Rhythms and cycles in happiness

Abstract

This study analyses time-dependent rhythms in happiness in three aspects. We show that the Sunday neurosis exists exclusively for men with a medium level of education and both men and women with high levels of education. Men with high levels of education may even experience a weekend neurosis. This study is the first to test for intra-monthly rhythms and to demonstrate that men with a lower educational background may suffer from negative effects on happiness towards the end of the month, potentially because of liquidity problems. The study is also the first to demonstrate that happiness exhibits seasonal effects over the annual period, depending on gender and education.

Keywords:

• happiness
• life satisfaction
• weekend neurosis
• rhythms in time

JEL Classification:

• I31
• J16
• I21
• D12

Notes

¹ According to Diener et al. (1999), subjective well-being can be divided into the separately measurable components of life satisfaction/happiness, positive and negative affect, as well as the domain satisfactions.

² A differentiation according to the level of education seems appropriate particularly in connection with the relatively high stability over time of the issues analysed here. The inclusion of gender, thus, results in stable subgroups.

³ The text of the subsequent underlying variable is: ‘How satisfied are you with your life, all things considered?’.

⁴ N = 274 is the number of days from January to September in the case of a leap year.

⁵ In the interaction models, only the coefficients of the variables of the interaction effect involved are reported (income × day of the month). The remaining effects of weekdays and annual rhythms are not affected and correspond to the original models in terms of direction and significance.

⁶ Details are available from the authors on request.

⁷ An additional check for polynomials of the third order reveals highly significant tertiary effects for women with a low level of education over the course of the month. For example, this may be interpreted as an anticipatory effect in relation to the upcoming payment of salary. Details are available from the authors upon request.