CERE seminar - Alejandro Lopez Feldman

Recalling the Past: Should we worry about priming in life satisfaction measurement? Results from the global south

Abstract: The collection of life satisfaction data by governments and international organizations has increased during the last decades. Life satisfaction is, for example, part of OECD’s Better Life Index, it is also regularly collected by many national statistics offices in the world. Its use and analysis by different scientific disciplines has also increased. The claim is that this kind of data provides useful information for policymakers as well as for researchers interested in wellbeing. Furthermore, it has been argued that this subjective data can be used as a complement, or even a substitute, of per-capita GDP and similar objective measures when comparing wellbeing across countries and over time. Nevertheless, life satisfaction data remains the subject of strong criticism and suspicion. In this paper we focus on one critique in particular, the possibility that the overall structure of the questionnaire, and the nature of some of the other questions included, might affect the responses that individuals give to life satisfaction questions. If in fact the order of the questions, or asking about related subjects (e.g., income), changes the replies that the individuals give, then the reliability and usefulness of life satisfaction data will be in doubt.

We use an original survey that collected data for more than 7000 individuals from 7 developing countries. The survey was designed to understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s lives, including on life satisfaction. Life satisfaction is expected to be negatively affected by negative life events, like those caused by COVID-19. Our data allows us to test for these effects as it included a question on life satisfaction. In addition, the survey included a question on ends meet (is your household currently able to make ends meet (that is being able to pay all bills and expenses)?). Moreover, the data allows us to compare the effects of being infected with COVID-19, as well as other negative shocks, with the effect caused by changing the order of the questions. Our results suggest not only that priming effects are present, but that their magnitude might be relatively big. We argue that although more research is needed, we should be cautious when using and interpreting life satisfaction data