Lifestyle and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Delayed Gratification

This paper considers the impact of two measures of lifestyle—the consumption of fruit and vegetables and doing exercise—on individual well-being. Since lifestyle is likely to be endogenous, we correct for this by using two dimensions of delayed gratifcation as instruments. The ability to delay gratifcation enables individuals to give greater weight to the investment component of lifestyle decisions rather than merely the afective component. Our analysis is based on the UK Understanding Society Data, which covers 40,000 UK households over time. We fnd that the two delayed gratifcation instruments are positive and signifcant in infuencing lifestyle. In Stage 2, we fnd that fruit and vegetable consumption and sports activity increase life satisfaction, though the impacts vary for men and women. These results are robust across income quartiles, region, gender, education and age groups.