October 2013 LSAT Section 2 Question 19

Which one of the following pairs of terms would most likely be used by the authors of passage A and passage B, respec...

samxinghaoli on August 19, 2019

Why A over D?

I thought the author of passage A argues that one's relative wealth in comparison to his reference group is a main factor contributing to happiness, and a person who wants to make more money than his neighbors seems to do exactly that. So why would this person be considered misguided? Thank you.

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Irina on August 19, 2019

@samxinghaoli,

The question asks us which one of the following terms would be used by the authors of passage A & B to describe a person who wants to make more money than his or her neighbors?

Passage A tells us that even though at any one time richer people report higher levels of happiness, over time it makes little difference due to habituation and rivalry, meaning as one's income increases in comparison to his/ her neighbors, their new norm adjusts as well. This fact suggests that simply seeking to make money than neighbors might make one happy briefly but will not result in long-term satisfaction with one's financial status as the person might expect, hence the misguided aspect of it.

Does this help?

Let me know if you have any further questions.