Lifestyle Tradeoffs and the Decline of Societal Well-Being: An Agent-Based Model
Authored by Christopher Thron
Date Published: 2016
DOI: 10.18564/jasss.3024
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Abstract
This paper presents a semi-quantitative mathematical model of the
changes over time in the statistical distribution of well-being of
individuals in a society. The model predicts that when individuals
overvalue the more socially conspicuous aspects of well-being in their
lifestyle choices, then the average well-being of the overall population
may experience continuous decline. In addition to tradeoff cost and
overvaluation, we identify statistical variation in individuals'
well-being and turnover within the population as key factors driving
negative trends. We investigate the influence of the effects of
heterogeneity in the population, as well as economic and/or
technological progress.
Tags
income
Prevalence
Trends
Happiness