Rising aspirations dampen satisfaction

Andrew Clark, Akiko Kamesaka and Teruyuki Tamura
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Akiko Kamesaka: AGU - Aoyama Gakuin University, ESRIN - European Space Research Institute - ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency
Teruyuki Tamura: Sophia University [Tokyo]

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Abstract: It is commonly believed that education is a good thing for individuals. Yet, its correlation with subjective well-being is most often only weakly positive, or even negative, despite the many associated better individual-level outcomes. We here square the circle using novel Japanese data on happiness aspirations. If reported happiness comes from a comparison of outcomes to aspirations, then any phenomenon raising both at the same time will have only a muted effect on reported well-being. We find that around half of the happiness effect of education is cancelled out by higher aspirations, and suggest a similar dampening effect for income.

Keywords: education; satisfaction; aspirations; income (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-07
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Published in Education Economics, 2015, 23 (5), pp.515-531. ⟨10.1080/09645292.2015.1042960⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Rising aspirations dampen satisfaction (2015)
Working Paper: Rising Aspirations Dampen Satisfaction (2015)
Working Paper: Rising aspirations dampen satisfaction (2015)
Working Paper: Rising Aspirations Dampen Satisfaction (2015)
Working Paper: Rising Aspirations Dampen Satisfaction (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01203129

DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2015.1042960

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