Abstract
This article reports two studies in which the relationship between income, income-satisfaction and life satisfaction in Germany and Russia was examined. In Study I, the effect of a major shift in income (either upward or downward) over a two year period on income-satisfaction and life satisfaction was investigated. Compared to the reference group (i.e., the average German or Russian), the upward group appeared to become somewhat more satisfied with their lives and income after two years, whereas the downward group became less satisfied to quite some extent.
In Study II, it was examined whether there is a different relationship between income-satisfaction and life satisfaction for poor people and for rich people. It was found that in Germany there were slightly stronger top-down effects of life satisfaction on income-satisfaction than bottom-up effects of income-satisfaction on life satisfaction for both poor and rich people, whereas in Russia strong bottom-up effects of income-satisfaction on life satisfaction were found for both groups. Results provide support for a combination of different theories, namely need, adaptation, loss aversion and personality theory.
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Schyns, P. (2002). Income and Satisfaction in Germany and Russia. In: Glatzer, W. (eds) Rich and Poor. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0257-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0257-8_7
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