Subjective and objective well-being measurements: complement or substitute?

Abstract

There are schools of thought that study and measure subjective well-being and propose it as a substitute for objective well-being measurements. We should value and utilize the advantages and disadvantages of both versions of well-being, which requires, first of all, to rigorously explore their conceptual and empirical relationship. I argue that in the literature on the subject no trong association between objective and subjective well-being has been found due to the non-robust objective measures of well-being used. I test statistically this statement, analyzing the empirical relationship between objective and subjective well-being in Mexico, using a robust indicator of objective well-being: The integrated Poverty Measurement Method, and find an important empirical association between both types of well-being, which should lead to reassess the importance of objective well-being in its subjective perception.