Happiness Is a Matter of Social Comparison

Yamada, Makiko; Takahashi, Hidehiko

doi:10.2117/psysoc.2011.252

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Similarly, Clark et al (2018) argued that, if used to make meaningful social connections, SNS can be beneficial to well-being. However, these authors also warned about the danger of becoming a trap of isolation and social comparison, which that are not conducive to happiness ( Smith et al, 1989 ; Yamada and Takahashi, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Happiness and the Rise of Media Consumption During COVID-19 Confinement

2021

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The confinement of the population into their homes as a result of COVID-19 has entailed a notable increase in the consumption of diverse media. This exploratory study aimed to examine how the increase in media consumption was related to subjective happiness and psychological well-being. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of Spanish adults (n = 249; 53.8% women; aged between 18 and 75, Mage = 42.06, SD = 12.37) to assess their consumption of different media before and during confinement. Moreover, participants were evaluated for hedonic, eudaimonic, social, and experienced happiness by using the Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI). The results underlined the great increase in the consumption of TV for entertainment and social networking sites (SNS) during confinement. Furthermore, it was found that higher consumption was negatively correlated with the level of happiness, so that, people who reported greater well-being, both subjective and psychological, spent less time watching TV and using SNS. In contrast, no association was found between the level of happiness and the consumption of news (regardless of the media) and radio. Therefore, it seems that far from cultivating greater happiness, those who engaged in heavy consumption of TV entertainment and SNS during confinement were less happy than those who did so more moderately and spent more time using other media or performing other activities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Happiness and the Rise of Media Consumption During COVID-19 Confinement

2021

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“…This need generates an innate tendency to compare oneself to others and induces individuals to continuously seek informative feedback on their characteristics and abilities (Corcoran et al 2011). Following several studies (e.g., Veenhoven 2005;Yamada and Takahash 2011;Bárcena-Martín et al 2016), we consider the hypothesis that happiness is a matter of comparison. As Diener et al (1999) stated almost 20 years ago, the question is not whether social comparison can affect happiness, because at least in the short-run the relationship is evident, but to examine when and how social comparison produces its effects.…”

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confidence: 99%

Happiness and inequality in European countries: is it a matter of peer group comparisons?

2018

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This paper uses peer comparisons to analyze the impact of different types of inequalities (i.e., within-group, between-group and overall inequality) and reference income on subjective happiness. This study contributes to an emergent strand of research in which both relative levels of economic resources and the income distribution are regarded as determinants of individual happiness. The empirical findings show that overall and within-group inequality negatively affect individual happiness, inequality between reference groups does not affect happiness, and a higher average income of the reference group increases individual happiness. We examine whether people's aversion to inequality is conditional on their income position within reference group and institutional differences across European countries. These tests indicate that an increase in inequality or a decrease in average income decreases the happiness of both the rich and the poor. Regarding the differences across countries, people who live in more mobile societies with better welfare systems (e.g. Social-Democratic countries) are less adversely affected by inequality than people living in countries with low social mobility and ineffective systems of social protection (e.g. the Mediterranean countries). The analysis is based on data from the European Quality of Life Survey.

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“…On the other hand, when the importance value does not align with the expectation, it triggers the reaction of envy, which might lead to negative well-being [34]. This is because they place a high emotional value in that relationship which can easily affect their emotional state [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpersonal mattering and students’ friendship quality as predictors of subjective wellbeing

Yap

Prihadi

Hong

et al. 2022

IJPHS

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<p>Subjective wellbeing (SWB) refers to one’s subjective assessment of happiness. Studies reported that happiness or SWB is predicted by friendship quality. However, others reported that SWB is strongly predicted by the sense that we matter to others (interpersonal mattering). This non-experimental correlational study aimed to test the hypothesis whether interpersonal mattering is a better predictor of SWB than friendship quality. One-hundred-and-nineteen emerging adults were recruited through convenience-purposive sampling with inclusion criteria includes Malaysian within 18 to 25 years of age. The sample size was gotten through G*Power calculator with .15 effect size, .95 Power, and .05 alpha level. The participants were asked to fill up the mcgill friendship questionnaire-friend’s functions (MFQFF), mattering to others questionnaire (MTOQ), and subjective happiness scale (SHS). We tested the hypotheses that while both friendship quality and interpersonal mattering predict SWB, the latter was the strongest predictor. Results of the multiple regression analyses showed that individuals who feels they matter to others might have higher SWB.</p>

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Happiness Is a Matter of Social Comparison

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Happiness and the Rise of Media Consumption During COVID-19 Confinement

Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Happiness and the Rise of Media Consumption During COVID-19 Confinement

Happiness and inequality in European countries: is it a matter of peer group comparisons?

Interpersonal mattering and students’ friendship quality as predictors of subjective wellbeing

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