Word.ws English Dictionary

Easterlin paradox

Easterlin paradox proper noun: the apparently paradoxical observation that people's reported happiness varies directly with income both among and within nations, but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow.

Proper noun

Easterlin paradox

  1. The apparently paradoxical observation that people's reported happiness varies directly with income both among and within nations, but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow.

Origin of Easterlin paradox

Named for the economist Richard Easterlin, who discussed the factors contributing to happiness in a 1974 book chapter.

Questions about Easterlin paradox

What does Easterlin paradox mean?
Easterlin paradox means the apparently paradoxical observation that people's reported happiness varies directly with income both among and within nations, but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow.
What part of speech is Easterlin paradox?
Easterlin paradox is a proper noun.

Words near Easterlin paradox in the dictionary

  1. Eastergate
  2. Easterhouse
  3. Eastering
  4. easterlies
  5. Easterlike
  6. Easterlin paradox
  7. easterliness
  8. easterling
  9. easterlings
  10. easterly
  11. Easterlys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Easterlin paradox (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Easterlin paradox.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/easterlin_paradox. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.