Satisfaction and the implicit comparison group

Last registered on December 11, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Satisfaction and the implicit comparison group
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005177
Initial registration date
December 11, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
December 11, 2019, 4:33 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Laura Fumagalli
Affiliation
ISER, University of Essex
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Elena Fumagalli
PI Affiliation
Utrecht University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2010-12-17
End date
2013-11-08
Keywords
Gender
Additional Keywords
Subjective well-being
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The RCT tests whether subjective well-being depends on the comparison group people implicitly refer to when they answer questions on satisfaction in different life domains (job, health, household income, leisure and life overall). The RCT prompts some respondents to compare themselves with people of the same gender, education, gender and education, and leaves the reference group of others unconstrained. The RCT is part of the wave 5 of Understanding society Innovation Panel (IP5). The randomization was obtained using random draws from an uniform distribution and was balanced by mode protocol, incentive and the wave 5 web invite experiment of the Understanding Society Innovation Panel. The planned sample size is around 580 individuals per treatment arm.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fumagalli, Elena and Laura Fumagalli . 2019. "Satisfaction and the implicit comparison group ." AEA RCT Registry. December 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5177-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2012-05-11
Intervention End Date
2012-08-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Satisfaction about job, health, household income, leisure and life overall
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment studies whether subjective well-being depends on the comparison people implicitly refer to when they answer questions on satisfaction in different life domains (job, health, household income, leisure and life overall).

The sample is randomly divided in 4 groups. Each group is asked a different version of satisfaction question.
1) Control group: “How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with [life domain?]”
2) Treatment 1: “How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with [life domain?] if you compare yourself with other women/men”
3) Treatment 2; “How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with [life domain?] if you compare yourself with other people with your level of education”
4) Treatment 3: “How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with [life domain?] if you compare yourself with other women/men with your level of education”

The effect of treatment 1 will be analized in a short paper with a gender angle. The effects of treatments 2 and 3 will be analized in a second, separate paper.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization was done in a office by a computer using the statistical software Stata. The randomization was obtained using random draws from an uniform distribution and was balanced by mode protocol, incentive and the wave 5 web invite experiment of the Understanding Society Innovation Panel.
Randomization Unit
Households
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Households: 1615
Sample size: planned number of observations
Number of sampled observations: Number of adult individuals (16 years old or older) in the household * number of sampled households = 1.8*1615=2907. Assuming 20% unit non response: Planned number of responding individuals = 2325
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Around 580 individuals per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Essex Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2010-12-17
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials