American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
What Do You Think Would Make You Happier? What Do You Think You Would Choose?
American Economic Review
vol. 102,
no. 5, August 2012
(pp. 2083–2110)
Abstract
Would people choose what they think would maximize their subjective well-being (SWB)? We present survey respondents with hypothetical scenarios and elicit both choice and predicted SWB rankings of two alternatives. While choice and predicted SWB rankings usually coincide in our data, we find systematic reversals. We identify factors—such as predicted sense of purpose, control over one's life, family happiness, and social status—that help explain hypothetical choice controlling for predicted SWB. We explore how our findings vary by SWB measure and by scenario. Our results have implications regarding the use of SWB survey questions as a proxy for utility. (JEL D03, I31)Citation
Benjamin, Daniel J., Ori Heffetz, Miles S. Kimball, and Alex Rees-Jones. 2012. "What Do You Think Would Make You Happier? What Do You Think You Would Choose?" American Economic Review, 102 (5): 2083–2110. DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.5.2083Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- I31 General Welfare