Case Study
Commuting and Happiness Studies
Michael Norton, Elizabeth Dunn, and a 2011 New Jersey study
Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn found that taking a job with a daily one-hour commute has a negative effect on happiness comparable in magnitude to having no job at all — and that in both the US and France, commuting is women's single worst-rated daily activity by satisfaction. Separately, a 2011 study of roughly 300 commuters traveling from northern New Jersey into New York City found people felt significantly less stressed taking the train than driving, despite most having the choice of either — with many still choosing to drive, plausibly due to sunk-cost attachment to a car they already owned.
Result: commuting is consistently among the worst-rated daily activities across multiple independent studies, and the average US household devotes ~20% of income to driving costs (up to 40% for low-income households) despite the activity's poor happiness return. Distinct from Epley Schroeder Stranger-Commute Happiness Study (which is about the effect of talking to strangers during a commute, not commute length/mode itself).
Discussed in
- Episode 117 — The worst ways to spend your money -according to science