consists of the characteristics of the individuals belonging to his reference group. The vast literature about happiness … reference groups in SWB-models. In this paper we employ the reference-extended model for incorporating in happiness studies the … concept of inequality in happiness or SWB. Finally, we plead for an extension of the present happiness paradigm by setting up …

Can online social contacts replace the importance of real-life social connections in our pursuit of happiness? With the … examines the effect of SNS use on happiness for different subgroups of young adults. More specifically, we examine whether the … effect of SNSs on happiness is moderated by individual social capital, as measured in terms of frequency of social contacts …

the Netherlands, we find that lottery participation increased the happiness of participants before the draw. Winning a … small prize had no effect on happiness. Our results indicate that people may not only care about the outcomes of the lottery …

After having been ignored for a long time by economists, happiness is becoming an object of serious research in 21st … century economics. In Section 2 we sketch the present status of happiness economics. In Section 3 we consider the practical … applicability of happiness economics, retaining the assumption of ordinal individual utilities. In Section 4 we introduce a cardinal …

vary in religiosity between secular and ultra-orthodox. We find a significant effect of religiosity on happiness. With …

Psychologists and sociologists usually interpret answers to happiness surveys as cardinal and comparableacross … respondents (Kahneman et al. 1999). As a result, these social scientists run OLS regressionson happiness and changes in happiness …

happiness. In other words, the influence of the income of a reference group on individual well-being is examined. The main … that the income of the reference group is about as important as own income for individual happiness, that individuals are …