Abstract
What utility notion - e.g. flow/lifetime, self/family-centered - do self-reported well-being (SWB) questions measure? Existing applications make different assumptions regarding the (i) life domains, (ii) time horizons, and (iii) other-regarding preferences captured by SWB data. To obtain relevant evidence, we ask survey respondents what they had in mind regarding (i)-(iii) when answering commonly used - life satisfaction, happiness, ladder - and new SWB questions. We find that respondents' self-reports differ from researchers' assumptions and differ across SWB questions and sociodemographic groups. At the same time, simple SWB-question wording tweaks are effective in moving self-reports toward desired interpretations. We outline actionable suggestions for SWB researchers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2377-2412 |
| Number of pages | 36 |
| Journal | Journal of the European Economic Association |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
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