related to higher levels of self-direction. In fact, none of the subgroups suffered in happiness. We conclude with implications and some important directions for further research regarding the effect of basic income on happiness.

Keywords: Basic income; Big five; Personal values; Latent growth analysis; Happiness; Longitudinal data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-024-00831-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00831-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... fe/journal/10902/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00831-x

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Happiness Studies is currently edited by Antonella Delle Fave

More articles in Journal of Happiness Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().