Unmet aspirations as an explanation for the age u-shape in human wellbeing

Hannes Schwandt

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: A large literature in behavioral and social sciences has found that human wellbeing follows a U-shape over age. Some theories have assumed that the U-shape is caused by unmet expectations that are felt painfully in midlife but beneficially abandoned and experienced with less regret during old age. In a unique panel of 132,609 life satisfaction expectations matched to subsequent realizations, I find people to err systematically in predicting their life satisfaction over the life cycle. They expect -- incorrectly -- increases in young adulthood and decreases during old age. These errors are large, ranging from 9.8% at age 21 to -4.5% at age 68, they are stable over time and observed across socio-economic groups. These findings support theories that unmet expectations drive the age U-shape in wellbeing.

JEL-codes: A12 D84 I30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/51571/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Unmet Aspirations as an Explanation for the Age U-Shape in Human Wellbeing (2013)
Working Paper: Unmet Aspirations as an Explanation for the Age U-Shape in Human Wellbeing (2013)
Working Paper: Unmet Aspirations as an Explanation for the Age U-shape in Human Wellbeing (2013)
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