![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
The Impacts of Adaptation, Social Comparison, and Relative Deprivation
on Subjective Well-Being Using German Panel Data
Silvia Maja Melzer
Ruud J. Muffels
Abstract: Combining two lines of research showing contrasting evidence, we examine the relationship between migration and subjective well-being (SWB). The main goal of the research is to understand the impacts of adaptation, social comparison and relative deprivation on the change in SWB associated with moving from Eastern to Western Germany after the German reunification in 1989. We suspect that the gains or losses in subjective well-being after migration are affected by the group with whom migrants choose to compare themselves (that is, their reference group), their former peers in the East or their new peers in the West, the way they adapt to their new conditions and how well they integrate into the new society. To date, there is little research concerning changes in well-being associated with migration. Most research has been based on cross-sectional data because migrants usually drop out of these datasets when relocating to a new country. We use the unique long-running German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) Study to follow migrants after their relocation and to examine any changes in subjective well-being while netting out the impact of personality traits that are known to be important correlates of SWB. We estimate fixed- and random-effects Generalized Least Square panel regression models. Our results indicate a positive and lasting effect of migration on SWB, although it is strongly suppressed by dissatisfaction resulting from the comparison of migrants’ income with the incomes of their former peers in East and their new peers in West Germany.
Keywords: migration, subjective well-being, happiness, German panel data, panel regression models, social comparison, adaptation, relative deprivation