The two are of the same size, but the left one appears smaller because the surrounding circles are larger. Conversely, the one on the right appears larger because of the ring of smaller and closer circles.

In his book Happy Ever After, Paul Dolan asserts many people live by erroneous social narratives that give false promises of happiness. He cites a 2010 study by Daniel Kahneman that concludes in the US, annual household income increases beyond $75,000 does not correlate directly with increase in happiness in people. Yet, other studies repeated in various countries show that regardless of their actual level of income, people feel they would be happier earning just 15% more. When comparing ourselves with our peers and neigbours, we tend to look upward--to those in better situations than ourselves. Unfortunately, our perception and level of satisfaction of our own wages is higher when our neighbours make less than us. Interestingly, Dolan cites a 2016 paper showing higher bankruptcy rates in neighbours of 649 lottery winners two years after the win. One hypothesis is that these neighbours spend more on visible goods to keep up with their neighbour who won the lottery.