Migration as a Test of the Happiness Set Point Hypothesis: Evidence from Immigration to Canada

John Helliwell, Aneta Bonikowska and Hugh Shiplett

No 22601, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Strong versions of the set point hypothesis argue that subjective well-being measures reflect each individual’s own personality and that deviations from that set point will tend to be short-lived, rendering them poor measures of the quality of life. International migration provides an excellent test of this hypothesis, since life circumstances and average subjective well-being differ greatly among countries. Life satisfaction scores for immigrants to Canada from up to 100 source countries are compared to those in the countries where they were born. With or without various adjustments for selection effects, the average levels and distributions of life satisfaction scores among immigrants mimic those of other Canadians rather than those in their source countries and regions. This supports other evidence that subjective life evaluations, especially when averaged across individuals, are primarily driven by life circumstances, and respond correspondingly when those circumstances change.

JEL-codes: F22 I31 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap, nep-int, nep-ltv, nep-mig and nep-sog
Note: DEV LS PE POL
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published as John F. Helliwell & Hugh Shiplett & Aneta Bonikowska, 2020. "Migration as a test of the happiness set‐point hypothesis: Evidence from immigration to Canada and the United Kingdom," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, vol 53(4), pages 1618-1641.

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