Why Do Advantaged People Feel Unhappiness? Effects of Meritocratic Values on Subjective Well-being

• In Event: 3481 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtables (cosponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions)
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 05. Emotions and Social Inequality

Abstract

Data from social surveys show that the feeling of happiness among people does not follow a normal distribution, but tends to have two peaks. This suggests that the mechanism determining happiness among people is not simple, but complex. This presentation aims to specify the complex mechanism determining happiness among people and clarify how to determine subjective wellbeing at the individual level. To do so, the author used data of the Social Stratification and Social Mobility Survey in 2015 (SSM 2015), a national representative survey in Japan. He then analyzed this data by employing a finite mixture of regression models, which enabled the extraction of hidden mechanisms. Analysis results clarified two latent classes of happiness. In addition, they indicate that members of the one latent class are more likely to feel happiness, and that their socioeconomic status tends to be lower than that of the members of the other latent class. Conversely, they also revealed that members of the other latent class are more likely to feel unhappiness, even though they tend to be highly educated and earn a high household income. As a result, the level of happiness among the advantaged class is lower than that of people who are more disadvantaged. Furthermore, household income has a significantly positive effect on people’s happiness across the two latent classes. This can be viewed as the Easterlin paradox, which pertains to income and happiness.

Author

• Naoki Sudo, Gakushuin University