Logical reasoning PrepTest 142 · Section 1 · Question 22

Incorrect. This answer reflects an alternative hypothesis specifically discredited by this stimulus—that satisfaction with income is related to the amount they make.

Incorrect. There's no indication that older people are more likely to live in areas where their income favorably compares to those around them, so this answer is unsupported.

Incorrect. If anything, this wouldn't be the case based on the stimulus, since each neighborhood would presumably have people whose income compares both favorably and disfavorably to their neighbors in about equal measure!

Incorrect. The stimulus never discusses overall life satisfaction, just satisfaction with income, so this answer is out of scope.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
A very large study showed that satisfaction with income isn't correlated with salary but is correlated with income level compared to neighbors.

Answer Anticipation:
This answer features a phenomenon and two hypotheses, one that isn't backed up by the study and another that is.

The hypothesis not backed up by the study is that satisfaction with income is related to the amount one makes. Since this isn't backed up, there are likely going to be incorrect answers that reflect it.

The hypothesis that is backed up is that it's relative income level that matters—do people feel they're making more than their neighbors? Since this hypothesis is backed up by the study, and it involves a comparison (between people and their neighbors), this is likely to be reflected in the correct answer.

Answer Explanation:
Since satisfaction with income isn't correlated with amount but is correlated with relative income levels, an increase to everyone's income would increase the former but leave the latter unchanged, thus not changing satisfaction. This answer is supported.

Key Takeaway:
When multiple hypotheses are presented in a stimulus—in any question type—it's important to understand all of them. The "wrong" hypotheses (or the ones that the author disagrees with) will sometimes feature in correct answers, but frequently feature in incorrect ones, and knowing what they say can make it much easier to eliminate those incorrect answers.