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There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequencyand intensityof happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequentlyindividuals experience happiness than how intenselyhappy each episode is. This occurs in part because lower-income individuals spend more time engaged in passive leisure activities, reducing the frequencybut not the intensity of positive affect. Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Data from an experience sampling study (N= 394 participants, 34,958 daily responses), a preregistered cross-sectional study (N= 1,553), and a day reconstruction study (N= 13,437) provide empirical evidence for these ideas. Together, this research provides conceptual and empirical clarity into how income is related to happiness.

Consumers feel increasingly pressed for time and money. Gifts have the potential to reduce scarcity in recipients’ lives, yet little is known about how recipients perceive gifts given with the intention of saving them time or money. Across five studies (N=1,816), we demonstrate that the recipients of gifts intending to save money experience more negative emotions and infer a lower status position than recipients of gifts intending to save time. Recipients experiencing greater financial scarcity (who may benefit most from gifts intending to save them money), experience negative emotions to a greater extent and perceive an even lower status position than recipients who experience relatively little financial scarcity. These findings are the first to directly evaluate the implications of receiving gifts seeking to address time and money scarcity and suggest that recipients may respond negatively to gifts given with the intention of saving money.

•Individuals can value their time over money or value their time like money.•Valuing time more than money is linked to self-transcendent behaviors.•Valuing time like money is linked to self-focused behaviors.•How people value time can shape daily and major life decisions and happiness.

ABSTRACTDoes volunteering causally improve well-being? To empirically test this question, we examined one instantiation of volunteering that is common at post-secondary institutions across North America: community service learning (CSL). CSL is a form of experiential learning that combines volunteer work with intentional learning goals and active reflection. We partnered with an academic program that randomly assigns interested students to participate in a CSL program or to a wait-list. As part of this CSL program, students are required to engage in 10–12 h of formal volunteering each week in addition to completing related coursework. To assess the well-being benefits of formal volunteering through CSL participation, we examined the subjective well-being (SWB) of students from both groups over a six-month period. Using Bayesian statistics, and comparing a null model to a model specifying a small to moderate benefit of CSL participation, we found conclusive evidence in support of the null model. These findings diverge from previous correlational research in this area by providing no evidence for the causal benefits of volunteering on SWB. These findings highlight the critical importance of using experimental methodology to establish the causal benefits of volunteer work, such as the experiences provided by CSL programs, on SWB.

How do the trade-offs that we make about two of our most valuable resources—time and money—shape happiness? While past research has documented the immediate consequences of thinking about time and money, research has not yet examined whether people’s general orientations to prioritize time over money are associated with greater happiness. In the current research, we develop the Resource Orientation Measure (ROM) to assess people’s stable preferences to prioritize time over money. Next, using data from students, adults recruited from the community, and a representative sample of employed Americans, we show that the ROM is associated with greater well-being. These findings could not be explained by materialism, material striving, current feelings of time or material affluence, or demographic characteristics such as income or marital status. Across six studies (N= 4,690), we provide the first empirical evidence that prioritizing time over money is a stable preference related to greater subjective well-being.