What Do Happiness Data Mean? Theory and Survey Evidence

What utility notion do self-reported well-being (SWB) questions measure? We clarify the assumptions that underlie existing applications regarding the (i) life domains, (ii) time horizons, and (iii) other-regarding preferences captured by SWB data. We ask survey respondents what they had in mind regarding (i)-(iii) when answering commonly used--life satisfaction, happiness, ladder--and new SWB questions. Respondents put most weight on the present and on themselves--but not enough to interpret SWB data as measuring notions of flow utility and self-centered utility. We find differences across SWB questions and across sociodemographic groups. We outline actionable suggestions for SWB researchers