藝術品味的培養與展現往往是自我認同(identity)，也就是個人對自我意識的顯現方式。本研究以Akerlof and Kranton(2000)自我認同的理論模型爲基礎，建立實證架構並利用兩階段工具變數法，探討藝術品味與生活滿意度間之關係。結果發現，人格特質的養成、所屬的社會類別等因素影響個人的藝術品味和自我認同，而且藝術品與生活美學產品件數收藏愈多，生活滿意程度愈高，自我認同可透過消費行爲來表達，當實際自我認同(actual identity)與理想形象間(ideal identity)之距離拉近時，效用跟著提升，也就是生活滿意度因而增加。

Taste for art is often considered as an expression of "identity", a person's sense of self. Through these actions, behaviors, and choices, a person can gain or lose his identity, and therefore taste for arts have significant influences on economic outcomes. Inspired by the identity model developed by Akerlof and Kranton (2000) with a utility-maximization framework, this study empirically examines the relationship between subjective well-being and taste for arts. By employing the approach of instrumental variables in the estimations, it is found that individuals can gain identities through their tastes for arts, which are related to their assigned social categories. More collections of artworks lead to a higher level of subjective well-being reported by an individual. The phenomenon can be explained by the identity model in emphasizing the importance of symbolic consumption as an expression of identity.