Does a major natural disaster change life satisfaction? This study is a rare natural experiment, in which roughly half of the respondents completed the survey before and the other half completed it after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. A series of regression discontinuity design analyses showed that those who completed the survey after the earthquake reported being less satisfied with their lives than those who happened to complete the survey before the earthquake. There were no discontinuity on demographic variables and other consumer attitudes. The main findings remained virtually unchanged when we controlled for Big Five personality traits and demographic variables. Together, the current findings suggest that the experience of a major natural disaster changes their life satisfaction at least in the short run.
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