In these sorts of discussions, I don’t think comparing ourselves to the rest of the population is a great guide. It should probably be our base rate but many other factors can affect how income impacts our happiness.
If we look at the overall population the income level required to get the maximum benefit from consumption is pretty high. However, there is some evidence that for people who adopt voluntary simplicity can achieve greater life satisfaction on less income. Boujbel (2012) explanation for this is ‘that the control of one’s consumption desires is a significant mediator of the relationship between voluntary simplicity and life satisfaction among consumers who have limited financial resources’.
So then the question is can you reduce your consumption desires if you start life with high consumption? I’ve seen a few people achieve this and I think I’ve reduced consumption desires over time as well. But this is pretty weak evidence to make broader inferences so I don’t put too much weight on it.
I’d be much more interested in studying how income (specifically consumed rather than donated income) effects life satisfaction and value drift amongst EAs. I’d weight this much more than the general population for my own decision making. If I had to bet I would expect similar findings to Boujbel.
In these sorts of discussions, I don’t think comparing ourselves to the rest of the population is a great guide. It should probably be our base rate but many other factors can affect how income impacts our happiness.
If we look at the overall population the income level required to get the maximum benefit from consumption is pretty high. However, there is some evidence that for people who adopt voluntary simplicity can achieve greater life satisfaction on less income. Boujbel (2012) explanation for this is ‘that the control of one’s consumption desires is a significant mediator of the relationship between voluntary simplicity and life satisfaction among consumers who have limited financial resources’.
So then the question is can you reduce your consumption desires if you start life with high consumption? I’ve seen a few people achieve this and I think I’ve reduced consumption desires over time as well. But this is pretty weak evidence to make broader inferences so I don’t put too much weight on it.
I’d be much more interested in studying how income (specifically consumed rather than donated income) effects life satisfaction and value drift amongst EAs. I’d weight this much more than the general population for my own decision making. If I had to bet I would expect similar findings to Boujbel.