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Advances in Quality-of-Life Theory and Research pp 27–39Cite as

Consumer Income and Beliefs Affecting Happiness

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Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 20))

Abstract

Recent syntheses of empirical studies have clearly demonstrated a consistently positive relationship between income and happiness. Research is needed to reduce uncertainty and disentangle such relationships, which have been found to be quite modest, but significant in the aggregate. The present study contributes to this end, in that it investigates the moderating effect of income on the relationship between beliefs that serve as internal buffers and happiness. We go beyond simple associations of income and happiness to examine relationships between income and self-esteem and between income and optimism. Finally, causal modeling is employed to demonstrate that, under varying income levels, these beliefs affect happiness by the same process — with distinct yet predictable outcomes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marketing Department, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT, 06515, USA

    Mel Prince

  2. Marketing Department, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Chris Manolis

Authors
  1. Mel Prince
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  2. Chris Manolis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA

    M. Joseph Sirgy

  2. The College of William and Mary, USA

    Don Rahtz

  3. University of North Florida, USA

    A. Coskun Samli

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© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Prince, M., Manolis, C. (2003). Consumer Income and Beliefs Affecting Happiness. In: Sirgy, M.J., Rahtz, D., Samli, A.C. (eds) Advances in Quality-of-Life Theory and Research. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0387-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0387-1_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6364-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0387-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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