Relative Standing and Subjective Well-Being in South Africa: The Role of Perceptions, Expectations and Income Mobility

Autor/inn/en	Posel, Dorrit Ruth; Casale, Daniela Maria
Titel	Relative Standing and Subjective Well-Being in South Africa: The Role of Perceptions, Expectations and Income Mobility
Quelle	In: Social Indicators Research, 104 (2011) 2, S.195-223 (29 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0303-8300
DOI	10.1007/s11205-010-9740-2
Schlagwörter	Reference Groups; Income; Life Satisfaction; Well Being; Foreign Countries; Social Indicators; Surveys; Socioeconomic Status; Social Mobility; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Reference group; Bezugsgruppe; Einkommen; Lebensvollendung; Well-being; Wellness; Wohlbefinden; Ausland; Social indicator; Sozialer Indikator; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Soziale Mobilität; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Most studies that explore the impact of relative standing on subjective well-being use objective measures of the individual's relative position, such as the mean income of the reference group or the individual's ranking in the relevant income distribution. In this paper, using a new household survey from South Africa, we are able to derive subjective measures of relative standing, as information is collected on individuals' "perceptions" of where they rank in the income distribution. We find considerable differences between objective and subjective measures of an individual's relative ranking. Furthermore, our results suggest that an individual's perceived relative status has a significantly larger effect on subjective well-being than objective measures of relative status based on reported income. We also examine the effects on subjective well-being of how individuals perceive their relative position in the income distribution to have changed since childhood, and what they expect their relative position to be in the future. We find that future upward mobility has a smaller effect than upward mobility compared to one's past, suggesting that life satisfaction is influenced more by what has been achieved than by anticipated achievements. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10