Why Do People Feel "Poorer" Even with the Same Salary?

The "Poison of Comparison" in the Age of Social Media: Insights from a Survey of 200,000 People in 22 Countries

The salary isn't that bad. Life isn't falling apart. Rent is paid, and meals are on the table. Yet, the moment you see a friend's job change announcement, a colleague's promotion, a peer's home purchase, or photos of overseas trips, a small unease stirs within.

"Am I falling behind?"
"Why can that person live such a life at the same age?"
"Is my income actually low?"

This feeling is often dismissed as mere jealousy or a matter of perspective. However, an international survey by a research team from McGill University in Canada suggests that feeling "poorer than those around you" can affect one's sense of happiness, health, life's meaning, and relationships.

The significant point is that this impact was observed even when actual incomes were similar. The issue isn't just "how much you earn" but "who you compare yourself to" and "where you feel you stand within that group" that influences your mental state.

The study focused on the feeling known as "relative deprivation." This refers to the state of feeling less, lower, or inferior compared to others, regardless of whether one is absolutely struggling in life. For example, even if people have the same monthly income, they may feel secure if those around them live similarly. On the other hand, with the same income, if those around them live in luxury apartments, travel frequently, and discuss asset building, they might feel left behind.

The research team analyzed large-scale data from over 200,000 people across 22 countries. The survey covered a wide age range, including young people, adults, and the elderly, measuring "human flourishing" from multiple aspects such as happiness, life satisfaction, mental and physical health, life meaning and purpose, intimate relationships, and economic and material stability.

The results showed that those who felt economically inferior to their peers tended to score lower on these indicators. Moreover, this trend was confirmed not only at the time of the survey but also in a follow-up survey a year later. The disadvantageous feeling born from comparison can cast a shadow on one's mental state over time, not just as a temporary slump.

These results should be intuitively understandable to many. People do not judge their income solely by statistical medians or national averages. Rather, they compare themselves to closer others in their daily lives.

Colleagues who joined the company at the same time.
Friends who graduated from the same university.
Influencers of the same age.
Families living in the same area.
Acquaintances working in the same industry.

People are more shaken when comparing themselves to "someone who should be similar" rather than to completely different wealthy individuals. Seeing the mansions of major company founders or famous investors can be distanced as a story from another world. However, when a friend who lived similarly a few years ago buys a house, talks about asset management, and prepares for children's education as a matter of course, one's current position suddenly seems unstable.

The study particularly noted that these feelings are linked to a state called "languishing." In Japanese, this is close to "a sense of stagnation," "emptiness," or "a feeling of the heart shrinking." It's not severe enough to be diagnosed as depression but not positive either. Life goes on, but it's not fulfilling. The sense of being engrossed in something fades, and there's no sense of progressing in life.

This term became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many experienced a state of "not sick but not well" amid restrictions on outings and social isolation. The current study shows that this sense of stagnation can arise not only from infectious diseases or outing restrictions but also from economic comparisons.

The impact was particularly strong among young people, especially young women. This is an outcome that cannot be overlooked considering the structure of modern society. Young people are at a stage where they are faced with many choices simultaneously, such as career development, romance, marriage, housing, and future planning. Moreover, each of these is easily visualized on social media.

Someone gets a job.
Someone changes jobs.
Someone gets married.
Someone has a child.
Someone buys a house.
Someone goes on an overseas trip.
Someone posts "Achieved 10 million yen in assets."

Each is merely a sharing of personal joy. But for the receiver, it can seem like evidence that they are not progressing. Even if the poster is only capturing a moment of their life, the viewer may perceive it as the entirety of the poster's life.

The research team clarifies that this survey did not directly analyze social media itself. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that "social media causes relative deprivation." Nonetheless, researchers state that the concern that social media fosters an environment of constant upward comparison resonates with the results of this study.

