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Numeracy and satisfaction: Intuitive and paradoxical effects
- Pär Bjälkebring
- Ellen Peters
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Description: Objective numeracy, the ability to understand and use mathematical concepts, has been related to superior decisions and life outcomes. Unknown is whether it relates to greater satisfaction in life. We investigated numeracy’s relations with income satisfaction and overall life satisfaction in a diverse sample of 5,525 American adults. As hypothesized, those higher in objective numeracy reported more positive life evaluations and self-reported income mediated this relation. Additionally, research indicates that the highly numerate compare numbers more than the less numerate. Consistent with making income comparisons, numeracy moderated the relation between income and life evaluations. Specifically, among those with lower incomes, the highly numerate were less satisfied than the less numerate; this effect reversed among those with higher incomes. Results suggest that numeracy may be an important cognitive factor underlying how people evaluate their lives, especially for evaluations that involve numbers and could involve number comparisons.