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# Social status and the relationship between income rank and well-being in 109 nations

## Details

**Authors** Edika Quispe-Torreblanca, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Gordon D. A. Brown

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Nature Communications

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Economics

**Secondary disciplines** Psychology

**Applied** false

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69729-x) 
10.1038/s41467-026-69729-x

## In authors' words

### Abstract

Well-being is linked to income. However, lower well-being among lower-income individuals may reflect either economic relative deprivation or the lower social status associated with a lower income rank. Here, using Gallup World Poll data from 109 countries and over 90,000 individuals, we test a general model that includes both relative income deprivation and income rank as special cases. In 80% of countries, subjective well-being is more strongly associated with within-nation rank of income than with absolute income or relative income deprivation. Income rank coefficients are over three times larger in the most materialistic countries, but smaller in countries with higher social capital: In countries with the highest civic engagement, the association between income rank and well-being is about 80% smaller. Results replicated in multiple survey years and are consistent with a link between income-related social status and subjective well-being that is stronger when social capital is low.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To test whether subjective well-being is more strongly linked to an individual's income rank (relative status) than to absolute income or relative income deprivation, across nations.

### Who or what was studied (sample)

Over 90,000 individuals across 109 countries, from Gallup World Poll data spanning multiple survey years.

### How they did it (methods)

Cross-national survey analysis testing a general statistical model that nests income rank, absolute income, and relative income deprivation as special cases, with moderation tests by national civic engagement and materialism.

### What they found (results)

In 80% of countries, subjective well-being was more strongly associated with an individual's within-nation income rank than with absolute income or relative income deprivation, an association about three times stronger in the most materialistic countries and roughly 80% weaker in countries with the highest civic engagement.

## Commentary

### In short

Well-being depends on a relational, comparative valuation of income relative to others rather than on the absolute quantity of income, and this relationship is moderated by a national-level social property.

**Patterns it shows** D, R

**Added** 2026-09-26

**How to cite this** Edika Quispe-Torreblanca, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Gordon D. A. Brown (2026). Social status and the relationship between income rank and well-being in 109 nations. Nature Communications.