Abstract
Drawing on individual data from the World Values Surveys, this paper estimates the relation between individual feelings about competition and self-reported happiness. People who think competition is good are associated to the same (high) level of happiness as do people who think competition is harmful. This finding is different than and complements previous research which shows a positive or negative relation between competition and well-being. The paper improves over previous research in that it approximates competitive environment by using individual-level measures. The paper also considers how gender and cultural traits affect the relation between competition and happiness. A significant effect of culture is found.
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Notes
In this paper, I use the terms well-being and happiness interchangeably.
In assessing the wellbeing effects of economic choices, economists have been traditionally led by the principle of revealed preference, by which if one observes that an individual chooses consumption bundle A over consumption bundle B, one assumes that the individual does so because he prefers bundle A over bundle B and in choosing bundle A over bundle B, presumably, the individual will maximize his wellbeing. But this is a logical conclusion derived from appropriate assumptions and it is by no means clear if it constitutes a measure of individual wellbeing.
The game is played by two players in the Non-Competitive environment and by three players in the Competitive environment. In the latter, one party has to choose with who of the other two players she will play, thus creating a competitive condition. Games are repeated over 30 rounds.
Subjective well-being is measured by computing self-reported hedonic states experienced by the participants, while disposition towards others is measured using a variant of a social value orientation test (Liebrand 1984).
Since the experiments were run at the University of Amsterdam, the sample may well consist of university students.
The surveys cover more than 60 countries and collect information on some 80,000 individuals.
Economic or bargaining power is measured by the absolute self-reported income level of each individual.
Since Fischer (2008) is interested in the effect of an individual bargaining position on happiness inequality, she interacts her self-reported satisfaction with self-reported (absolute) income level, also from the WVS.
Nevertheless, since the KOF index may be correlated with economic growth or income inequality, Fischer (2008) uses the predicted residuals of a regression of the KOF index on GDP..
Their pairwise correlation is low. 0.475.
I have used Instrumental variables to gauge into the potential causal relation stemming from competition to happiness. The analysis is available from the author upon request. .
First, one may argue that happier individuals may regard competition as a good thing but also argue that more intense competition may make individuals happier, as most economists do. Second, data collected from the World Value Surveys (2013) are subjective and may not represent actual behavior.
These strategies may include deceiving costumers through advertising, for example. Some critics of corporate global capitalism have also argued that multinationals foster environmentally unsustainable growth strategies, which harm us all.
Note that increasing values of both categorical variables, happiness and feelings about competition indicate lower happiness and less appreciation for competition, respectively.
For a lucid review of both views, see Blaug (2001).
In fact, Smith’s view of competition may be closer to Darwin’s than Frank suggests (see Blaug 2001).
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Barrios, J.J. “I Think Competition is Better Than You Do: Does It Make Me Happier?” Evidence from the World Value Surveys. J Happiness Stud 16, 599–618 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9524-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9524-5