Did the Easterlin Paradox apply in South Korea between 1980 and 2015? A case study

In 1974, Richard Easterlin presented data showing that there is no relationship between economic growth and average happiness in the USA, but at the same time a higher personal income did go hand-in-hand with greater individual happiness in that nation. This phenomenon came to be known as the ‘Easterlin Paradox’. Easterlin explains this pattern using the relative income theory, which holds that the positive effect of income increase is offset by: (a) adaptation to income change and (b) social comparison. There is discussion as to whether this pattern is universal and, in this context, Easterlin et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 107(52):22463–22468, 2010) claim that the enormous economic growth in South Korea over the last decade has not led to an increase in average happiness. In this paper, we report an empirical verification of this claim, using other data on South Korea. Contrary to Easterlin’s claim, we found that South Koreans became happier over time and that the relative happiness theory did not apply in this case.