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Daniel Kahneman

What Daniel Kahneman thinks about happiness

@daniel-kahneman · 14 positions · 0 changes of mind

Psychologist and Nobel laureate (1934 to 2024); shared the 2002 Nobel memorial prize in economic sciences for integrating psychological research into economics; with Amos Tversky, developed prospect theory and the study of heuristics and biases.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Daniel Kahneman did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

5 dated positions, 2010 to 2023, in their own words. Our reading of what Daniel Kahneman has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingHappiness levels off past a certain income only for the least happy; among happier people it keeps rising with income, fastest for the happiest

    Their wordsA reanalysis of Killingsworth’s 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.

    ↗Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved (with Matthew Killingsworth and Barbara Mellers)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov All 3 from this paper

  3. Our readingThe link between income and happiness is weak, even though it is statistically robust

    Their wordsYet is important to note that the relationship is weak, even if statistically robust.

    ↗Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved (with Matthew Killingsworth and Barbara Mellers)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov All 3 from this paper

  4. 12 years earlier

  5. Our readingLow income makes the emotional pain of misfortunes such as divorce, ill health and being alone worse

    Their wordsLow income exacerbates the emotional pain associated with such misfortunes as divorce, ill health, and being alone.

    ↗High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being (with Angus Deaton)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov All 3 from this paper

  7. Our readingHigh income buys satisfaction with life but not happiness, while low income goes with both a worse life evaluation and worse emotions

    Their wordsWe conclude that high income buys life satisfaction but not happiness, and that low income is associated both with low life evaluation and low emotional well-being.

    ↗High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being (with Angus Deaton)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov All 3 from this paper

  9. Our readingAbove a certain level of stable income, emotional well-being seems to be limited by temperament and life circumstances rather than money

    Their wordsWhat the data suggest is that above a certain level of stable income, individuals’ emotional well-being is constrained by other factors in their temperament and life circumstances.

    ↗High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being (with Angus Deaton)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov All 3 from this paper