Social Comparisons for Well-being: The Role of Power Distance

This study examines the effect of the power distance culture dimension on residents’ social comparisons and their subjective well-being. Hierarchical linear modeling is employed to analyze the mediation effect of individuals’ acceptance of income inequality on the association between relative income and subjective well-being. Hierarchical linear models are conducted to investigate the moderating roles that society-level power distance plays in the individual-level correlations between subjective well-being and relative income and between subjective well-being and acceptance of income inequality. The study sample comprises 128,784 individuals across 81 countries and regions, sourced from the joint EVS-WVS database. Results show that (1) people’s relative income significantly positively predicted their acceptance of income inequality, which in turn significantly positively predicted their subjective well-being across societies. (2) Higher levels of power distance index significantly enhance the positive coefficient of relative income on subjective well-being. (3) The individual-level positive association between acceptance of income inequality and subjective well-being is found to be stronger in higher power distance societies. In high power distance societies, initiatives such as progressive taxation, robust social safety nets, and enhanced community engagement can effectively improve well-being by addressing income inequality. In contrast, policymakers in low power distance societies can prioritize non-material measures of success.