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Do People Report Happiness Accurately?

Author

Listed:
  • James Andreoni
  • B. Douglas Bernheim
  • Tingyan Jia

Abstract

Validation of happiness measures is inherently challenging because subjective sensations are unobserved. We introduce a novel validation method: subjects report how happy they would feel (or did feel) after some specified event, as well as how they would respond (or would have responded) to a survey question about their happiness after the same event. The difference between these two responses measures “self-reported misreporting.” We demonstrate that self-reported misreporting varies across events and is substantial for certain types of events. These findings imply that caution is warranted when interpreting differences in self-reported well-being across contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • James Andreoni & B. Douglas Bernheim & Tingyan Jia, 2024. "Do People Report Happiness Accurately?," NBER Working Papers 32208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32208
    Note: PE
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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