A study of 20,000 20- to 64-year-olds found that people 's satisfactio

Question

A study of 20,000 20- to 64-year-olds found that people 's satisfaction with their incomes is not strongly correlated with the amount they make. People tend to live in neighborhoods of people from their same economic class, and the study shows that people's satisfaction with their incomes depends largely on how favorably their incomes compare with those of their neighbors.
 
The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following hypotheses?

(A) People with high incomes are consistently more satisfied with their incomes than are people in the middle class.
(B) Older people are generally more satisfied with their incomes than are younger people.
(C) Satisfaction with income is strongly correlated with neighborhood.
(D) In general, people's income levels have little effect on their level of satisfaction with life as a whole.
(E) An increase in everyone's incomes is not likely to greatly increase people's levels of satisfaction with their own incomes.

Source: LSAT

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

Regarding choice (E), it does not say that some people's salaries will go up a lot (i.e. 50%) while some people's salaries will only go up a little (i.e. 5%). If that were the case then, yes, we would expect the people who enjoyed the larger increase to be more satisfied.

But choice (E) says "an increase in   everyone's   incomes." If my salary goes up, say, 10% but the salaries of my neighbors also go up by approximately the same amount, then I won't feel any richer RELATIVE to my neighbors. For example, if my salary was close to the average of that of my neighbors BEFORE the increase, then it would probably still be close to the average AFTER everyone's salaries go up. I'm now making more money, but compared to my neighbors, my position hasn't improved. According to the argument, my satisfaction will not increase in that case.

Sure, it is  possible  that some people's salaries increased by a lot while some people's salaries increased by only a little, but choice (E) does not give us enough detail to assume this very specific scenario. Without such detail, we can only analyze the general scenario in which everyone's salaries go up. True, we don't know whether everyone's salaries are going up by the same percentage, but if EVERYONE'S salaries are increasing, then it is UNLIKELY that my satisfaction is going to GREATLY increase.... it's  possible  but not  likely .

As for choice (C), it talks about NEIGHBORHOODS, not neighbors. If this statement were true, it would suggest that people in some neighborhoods are more satisfied than people in other neighborhoods. According to the argument, the neighborhood you live in doesn't matter so much. No matter where you live, your neighbors are LIKELY to be people from the same economic class. So your satisfaction doesn't depend on WHICH neighborhood you live in but rather on how your salary compares to that of other people in your neighborhood.

Yes, it is true that you could theoretically move from neighborhood X to a poorer neighborhood (Y) to increase your satisfaction. But that doesn't mean that people in neighborhood Y are  generally  more satisfied than people in neighborhood X. According to the argument, average satisfaction should be about the same in both neighborhoods.

I hope that helps!

lostin · Answer

A - Stem talks about neighborhood and income so irrelevant.
B - No information about age and income satisfaction.
C - Very close but too extreme ( strongly correlated)
D - Stem says not strongly correlated but doesn't say as a whole little effect.
E - Correct answer. As per stem, satisfaction is based on neighorhood income comparison. So increase in everyone's income may not impact their satisfaction( pay attention to not likely - Not talking about extremes)

chesstitans · Answer

right, using POE, only C and E are left. E i much better than C.
This question can still be one of gmat-like question and it is still a good question from LSAT.
 broall , pls edit the source,

HG0815 · Answer

IMO OA is E

(A) People with high incomes are consistently more satisfied with their incomes than are people in the middle class.
 -> incorrect. Passage argues that amount of income is not strongly correlaed with satisfaction. 
(B) Older people are generally more satisfied with their incomes than are younger people.
 -> Out of scope
(C) Satisfaction with income is strongly correlated with neighborhood.
 -> This is just a fact. It cannot be the support
(D) In general, people's income levels have little effect on their level of satisfaction with life as a whole.
 -> Out of scope. 
 We cannot know that income levels have little effect on satisfaction.
(E) An increase in everyone's incomes is not likely to greatly increase people's levels of satisfaction with their own incomes.
 -> Correct

GMATNinjaTwo · Answer

Thanks for your explanations!

To post specific questions, feel free to use the  request verbal experts' reply  button.

gmatexam439 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinjaTwo ,

I don't agree with the OA. If a person's salary increases by 50% while that of his neighbours' increase only by 5%, making him richer than most neighbours, then as per the argument he will be satisfied with his income. "Not likely" in option E is a relative term that can't be casually used without a figure (percentage/absolute).

On the other hand option C correctly states the correlation between neighbours and salary. IMHO the answer should be C.

Please correct me as to where am I going wrong?

Regards

mbafinhopeful · Answer

A - use of words like  consistently  and  middle class  makes this option too broad and vague. NO.

B - Irrelevant. NO.

C - This might seem like a good candidate, but claiming that the  satisfaction with income is strongly correlated with neighbourhood  makes it a tad out of scope. The question could be made harder by saying satisfaction with income is correlated with the economic class of the neighbourhood. So, NO.

D - Too broad and out of scope. NO.

E - While a disproportionate increase in the level of income might make someone more happy/satisfied than someone else from the same neighbourhood, since we've eliminated other options this one has to be seen within the context and hence the best choice.

Also, comparing the the last part of the statement:  depends largely on how favorably their incomes compare with those of their neighbors , and second part of option E:  not likely to greatly increase , makes E an obvious choice.

akela · Answer

Question Type:
Inference (Most Strongly Supported)

Stimulus Breakdown:
We know the following from a large study:
1. People's satisfaction with their income is not correlated with the amount of money they make.
2. People tend to live in neighborhoods of people from their same economic class.
3. People's satisfaction with their income depends largely on how favorably their income compares with that of their neighbors.

Answer Anticipation:
Tough to predict what the right answer will say.

Correct Answer:
(E)

Answer Choice Analysis: 
(A) is contradicted by the information in the study.

(B) is contradicted by the information in the study.

(C) is contradicted by the information in the study.

(D) is out of scope. The information touches on satisfaction with income, not with satisfaction with life as a whole.

(E) is correct. If everyone's income were to increase, one's relative position compared to one's neighbors would be unchanged.

Takeaway/Pattern: Reasoning Structure: Comparison

ueh55406 · Answer

"study shows that people's satisfaction with their incomes depends largely on how favorably their incomes compare with those of their neighbors."-

satisfaction comes from knowing you're better off when you're making more money than your neighbors.If everyone's rich,then no one's richer and people lose their sense of eletism, consequently, satisfaction.

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

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