Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Forthcoming
  • Article
  • Social Psychological & Personality Science

Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Ruo Mo, Adam Eric Greenberg, Bertus Jeronimus and Ashley V. Whillans
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequently individuals experience happiness than how intensely happy each episode is. This occurs in part because lower-income individuals spend more time engaged in passive leisure activities, reducing the frequency but not the intensity of positive affect. Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Data from an experience sampling study (N = 394 participants, 34,958 daily responses), a preregistered cross-sectional study (N = 1,553), and a day reconstruction study (N = 13,437) provide empirical evidence for these ideas. Together, this research provides conceptual and empirical clarity into how income is related to happiness.

Keywords

Life Satisfaction; Time Use; Happiness; Income; Money; Satisfaction

Citation

Jachimowicz, Jon M., Ruo Mo, Adam Eric Greenberg, Bertus Jeronimus, and Ashley V. Whillans. "Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness." Social Psychological & Personality Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online December 7, 2020.)
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Register to Read

About The Authors

Jon M. Jachimowicz

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • May, 2021
    • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

    Joy and Rigor in Behavioral Science

    By: Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Leslie K. John
    • March 29, 2021
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost

    By: Shibeal O'Flaherty, Michael Sanders and Ashley V. Whillans
    • 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Extension Request Avoidance Increases Time Stress among Women

    By: Ashley V. Whillans, Jaewon Yoon, Aurora Turek and Grant E. Donnelly
More from the Authors
  • Joy and Rigor in Behavioral Science By: Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Leslie K. John
  • Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost By: Shibeal O'Flaherty, Michael Sanders and Ashley V. Whillans
  • Extension Request Avoidance Increases Time Stress among Women By: Ashley V. Whillans, Jaewon Yoon, Aurora Turek and Grant E. Donnelly
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College