Information technologies and subjective well-being: Does the internet raise material aspirations?

Arbeitspapier

This paper examines whether access to modern information technologies, in particular the internet, has an impact on invididual positionality - meaning the degree to which subjective well-being is affected by income relative to others rather than absolute income. We provide empirical evidence that positionality and internet access are intertwined. Exploiting variation over time in a panel of European households, we find stated material aspirations to be significantly positively related to computer access in areas with advanced internet infrastructure. Furthermore, we report cross-sectional evidence from the World Values Survey suggesting an indirect negative effect of internet access on subjective well-being since people who regularly use the internet as a source of information derive less satisfaction from income. Together, the empirical findings highlight the importance of information sets for how individuals evaluate own living conditions relative to others and suggests a vital role for informational globalisation to affect positionality.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: cege Discussion Papers ; No. 169

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; General Welfare; Well-Being
• Subject: subjective well-being ; positionality ; relative income ; informational globalisation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Lohmann, Steffen
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Göttingen, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege)
• (where): Göttingen
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/79222
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET