Caught in the Monkey Trap: Elaborating the Hypothesis for Why Income Aspiration Decreases Life Satisfaction

This research note links recent psychological research to literature about income aspiration, and advances the monkey-trap hypothesis for further research. It argues that what people have not yet acquired makes them dissatisfied, because it prevents them from enjoying what they have already accomplished. Therefore, people’s income aspira- tions limit their life satisfaction, in the sense that if they aspire to more, they feel less sat- isfaction. The empirical analysis, which uses two waves of Special Eurobarometer surveys in 27 European countries, finds support for this hypothesis, and reveals that income aspiration decreases life satisfaction. The results, however, should be interpreted with caution, on account of possible measurement issues. The implications of the results are discussed, in order to encourage future research on this question