{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T22:42:18Z","timestamp":1791499338052,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"National Academy of Sciences","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,1]],"date-time":"2023-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677628800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.pnas.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Do larger incomes make people happier? Two authors of the present paper have published contradictory answers. Using dichotomous questions about the preceding day, [Kahneman and Deaton,\u00a0Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.\u00a0\n                    <jats:bold>107<\/jats:bold>\n                    , 16489\u201316493 (2010)] reported a flattening pattern: happiness increased steadily with log(income) up to a threshold and then plateaued. Using experience sampling with a continuous scale, [Killingsworth, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.\u00a0\n                    <jats:bold>118<\/jats:bold>\n                    , e2016976118 (2021)] reported a linear-log pattern in which average happiness rose consistently with log(income). We engaged in an adversarial collaboration to search for a coherent interpretation of both studies. A reanalysis of Killingsworth\u2019s experienced sampling data confirmed the flattening pattern only for the least happy people. Happiness increases steadily with log(income) among happier people, and even accelerates in the happiest group. Complementary nonlinearities contribute to the overall linear-log relationship. We then explain why Kahneman and Deaton overstated the flattening pattern and why Killingsworth failed to find it. We suggest that Kahneman\u00a0and Deaton might have reached the correct conclusion if they had described their results in terms of unhappiness rather than happiness; their measures could not discriminate among degrees of happiness because of a ceiling effect. The authors of both studies failed to anticipate that increased income is associated with systematic changes in the shape of the happiness distribution. The mislabeling of the dependent variable and the incorrect assumption of homogeneity were consequences of practices that are standard in social science but should be questioned more often. We flag the benefits of adversarial collaboration.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2208661120","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,1]],"date-time":"2023-03-01T13:24:06Z","timestamp":1677677046000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":165,"title":["Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"120","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0290-1403","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matthew A.","family":"Killingsworth","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Kahneman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9869-5880","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Mellers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"341","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_1_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1011492107"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2016976118"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0167-2681(95)00003-B"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/2242.003.0013","volume-title":"Culture and Subjective Well-Being","author":"Diener E.","year":"2000","unstructured":"E. Diener, S. Oishi, \u201cMoney and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations\u201d in Culture and Subjective Well-Being (The MIT Press, 2000), pp. 185\u2013218."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-017-0277-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1014411319119"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhealeco.2006.08.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","first-page":"1","volume-title":"Brookings Papers on Economic Activity","author":"Stevenson B.","year":"2008","unstructured":"B. Stevenson, J. Wolfers, \u201cEconomic growth and subjective well-being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox\u201d in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (Spring, 2008), 1\u201387."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/jep.22.2.53"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jrp.2008.09.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.103.3.598"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1948550614568161"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1948550616657599"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.73.4.753"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-9280.00350"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.105.3.602"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/a0016755"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1745691620906415"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_19_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1906720117"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_20_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M. A. Killingsworth Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved. Open Science Framework. https:\/\/osf.io\/qye4a\/. Deposited 1 February 2023.","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2208661120"}],"container-title":["Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1073\/pnas.2208661120","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,7]],"date-time":"2023-12-07T21:37:24Z","timestamp":1701985044000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2208661120"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,3]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1073\/pnas.2208661120"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2208661120","relation":{},"ISSN":["0027-8424","1091-6490"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0027-8424","type":"print"},{"value":"1091-6490","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,3]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2022-05-20","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2022-11-29","order":1,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2023-03-01","order":2,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e2208661120"}}