Hope Mediates the Relation between Income and Subjective Well-Being
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Hope Mediates the Relation between Income and Subjective Well‑Being Emma Pleeging1 · Martijn Burger2 · Job van Exel3
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract In this study, we examine whether the positive effect of income gains on subjective wellbeing (SWB) can in part be explained by the improved future prospects that are generated by a more solid financial situation. Using three-wave panel data from the US, we inspect the relation between changes in income, hope and SWB using a fixed-effects model. Results show that hope indeed partially mediates the relation between income and SWB, but only for monthly incomes over $1800. Positive expectations, on the other hand, mediate the relation for all income levels. From the two components of hope, agency, the belief that we can achieve our goals, seems to be the strongest mediator. We find no indications that extremely high levels of hope or expectations will harm SWB through disappointment. Keywords Hope · Expectations · Aspirations · Subjective well-being · United states
1 Introduction Do favourable life circumstances increase subjective well-being (SWB) because they increase positive expectations for the future? Or, in other words; would positive circumstances, such as a good income, a nice house or good friends, make us happy, if they did not give us the feeling that the future will be positive as well? Intuitively, it seems that we need at least some grounds to believe in a bright future in order to feel happy. People are forward-looking creatures, and very well capable and inclined to form prospects of their future, based on their current situation (Tversky and Kahneman 1979; Snyder2000). If we define SWB as enjoyment of ‘life-as-a-whole’ (Diener et al. 1999; Veenhoven 2011), this evaluation should be affected by how we expect our future to unfold (Bailey and Snyder 2007). * Emma Pleeging [email protected] 1
Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgermeester Oudlaan 50, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2
Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation and Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
3
Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management and Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Positive life circumstances generally lead us to expect more of our future, whilst negative circumstances make us more pessimistic (Sweeny et al. 2006; Stutzer 2004; Senik 2008; Foster and Frijters 2014). Hence, we tend to be more hopeful about the future when life is going well at the present. Furthermore, how our circumstances affect SWB seems to depend at least partly on how we perceive our future. That is, negative circumstances can be deemed less detrimental if we expect improvement in the future; negative shocks will have a less profound effect if people are more optimistic; and optimists can cope with stressors more effi
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