ABSTRACT
There is overwhelming evidence of a positive association between education and objective quality-of-life measures, demonstrating pecuniary and non-pecuniary returns to individuals and both private and external economic benefits to societies. However, early research produced inconsistent evidence that education translates into higher subjective wellbeing. As researchers explore possible explanations, the emerging literature suggests that the association between education and subjective wellbeing is far more nuanced and complex than has been assumed and encompasses a range of direct and indirect dynamics. Two key explanations appear salient. First, investing in education is costly, and is subject to diminishing returns at both the social and individual levels. Second, education has the capacity to change not only our objective circumstances but also our subjective evaluations of these same circumstances. The benefits of education will differ across individuals, different types of education will have differential effects, and education has different impacts on the separate domains of subjective wellbeing. Along with the confounding role of education on expectations, aspirations, and reference points, not enough is known about these relationships. Explorations of education and how it impacts subjective evaluations of wellbeing, particularly through conduits such as development of resilience and psychological skills, will contribute to policy-making.
