How much should we trust life satisfaction data? Evidence from the Life in Transition Survey

We analyse responses to two similar life satisfaction questions in a major survey. * Answers are broadly consistent but for 14% of people they differ significantly. * Life satisfaction drops for those with lower education, income and social capital. * Response precision is associated with better socio-economic characteristics. We analyse responses to two similar life satisfaction questions asked at different points in the same wave of a major cross-country household survey covering the transition region, Turkey and five Western European countries. We show that while the answers to the two ques... Mehr ...