TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Falk, Armin
AU  - Knell, Markus
        TI  - Choosing the Joneses: Endogenous Goals and Reference Standards
        PY  - 2004/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 1152
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp1152
        AB  - A growing economic literature stresses the importance of relative comparisons, e.g., for savings and consumption or happiness. In this literature it is usually assumed that reference standards against which people compare themselves are exogenously given. In contrast findings from social psychology suggest that people play an active role in determining their reference standards. We present a social comparison model where people choose their reference standards to serve motives of self-improvement and self-enhancement. The model predicts that reference standards increase in individuals' abilities and that thus people tend to compare themselves to similar others. The results of a questionnaire study confirm the model’s prediction.
        KW  - reference standard
KW  - goals
KW  - social comparison
KW  - happiness
        ER  -