This article starts by explaining some of the effects on workers that come from increasing the wages of a select few. The obvious effect of seeing co-workers get higher salaries is a negative one; it lowers self esteem and can cause frustration. The other effect that is not quite so obvious is know as the "tunnel" effect. This can be a positive effect for the whole firm because the tunnel effect gives employees a sense of hope that someday they too can get a raise if they work their hardest. A German survey shows that there are many people who get more joy from seeing other peoples income increase over their own. The article also points out that early retirement can decrease peoples happiness levels and in some cases lead to lower life expectancies. Do you think that the same results would occur in the US if citizens started retiring at a later age?
http://www.economist.com/node/21551479
5 comments:
I think the most interesting thing about this is that people are happier with the idea that they can improve their situation based on the success of others than with their own success. The fact that optimism tends to fade after the age when stability is typically achieved suggests that hope and expectations are more powerful than reality.
I think this article is interesting and inspiring. According to the result of the research, hope could be a crucial factor that incites workers’ willingness to work harder and improve his own working skills. Furthermore, this article also indicates that sometimes a hope could even make people feel happier compared to their feeling after an real increase in income. As for the happiness levels that related to the age of retirement. In terms of my opinion, the essential question is the economic pressure that people have to face after retirement. If the living standard is guaranteed after retirement, the happiness levels will naturally be higher.
This was a really interesting article because it goes against what a lot of the common perceptions are. It is usually reported that the higher age you retire the lower your life expectancy will be. However, this article is saying just the opposite. Obviously there needs to be more research done to see if this holds true in the United States. Another aspect of having higher wages for the senior people at a firm is that it encourages people to work harder because they can see the huge benefits they will receive if they get the promotion. This is called tournament theory because there is competition in the firm to try and get the "prize" the top position with the most money.
I found it interesting that the article says that men who retired a year early had 13% lower odds of living to age 67. I always assumed that early retirement was a good thing, but this article claims that it is not. The explanations it gives make sense, but I am not fully convinced that retiring early would reduce life expectancy. I feel that more research should be done in this area.
I would agree that more research needs to be done. I would be curious as well to see research done cross culturally, including the US but also countries from multiple regions. I think one of the factors influencing happiness and retirement age is the idea that in our culture people have to be constantly doing something, and a major activity, work is eliminated from people's schedules once they retire.
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