In fact, similar concerns to this study's theme are repeatedly discussed on social media and forums. On Reddit in the English-speaking world, a 20-something engineer posted, "I should be earning enough, but when I see friends who are doctors, lawyers, or working for major IT companies, I feel behind." Their income is by no means low. Yet, hearing about peers buying homes or earning high incomes brings nightmares about financial, academic, and career anxieties.

Responses to this post included comments like, "The quality of a salary greatly changes depending on the cost of living in the area," "Just because someone bought a house doesn't mean they truly have leeway," and "Family assistance is hard to see from the outside." This reflects the very structure highlighted by the study. People compare based on visible information, but they cannot compare the unseen background. Someone's house, car, travel, and salary are visible. However, debt, family assistance, living expenses, future anxieties, working hours, and mental burdens are hard to see.

Another Reddit post discussed the psychological impact of poverty, stating, "When you don't have money, you're constantly holding back. So when you have a little leeway, even if you should rationally save, you spend it on things or food you've long wanted." This cannot be explained by mere criticism of wasteful spending. Prolonged deprivation puts a strain on willpower and judgment. Those with less economic leeway are constantly forced to make choices and constantly give up something. That fatigue further exacerbates economic anxieties.

On Bluesky, there were posts about the phenomenon where people don't feel "wealthier" even when objective income statistics improve. One post pointed out that even if U.S. household income reaches a record high after inflation adjustments, rising costs for healthcare, housing, and education make people continue to feel "poorer." Here too, there is a gap between statistical wealth and the lived experience.

This gap is very important in modern economic discussions. Even if governments or companies explain that "average income is rising," "employment is stable," or "GDP is growing," the reality felt by individuals is elsewhere. Comparisons with neighbors, peers, successful people on social media, and future housing and education costs overlap, making people feel "lacking" even if their current income is the same.

It's important to note that this study does not blame individuals for "worrying too much." Relative deprivation is not something born solely from individual personality. The larger the social disparity, the greater the gap in comparison. As housing prices, education costs, healthcare costs, employment instability, regional disparities, and intergenerational disparities widen, people feel their lives are more unstable.

For example, even with the same income, if housing prices around you soar, you may feel "I can't own a home at this rate." Even with the same income, if friends receive financial support from parents, you may feel "I'm starting from a different point." Even with the same income, if you only see success stories of side jobs or investments on social media, you may feel "I'm losing with just labor income."

In other words, relative deprivation is not a problem that concludes within an individual's mind. It's an issue where the very perception of society infiltrates people's hearts.

The abstract of the research paper states that relative deprivation negatively correlates with multiple domains such as happiness, health, relationships, and economic stability, and this impact is confirmed both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. It also suggests that policies to reduce income inequality and relative deprivation could bring social benefits that cannot be achieved by mere economic growth or wealth increase.

This is a very important implication. Economic policies often focus on "increasing the overall pie." Of course, growth is necessary. However, people's happiness is not determined by the overall average alone. Can one feel they live with dignity within the group they belong to? Can they have hope for the future? Does their life always seem inferior in comparison to those around them? Such feelings are also essential for measuring social health.

So, what can individuals do?

Researchers suggest that distancing oneself from upward comparisons, appreciating what one has, and engaging with local communities can be helpful. This is not mere spiritualism. It's about shifting the focus of comparison from "distant successful people" or "posts that capture only a part of life" back to "relationships where mutual support is possible."

Success on social media often lacks context. You can see pay slips but not working hours. You can see house photos but not loan balances. You can see travel photos but not daily loneliness. You can see weddings but not relationship conflicts. You can see investment profits but not losses or anxieties.

Yet people compare based only on what they can see. That's why it's necessary to consciously adjust the environment of comparison. Mute accounts that make you feel uncomfortable. Don't just follow posts about salaries or assets. Don't assume that the lives of people vastly different from your own living environment are the standard. Celebrate friends' successes while not entrusting your life's evaluation criteria to others.

