Journal
JOURNAL OF HAPPINESS STUDIES
Volume 22, Issue 6, Pages 2457-2483Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10902-020-00328-3
Keywords
Happiness; Conceptual referent theory; Happiness definitions; Stochastic frontier analysis; Happiness efficiency
Funding
- Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain [CSO2017-86178-R]
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This paper analyzes how different definitions of happiness impact the individual assessment of subjective wellbeing, using Stochastic Frontier Analysis to examine the influence of happiness conceptual referents on perceived happiness. The study reveals that the concept of happiness shapes how individuals value inputs, with stoicism, virtue, and enjoyment emerging as the most efficient referents. Additionally, cross-country differences in perceived happiness levels are linked to variations in the prevalence of conceptual referents.
This paper analyses how different definitions of happiness affect the individual assessment of subjective wellbeing. Bearing in mind the production theory, we study the impact of definitions of happiness on how efficiently a set of determinants are used and converted into happiness. From a theoretical point of view, we discuss the role of the Conceptual Referent Theory within the affective-cognitive process of personal evaluation of happiness. We use data from the Understanding High Happiness in Latin America survey (2018), which includes a sample of people from Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA, to investigate how happiness conceptual referents influence personal assessment using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. This method permits to assess the impact of different definitions of happiness on how a set of standard drivers like income and social relations are used and converted into perceived happiness. To this end, conceptual referents for happiness are treated as (in)efficiency factors. This study shows that the concept of happiness shapes how individuals value the same inputs. Stoicism, virtue and enjoyment emerge as the most efficient referents. Also, we observe that cross-country differences in the level of perceived happiness are associated with differences in the prevalence of conceptual referents. In the USA, where less efficient definitions prevail, people report lower levels of happiness.
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