Extant research has found that an individual's happiness is relative with respect to income, suggesting that it rises with own income and falls as the income of a reference group increases. Some recent studies emphasize that the effect of relative income is mediated by the extent to which people...

Employing the Japan-U.S. international survey, this study analyzed the cause of rising perception of the widening income gap in Japan. Between these two countries, their distinct value judgments on the substance of gap influence their recognition. Japanese have negative perception of the income...