Learning about one's relative position and subjective well-being

Abstract

In this article we show evidence which suggests that changes in an individual's relative position affects his subjective well-being (SWB). In this sense, our findings are in line with those who argue that a felicity function should take into account both absolute and relative position. Our results are based on a simple experimental design to discuss whether learning about one's relative position affects SWB. Additionally, using nonexperimental data we find a significant association between SWB and relative wage.