Living in a society with a widening gap between the rich and the poor can exacerbate social comparison processes inherited through evolution, ultimately leading to extreme distress. This is especially prevalent among white men without college education, as demonstrated in a recent paper by David Blancheflower and Andrew Oswald. The study found that an increasing number of people reported not having a good day in the past month, suggesting a trend towards deaths of despair.
How does comparing yourself to others affect your well-being? What do you do when there’s no one left to blame? And should we all just move to Finland?