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Home Sweet Home! Does Moving Have (Lasting) Effects on Housing Satisfaction?

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  • Tobias Wolbring

    (University of Mannheim)

Abstract

Previous research has found that moving has lasting effects on housing satisfaction while adaptation to changing living environments is surprisingly absent from this research. This paper challenges and extends this current state of research. Using data from a large-scale German household panel we find that housing satisfaction (a) sharply declines before the move (self-selection into relocation), (b) substantially increases after moving (relocation effect), (c) declines in the following years (adaptation), (d) after about 2 years reaches satisfaction levels similar to the levels several years before the move (full adaptation), (e) but due to selection into moving stays above satisfaction levels in the years directly before the move (lasting gains due to self-selection). Further analyses indicate that moving due to house-related reasons leads to partly lasting gains, while moving due to significant life events only has temporary effects. Finally, we show that permanent changes in housing satisfaction due to house-related relocations can be fully explained using self-assessed comparisons between old and new living environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Wolbring, 2017. "Home Sweet Home! Does Moving Have (Lasting) Effects on Housing Satisfaction?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1359-1375, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:18:y:2017:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-016-9774-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-016-9774-5
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    Cited by:

    1. María Navarro, 2019. "Financial, Job and Health Satisfaction: A Comparative Approach on Working People," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Sandra Krapf & Clara H. Mulder & Michael Wagner, 2022. "The Transition to a Coresidential Partnership: Who Moves and Who Has the Partner Move In?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 757-779, April.
    3. Hudde, Ansgar & Jacob, Marita, 2022. "There’s More in the Data! Using Month-Specific Information to Estimate Changes Before and After Major Life Events," SocArXiv vueas, Center for Open Science.
    4. Marcel Erlinghagen & Christoph Kern & Petra Stein, 2019. "Internal Migration, Social Stratification and Dynamic Effects on Subjective Well Being," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1046, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Andrew E. Clark & Luis Diaz-Serrano, 2023. "Do individuals adapt to all types of housing transitions?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 645-672, June.
    6. Ansgar Hudde & Marita Jacob, 2023. "There’s More in the Data! Using Month-Specific Information to Estimate Changes Before and After Major Life Events," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1184, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. Gum-Ryeong Park & Bo Kyong Seo & Jinho Kim, 2024. "Moderating Effects of Housing Tenure Change on the Longitudinal Relationship Between Housing Relocation and Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Regina Gerlich & Tobias Wolbring, 2021. "“In Good Times and in Bad, in Sickness and in Health”: A Longitudinal Analysis on Spousal Caregiving and Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1481-1516, March.

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