There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequently individuals experience happiness than how intensely happy each episode is. This occurs in part because lower-income individuals spend more time engaged in passive leisure activities, reducing the frequency but not the intensity of positive affect. Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Data from an experience sampling study (N = 394 participants, 34,958 daily responses), a preregistered cross-sectional study (N = 1,553), and a day reconstruction study (N = 13,437) provide empirical evidence for these ideas. Together, this research provides conceptual and empirical clarity into how income is related to happiness.

人们普遍认为收入和主观幸福感是相关的，但是何时以及为什么将它们联系在一起仍需不断讨论。我们利用先前对幸福感的频率和强度进行区分的研究表明，高收入与个人经历幸福感的频率比每个发作的强烈程度更一致。出现这种情况，部分原因是收入较低的个人消费从事被动休闲活动更多的时间，降低了频率但正面影响的强度却没有。值得注意的是，我们证明只有幸福频率才是收入与生活满意度之间关系的基础。经验抽样研究（N = 394名参与者，每天34,958例），预先注册的横断面研究（N = 1,553）和日间重建研究（N = 13,437）的数据为这些想法提供了经验证据。总之，这项研究为收入与幸福之间的关系提供了概念和经验上的明确性。