“Are People Happier Than Before? I Tried to Test ‘Rescaling’ & Found Little Evidence” by Charlie Harrison
This work has come out of my Undergraduate dissertation. I haven't shared or discussed these results much before putting this up. Message me if you'd like the code :) TLDR Life satisfaction (LS) appears flat over time, despite massive economic growth — the “Easterlin Paradox.” Some argue that happiness is rising, but we’re reporting it more conservatively — a phenomenon called rescaling. I test rescaling using long-run German panel data, looking at whether the association between reported happiness and three “get-me-out-of-here” actions (divorce, job resignation, and hospitalisation) changes over time. If people are getting happier (and rescaling is occuring) the probability of these actions should become less linked to reported LS — but they don’t. I find little evidence of rescaling. We should probably take self-reported happiness scores at face value. 1. Background: The Happiness Paradox Humans today live longer, richer, and healthier lives in history — yet [...] ---Outline:(00:25) TLDR(01:19) 1. Background: The Happiness Paradox(02:50) 2. What is Rescaling ?(04:31) 3. My Approach: Use Actions, Not Memories(06:07) Method & Data(06:52) 4. Results(06:55) Exits Actions & Happiness with a Life Domain(08:04) Exits Actions & Overall Happiness(08:52) 5. Conclusion(09:43) More Stuff to do hereThe original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 15th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/poPG5xpH4uGBJzv4Z/some-evidence-that-people-aren-t-getting-happier-over-time --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.