However, this is not a problem that can be solved by individual ingenuity alone. If housing, education, healthcare, and employment stability are compromised, people will always be exposed to future anxieties. The background to why young people easily feel "behind" is not just a matter of watching too much social media but also a social structure that makes future life planning difficult.

For the younger generation, comparison has become harder to avoid than before. In the past, opportunities to know friends' living conditions were limited. Now, someone's promotion, purchases, travels, marriage, childbirth, and asset building flow daily. Moreover, they are displayed mercilessly even when you're tired at night, have failed at work, or are anxious about the future.

At that time, people may sometimes think, "I should try harder too." But if repeated many times, it turns into feelings of "I'm lacking," "I'm slow," or "I'm not chosen." The "languishing" highlighted by this study may be the quiet exhaustion that lies beyond that.

The value of this study lies in reinterpreting poverty and disparity not just as monetary issues but as issues of the heart, relationships, and social positioning. People do not live by numbers alone. Monthly income, annual income, asset amount, rent, loans, savings. These are important, but they do not solely determine happiness.

Even with the same income, some people can live with peace of mind.
Even with the same income, some people always feel like they're losing.
The difference is made by the comparison target, social disparity, future outlook, and the presence or absence of a community to belong to.

Wealth in the age of social media has become more complex than before. We have to deal not only with absolute living standards but also with the visualized living standards of others. There, someone's success may look like your failure, and someone's ease may feel like your lack.

However, the highlights of someone else's life are not materials for comparing with your entire life. It is difficult to be completely free from comparison. Still, you can maintain a distance that prevents you from being swallowed by comparison.

As a society, we need to address structural factors such as income inequality, housing costs, education costs, and unstable employment for young people. As individuals, we need to step away from environments where we constantly compare ourselves to someone above and reclaim relationships where mutual support is possible and the meaning within our own lives.

What this study points out is not a simple story of "earning more will make you happy." Rather, it is a warning that "no matter how much you earn, if you lose yourself in comparison, happiness will be diminished."

Even if the contents of the wallet are the same, the balance in the heart is not the same.
And that balance in the heart changes significantly depending on who we compare ourselves to, what kind of society we live in, and what connections we can have.

Source URL

Phys.org. Confirmed content from the McGill University research team, analysis of over 200,000 people in 22 countries, strong impact on young people and young women, and the suggestion of a connection with an environment that encourages comparison, even though SNS was not directly investigated.
URL: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-poorer-peers-linked-incomes-similar.html

Official news release from McGill University. Confirmed research overview, explanation of languishing, and that people who feel "poorer than those around them" have lower happiness and health perceptions even when actual income is similar, with the trend persisting a year later.
URL: https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/feeling-poorer-peers-linked-lower-wellbeing-even-when-incomes-are-similar-373318

Bibliographic and abstract page of the paper published in Social Science & Medicine. Confirmed paper title, authors, number of subjects, 22 countries, follow-up rate, six measured domains, and the relationship between relative deprivation and human flourishing, DOI.
URL: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v399y2026ics0277953626002790.html

Related Reddit post. Referenced as an example of someone feeling "behind" due to income comparisons with peers and colleagues, not a direct response to this article.
URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/comments/qu7p7y/feeling_behind_incomewise_compared_to_my_peers/

Related Reddit post. Referenced as an example of social media reactions discussing the psychological burden of poverty and lack of economic leeway on willpower, judgment, and consumption behavior.
URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/comments/da0dqr/people_dont_consider_the_psychological/

Related Bluesky post. Referenced as an example of surrounding reactions to the phenomenon where objective income statistics improve, but people's lived experience of "becoming poorer" continues.
URL: https://bsky.app/profile/peark.es/post/3mjan45bgo22s

Introduction of related research from Cambridge University. Referenced as supplementary material showing the link between feeling poorer than friends in early adolescence and worsening mental health, separate from the current study.
URL: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/feeling-poorer-than-your-friends-in-early-adolescence-is-associated-with-worse-mental-health