I don’t think life evaluation is the right measurement of happiness for this though. I’m pretty egotistical and more income would definitely make me happier, well beyond the threshold here. I make about 100k/year and would definitely be more satisfied with my life if I made 200k. But, that’s purely from a “feeling like a success”/social status standpoint. I have no realistic lifestyle use for 200k. I can’t even figure out how to use 100k on lifestyle because the things people typically buy are really boring. So even though making more money would make me happier, spending more of it on myself wouldn’t. Positive affect is better but may still be affected too much by life evaluation. So negative affect is probably the best measure, since it’s more related to the possibility of suffering due to insufficient money.
I think you’re approaching an interesting point on the earnings curve. Probably making $200k and giving away $100k would be more satisfying than earning $100k and giving away $1,000 (wildly speculating here).
I’m not sure that making $100k and giving away $50k of it would be more satisfying than earning $50k and giving away $1,000 though. After reflecting on it for a minute, I think it probably would be, but nowhere near 50x. And you’d be leaving a lot of other happy-making possibilities on the table if you gave away $50k out of $100k (which seems less true for giving away $100k out of $200k).
I don’t think life evaluation is the right measurement of happiness for this though. I’m pretty egotistical and more income would definitely make me happier, well beyond the threshold here. I make about 100k/year and would definitely be more satisfied with my life if I made 200k. But, that’s purely from a “feeling like a success”/social status standpoint. I have no realistic lifestyle use for 200k. I can’t even figure out how to use 100k on lifestyle because the things people typically buy are really boring. So even though making more money would make me happier, spending more of it on myself wouldn’t. Positive affect is better but may still be affected too much by life evaluation. So negative affect is probably the best measure, since it’s more related to the possibility of suffering due to insufficient money.
I think you’re approaching an interesting point on the earnings curve. Probably making $200k and giving away $100k would be more satisfying than earning $100k and giving away $1,000 (wildly speculating here).
I’m not sure that making $100k and giving away $50k of it would be more satisfying than earning $50k and giving away $1,000 though. After reflecting on it for a minute, I think it probably would be, but nowhere near 50x. And you’d be leaving a lot of other happy-making possibilities on the table if you gave away $50k out of $100k (which seems less true for giving away $100k out of $200k).