Ignorance is Bliss... Or is It? An Empirical Look at the Relationship Between Higher Education and Happiness
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
2010
Disciplines
Economics | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Advisor
Louis Johnston, Economics
Abstract
College students today are bombarded with the message that, to be competitive in the job market, they must receive a college degree. Many are taking this one step further and seeking graduate education. After all, students with a college degree earn more and tend to have more stable jobs, among other things. But does being better off equate to being happier? With Amartya Sen's capabilities approach as a framework, I hypothesized that it would. Using ordered logit regressions, I tested data gathered from the 1972-2006 US General Social Surveys on happiness, educational attainment, various demographic variables, labor force status, health, and income. My results found no relationship between the level of educational attainment achieved and the level of self-reported happiness when all controls were included. Possible explanations for these results include measurement error in the selected variables and self-selection bias in who chooses to attend graduate school.
Recommended Citation
Taubel, Jaselyn, "Ignorance is Bliss... Or is It? An Empirical Look at the Relationship Between Higher Education and Happiness" (2010). Honors Theses, 1963-2015. 152.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses/152