Citation

van de Vliert E, Huang X, Parker PM. J. Environ. Psychol. 2004; 24(1): 17-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Academic Press)

DOI

10.1016/S0272-4944(03)00021-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Physiological needs for thermal comfort, nutritional comfort, and healthiness make colder and hotter climates more demanding than more temperate climates. Affluence may help to meet those thermal demands. Two country-level studies indeed show that thermal demands (colder and hotter climates) and wealth-related resources (higher income per capita) are joint roots of happiness (N=55) and altruism (N=71). In colder climates richer societies are more but poorer societies are less happy and altruistic. In hotter climates richer societies are happier but poorer societies are unhappier. In both colder and hotter climates richer societies tend to be happier at the expense of being more altruistic whereas poorer societies tend to be more altruistic at the expense of being happier. The findings generate a demands-resources theory on self- and other-directed consequences of thermoclimate.