{"ID":2873068,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07793","arxiv_id":"2509.07793","title":"Individual utilities of life satisfaction reveal inequality aversion unrelated to political alignment","abstract":"How should well-being be prioritised in society, and what trade-offs are people willing to make between fairness and personal well-being? We investigate these questions using a stated preference experiment with a nationally representative UK sample (n = 300), in which participants evaluated life satisfaction outcomes for both themselves and others under conditions of uncertainty. Individual-level utility functions were estimated using an Expected Utility Maximisation (EUM) framework and tested for sensitivity to the overweighting of small probabilities, as characterised by Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT). A majority of participants displayed concave (risk-averse) utility curves and showed stronger aversion to inequality in societal life satisfaction outcomes than to personal risk. These preferences were unrelated to political alignment, suggesting a shared normative stance on fairness in well-being that cuts across ideological boundaries. The results challenge use of average life satisfaction as a policy metric, and support the development of nonlinear utility-based alternatives that more accurately reflect collective human values. Implications for public policy, well-being measurement, and the design of value-aligned AI systems are discussed.","short_abstract":"How should well-being be prioritised in society, and what trade-offs are people willing to make between fairness and personal well-being? We investigate these questions using a stated preference experiment with a nationally representative UK sample (n = 300), in which participants evaluated life satisfaction outcomes f...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07793","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.07793v4","authors":"[\"Crispin Cooper\",\"Ana Fredrich\",\"Tommaso Reggiani\",\"Wouter Poortinga\"]","published":"2025-09-09T14:30:24Z","proceeding":"econ.GN","tasks":"[\"econ.GN\",\"cs.AI\",\"cs.CY\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}