We consider the determinants and consequences of a source of utility that has received limited attention from economists: people's desire for the beliefs of other people to align with their own. We relate this ‘preference for belief consonance' to a variety of other constructs that have been...

In this study we provide direct evidence on the relationship between social status and personality traits. Using survey data from the 2006-2012 waves of the HRS, we show that individuals' self-perceived social status is associated with all the “Big Five” personality traits, after controlling...

This paper shows that social variables capturing individuals' sociability as well as strength of their social ties play an important role in affecting where individuals locate themselves in the social ladder, also when their objective location within society is taken into account. Using data...