Which Life Makes You Happy? The Satisfaction Dividend of the Prosperous, the Exciting, the Cozy, and the Sustainable Life

Abstract This article provides fresh insights into the timeless question of what kind of life makes people happy and satisfied. We differentiate between four modern, popular life concepts in Western societies, each imparting a distinct ‘project character’ to life: the prosperous life, oriented towards socioeconomic status; the exciting life, focused on enriching experiences; the cozy life, centered around emotional comfort; and the sustainable life, aimed at ecological sustainability. Our empirical investigation explores (1) the extent to which personal life satisfaction is influenced by the actual realization of these life concepts (the achieved ways of life) and (2) the importance individuals place on these life concepts (the basic life orientations). The analyses utilize cross-sectional data from the German GESIS Panel 2023, representing the adult German-speaking resident population. Results demonstrate that realizing these life concepts, with the exception of the sustainable life, yields a significant satisfaction dividend. Across the general population and within most sub-populations, an exciting life offers the greatest satisfaction dividend, followed by a cozy life. The findings underscore that there are varied, yet distinctly promising paths to achieving a satisfying life. Moreover, they suggest that in the quest for life satisfaction, the actual realization of valuable life concepts holds more weight than merely aspiring to them.