This chapter examines the theory that the individual’s current satisfaction will depend on his or her own past experience and expected future. The study assumes that both the past and the future have an effect, and that the impact distribution is described by a mass-density function on the time axis. Estimations of the function showed that it varies its position and shape depending on age and other individual variables. The young and elderly place more weight on the past, while those in mid-life give more weight to the future.
Keywords: individual satisfaction, past experience, expected future, individual-welfare function, mass-density function,