The Importance of Income on Subjective Well-being
| Author: | Bc. Jan Sedlář |
|---|---|
| Year: | 2011 - summer |
| Leaders: | PhDr. Jaromír Baxa Ph.D. |
| Consultants: | |
| Work type: | Bachelors |
| Language: | Czech |
| Pages: | 45 |
| Awards and prizes: | |
| Link: | |
| Abstract: | My Bachelor thesis deals in a comprehensive way with the discussion unleashed by the publication of the Easterlin´s article which called attention to more complex relations between the absolute level of income and the subjective well-being than the economic theory would ever assume . There is the literature shown which finds the explanation why the relation – the absolute level of income and the subjective well-being – does not hold without exceptions. A special attention is devoted to the human behaviour: comparison of the individual´s situation with the situation of his reference group, comparison of the individual´s situation with the situation he was accustomed to in the past, the individual´s adaptation to the new situation and change of his aspiration and on the overvaluation of the benefits from the achieved goal. The first characteristic is tested experimentally with use of the analogy: the income as the evaluation of the job performance, the mark as the evaluation of the student. The experiment did not prove that the comparison of the student with his reference group would have the influence on his own performance. The second part of my thesis is focused on the description of the relationship between the gross national income per capita and the satisfaction of the inhabitants from the given country. It has been examined how the influence of gross national income differs across the countries based on their economic development. It has been also discussed whether in the more rich countries the importance of the income falls as the factor influencing the happiness of people. This kind of development is forecast in the second and the third Easterlin´s conclusion. The regression of the collected data from 28 European states between 2004 and 2009 is rather in accord with these assumptions. |
