Erik Lindqvist, Robert Östling, and David Cesarini, “Long-run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-being.” NBER Working Paper No. 24667, May 2018 [pdf of a similar version here].
• Adaptation might suggest that the (exaggerated?) hedonic benefits from a monetary windfall will be short-lived.
• Lottery data can help us identify the extent to which wealth causes increased happiness or life satisfaction, in both the short and the long run.
• The authors look at Swedish lottery winners 5 to 22 years after their stroke of good fortune.
• The estimation undertaken here of how much happiness flows from wealth compares very similar people: they are all lottery winners, but the amounts they won differ.
• Happiness and Life Satisfaction are reported on an 11-point scale. They are highly positively correlated, though are influenced differently by wealth. Other variables collected are Mental Health, and Financial Life Satisfaction.
• Life Satisfaction is raised by an extra $100,000, and the effect is lasting.
• The source of the increased Life Satisfaction is improved Financial Life Satisfaction. (Yes, a financial windfall improves one's financial satisfaction!)
• Happiness and Mental Health are not improved (in the long run) by a lottery win.
• This research was all pre-registered: opportunities to p-hack are minimal; N ≈ 3350
• Lottery winners in this sample tend to behave prudently – they don't squander their winnings in a short period of time.
• Adaptation might suggest that the (exaggerated?) hedonic benefits from a monetary windfall will be short-lived.
• Lottery data can help us identify the extent to which wealth causes increased happiness or life satisfaction, in both the short and the long run.
• The authors look at Swedish lottery winners 5 to 22 years after their stroke of good fortune.
• The estimation undertaken here of how much happiness flows from wealth compares very similar people: they are all lottery winners, but the amounts they won differ.
• Happiness and Life Satisfaction are reported on an 11-point scale. They are highly positively correlated, though are influenced differently by wealth. Other variables collected are Mental Health, and Financial Life Satisfaction.
• Life Satisfaction is raised by an extra $100,000, and the effect is lasting.
• The source of the increased Life Satisfaction is improved Financial Life Satisfaction. (Yes, a financial windfall improves one's financial satisfaction!)
• Happiness and Mental Health are not improved (in the long run) by a lottery win.
• This research was all pre-registered: opportunities to p-hack are minimal; N ≈ 3350
• Lottery winners in this sample tend to behave prudently – they don't squander their winnings in a short period of time.
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