Subjective well-being and the gender composition of the reference group: evidence from a survey experiment

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

February 15, 2022

Summary:

This paper tests how people’s subjective well-being reacts when they compare themselves with other people of the same gender, and if this reaction differs between women and men. We implement a randomized control trial prompting some respondents to compare themselves with people of the same gender and leaving the reference group of others unconstrained. Treated women report higher income and leisure satisfaction. Evaluating satisfaction in relation to a given reference group may be cognitively demanding. When accounting for this, we find that the treatment also increases women’s health satisfaction. No or small effects are found for men, suggesting that the reference group affects subjective well-being reporting of men and women differently.

Published in

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 194 , p.196 -219

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.12.016

ISSN

1672681

Subjects

Notes

Open Access

Under a Creative Commons license

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

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