Robot and Happiness: Average Gains, Divergent Lives

Robot and Happiness: Average Gains, Divergent Lives | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Robot and Happiness: Average Gains, Divergent Lives Shangkun Xie, Siyuan Fan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6899653/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Does automation enhance or erode subjective well-being? Using a large-scale longitudinal survey of Chinese residents, we find that greater robot exposure significantly increases self-reported happiness: a one-unit rise in robot exposure predicts a 0.285-point gain on a 5-point scale. However, the average gains conceal substantial heterogeneity. Positive effects are concentrated among individuals with higher socioeconomic status (SES), while lower-SES groups experience limited or adverse impacts, giving rise to happiness inequality. Mechanism analysis attributes average improvements to rising income, extended leisure time, improved health, and strengthened self-identification, whereas SES-based divergence in these channels explains the sharp heterogeneity. We also document a structural shift from collective to individualized happiness, manifested in declining family involvement, greater emphasis on self-fulfillment, decaying kindred networks, and growing political apathy. Our findings suggest that automation not only boosts average happiness but also deepens inequality and reshapes the foundations of well-being. JEL Codes: I31, O30, J20, I10, H75 Automation Happiness Technological advancement Inequality Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6899653","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":475332456,"identity":"7ff2bc73-bb36-4d6b-b260-d42dbe2144d7","order_by":0,"name":"Shangkun Xie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Renmin University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shangkun","middleName":"","lastName":"Xie","suffix":""},{"id":475332458,"identity":"d554a2f9-9e4a-42ad-aa3d-46977a5f412f","order_by":1,"name":"Siyuan Fan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA10lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gYogx9EPGBgMCCohecAlCHZwMDYkECSFoMDRGvhP2PA8KHGJs/4eI/5g4QKG2MG9sNHN+DVIpFjwDjjWFqx2Zkzhg0JZ9LMGHjS0m7g02IvwWPAzNtwOHHbjRzDhsS2wzYMEjxmeLWAHMb8F6hl8wyitTDkGDAzArVskIBoMSOsRSKtgLHnWFrijDPHCmcA/WLMRsgvPPyHNzD8qLFJ7G9v3vDhQ4WNYT/74WN4tTAwcJj/QOGz4VcOAuwPCKsZBaNgFIyCkQ0A4N1JPwP3DNgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Peking University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Siyuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Fan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-15 17:38:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6899653/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6899653/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89516943,"identity":"a4d8851a-4ce4-41bd-a1ae-db79f09432ee","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-20 20:16:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4959521,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AutomationandHappiness.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6899653/v1_covered_d7258631-474f-4dc3-8d2e-08a80e3daa76.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Robot and Happiness: Average Gains, Divergent Lives","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Automation, Happiness, Technological advancement, Inequality","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6899653/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6899653/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDoes automation enhance or erode subjective well-being? 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