Autonomous University of Barcelona

Based on findings from prior research on the relation between monetary income and subjective wellbeing, researchers have argued that income might relate to subjective wellbeing only until reaching a consumption satiation point where all basic needs are met; beyond this threshold income would not increase wellbeing. We explore this idea by looking at a panel data set (2002-2010) collected among 982 Tsimane’, a small-scale society of largely self-sufficient foragers and farmers in the Bolivian Amazon. Subjective wellbeing is measured through four self reported emotions: happiness, anger, fear, and sadness. As Tsimane’ satisfy their basic needs through subsistence activities, if the argument above holds true, then we should not find any association between income and subjective wellbeing. Results from ordered logistic regressions suggest, however, that –even in this relatively autarkic society– income bears a positive relation with happiness, but not with the negative emotions studied, except for a positive relation with fear. Interestingly, the magnitude of the coefficients for income is small compared to the variables that proxy success in subsistence activities and frequency of social interactions. We argue that in the studied society the relation between income and happiness is likely caused by sociopsychological effects, like status gains, and not by the acquisition of material goods. In a context where wellbeing is mostly derived from success in subsistence activities and social relations, if the pursuit of income generating activities deprives individuals from devoting time to these, then income might, in fact come at a cost in terms of subjective wellbeing.