Among the world's nations, per capita energy and electricity consumption is highly correlated with diverse indicators of quality of life. This is often interpreted to mean that additional energy and electricity consumption causes improvements in life quality. Prior analyses of cross-sectional data question this interpretation for industrial nations that already have high per capita energy consumption. The present analysis with longitudinal data shows that among industrial nations, increases in per capita energy and electricity consumption over the past three decades are not associated with corresponding improvements in quality of life. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.