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Would you choose to be happy? Tradeoffs between happiness and the other dimensions of life in a large population survey

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  • Adler, Matthew D.
  • Dolan, Paul
  • Kavetsos, Georgios

Abstract

A large literature documents the determinants of happiness. But is happiness all that people want from life; and if so, what type of happiness matters to them? Or are they willing to sacrifice happiness (however it is defined) for other attributes in their lives? We show direct evidence that individuals trade-off levels of happiness with levels of income, physical health, family, career success and education in a large sample of UK and US individuals. On average, all types of happiness are preferred to other attributes except health. People prefer affective happiness (feeling good) over evaluative (life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (worthwhileness) components. This result is robust to methodological innovations, such as the use of vignettes and judgements of the lives described.

Suggested Citation

  • Adler, Matthew D. & Dolan, Paul & Kavetsos, Georgios, 2017. "Would you choose to be happy? Tradeoffs between happiness and the other dimensions of life in a large population survey," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 76711, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:76711
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    preference; subjective well-being; happiness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General
    • I00 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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