Reciprocity, Social Ladder, and Life Satisfaction: Effect of Learning Income Position

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that individuals’ income positions and subjective well-being (SWB) are correlated, but this is not always true. In this study, individuals were informed of their income position in a tailor-made internet survey to examine their effects on SWB. The following findings were obtained: (1) income position and life satisfaction are unrelated if household income is controlled; (2) respondents in higher-income positions show lower life satisfaction after knowing their income position than those who do not; (3) the negative effect of income position on life satisfaction is larger if the respondents have a high positive reciprocal inclination.

Keywords: reciprocity, Social ladder, life satisfaction, Income position, Information provision experiment, Subjective Well-being