One thing I would like to add is that I think it is plausible that the results might not be even close to the same if Killingsworth’s study contained responses from folks living in low-income countries. For example, I wouldn’t be surprised if money actually has a much stronger effect on happiness for people earning $500 ~ per year, as things like medicine, food, shelter, sanitation, etc probably bring significantly more happiness than the kinds of things bought by people that earn $400,000+ per year.
Also, even if it does make a small difference (which I find hard to believe at such a low income), you can double, triple, quadruple, etc the income of 100 people earning $500 per year for a lower cost than doubling the income of one person earning $200,000.
Since we can’t directly prove this from Killingsworth’s study — which the blogpost was primarily about — the assumption was that the results would be the same for low-income earners.
One thing I would like to add is that I think it is plausible that the results might not be even close to the same if Killingsworth’s study contained responses from folks living in low-income countries. For example, I wouldn’t be surprised if money actually has a much stronger effect on happiness for people earning $500 ~ per year, as things like medicine, food, shelter, sanitation, etc probably bring significantly more happiness than the kinds of things bought by people that earn $400,000+ per year.
Also, even if it does make a small difference (which I find hard to believe at such a low income), you can double, triple, quadruple, etc the income of 100 people earning $500 per year for a lower cost than doubling the income of one person earning $200,000.
Since we can’t directly prove this from Killingsworth’s study — which the blogpost was primarily about — the assumption was that the results would be the same for low-income earners.