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February 04, 2007
Comparative Advantage & Happiness
According to recent studies, and summary articles of said at The Economist Magazine, happiness is not a strict function of wealth. This is not to say that wealth, as measured by standard of living and quality of life, doesn't affect happiness, just that there are other causal variables to consider. The primary other variable of interest is now thought to be comparative wealth; i.e. how successful an individual is compared to other members of their socioeconomic class. This helps to explain a lot of everyday behavior, for example, people who undertake dangerous passes while driving to achieve a single car length of advantage could be thought of as acting rationally on behalf of their own happiness in this light.
It also explains why it's so fun to run ahead of others while beginning to form a queue. For instance, while walking towards a popular breakfast spot on a Sunday morning. If other people in the parking lot are hung over and walking slowly a spry queueist can cut 10 to 20 minutes off of the wait time for a table and, more importantly, get ahead of the competition. Not that I would ever, ever, engage in such shenanigans. But it's nice to have a little more insight into why people behave the way they do.
Posted by ashusta at February 4, 2007 10:47 AM