Earnings, Intersectional Earnings Inequality, Disappointment in One’s Life Achievements and Life (Dis)satisfaction

Most research investigating inequality as a moderator of the effect of income on wellbeing focuses on inequality within geographic contexts. This study asks whether the association of income with subjective wellbeing varies with level of inequality within groups defined by the intersection of dichotomized race (white versus non-white) and gender. Two dimensions of subjective wellbeing are investigated—life (dis)satisfaction, and disappointment in one’s life achievements. Results of partial proportional odds and logistic regression analyses of data from the study of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) indicate that the association of individual earnings with life (dis)satisfaction varies by level of inequality within intersectional groups. No evidence for moderation is observed in the analysis of disappointment. Within-group inequality varies much more by gender than race, and the results can be interpreted as indicating a gender difference in the effect of income on life satisfaction. The results are also consistent with the income rank hypothesis, which proposes that income effects will be larger among those in lower inequality groups than those in higher inequality groups. Although the statistical power to evaluate race differences is limited by the size and composition of the MIDUS sample, additional analyses suggest that the income-rank pattern might extend to race differences in (dis)satisfaction. The results can be broadly interpreted as suggesting that intersectional inequality does not influence the aspirations that provide the comparative standard for disappointment, but it does shape the way that the contemporaneous earnings differences relevant to life (dis)satisfaction are framed in social comparisons.