This study examines the effects of income aspiration and social and economic comparison (with a wide range of reference groups) on the life satisfaction of Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands by using a new and a more direct approach. This is made possible with a unique data set applied to a representative sample of 1006 respondents that includes individual data on reported satisfaction with life, as well as a sufficient income evaluation measure as a proxy for individuals’ aspiration levels. The proxy measure for social and economic comparison is the evaluation of socioeconomic status on the ladder. Respondents not only assess their socio-economic position on the ladder, but also evaluate the reference groups’ position as well. The results reveal that life satisfaction of respondents’ is negatively correlated with their income aspiration level, controlling for the effect of income and other socio-demographic and socio-economic variables. The estimates for the dummy specifications reveal that the perception of a worse living standard than Dutch natives is significantly and negatively correlated with the life satisfaction of Turkish immigrants. Furthermore, the high coefficient for comparison with people in Turkey indicates that the reference groups in the country of origin do not lose their importance and effect. For life domain reference groups, both upward and downward evaluations are statistically significant.

本研究使用一种新的、更直接的方法，检验收入愿望和社会和经济比较（与广泛的参考群体）对荷兰土耳其移民生活满意度的影响。这是通过一个独特的数据集实现的，该数据集应用于 1006 名受访者的代表性样本，其中包括有关报告的生活满意度的个人数据，以及作为个人愿望水平代理的充分收入评估措施。社会和经济比较的替代措施是对阶梯上的社会经济地位的评估。受访者不仅要评估他们在阶梯上的社会经济地位，还要评估参考群体的地位。结果显示，受访者的生活满意度与其收入愿望水平呈负相关，控制收入和其他社会人口和社会经济变量的影响。虚拟规范的估计表明，比荷兰本地人的生活水平差的看法与土耳其移民的生活满意度显着负相关。此外，与土耳其人相比的高系数表明原籍国的参考群体并没有失去其重要性和影响。对于生活领域的参照组，向上和向下的评价都具有统计学意义。虚拟规范的估计表明，比荷兰本地人的生活水平差的看法与土耳其移民的生活满意度显着负相关。此外，与土耳其人相比的高系数表明原籍国的参考群体并没有失去其重要性和影响。对于生活领域的参照组，向上和向下的评价都具有统计学意义。虚拟规范的估计表明，比荷兰本地人的生活水平差的看法与土耳其移民的生活满意度显着负相关。此外，与土耳其人相比的高系数表明原籍国的参考群体并没有失去其重要性和影响。对于生活领域的参照组，向上和向下的评价都具有统计学意义。