Effect of wealth comparison on happiness
Richer people tend to be happier than poorer people, according to sociological researcher Glenn Firebaugh, Pennsylvania State University, and graduate student Laura Tach, Harvard University. Their research is focused on whether the income effect on happiness results largely from the things money can buy (absolute income effect) or from comparing one’s income to the income of others (relative income effect). They present their research in a session paper, titled "Relative Income and Happiness: Are Americans on a Hedonic Treadmill?," at the American Sociological Association Centennial Annual Meeting on August 14.
Firebaugh argues that, in evaluating their own incomes, individuals compare themselves to their peers of the same age. Therefore a person’s reported level of happiness depends on how his or her income compares to others in the same age group. Using comparison groups on the basis of age, the researchers find evidence of both relative and absolute effects, but relative income is more important than absolute income in determining the happiness of individuals in the United States. This may result in a hedonic treadmill, because incomes in the United States rise over most of the adult lifespan.
This seems to be support French philosopher Rene Girard’s theory of mimetic desire. While we assume that desire is either objective or subjective, in reality it usually rests on a third party. We want what others want. Opposition strengthens desire, because rivalry validates the object of desire as something worth pursuing. Inversely, quiet and untroubled possession weakens desire. E.g. The man whose wife I desire had perhaps ceased to desire her over time. His desire was dead, but upon contact with mine, which is living, it regains life.
Money can buy you happiness but only relative to your peer’s income. Eurekalert.org
I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Rene Girard