|
Does money buy you happiness? It's a complex link.
|
View this Thread in Original format
| starsearcher |
| quote: | Study: Money-happiness link is complex
By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer Sun Nov 26, 12:59 PM ET
NEW YORK - Does money buy happiness? It's sometimes said that scientists have found no relationship between money and happiness, but that's a myth, says University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener.
The connection is complex, he says. But in fact, very rich people rate substantially higher in satisfaction with life than very poor people do, even within wealthy nations, he says.
"There is overwhelming evidence that money buys happiness," said economist Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England. The main debate, he said, is how strong the effect is.
Oswald recently reported a study of Britons who won between $2,000 and $250,000 in a lottery. As a group, they showed a boost in happiness averaging a bit more than 1 point on a 36-point scale when surveyed two years after their win, compared to their levels two years before they won.
Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel-Prize winner and Princeton economist, and colleagues recently declared that the notion that making a lot of money will produce good overall mood is "mostly illusory."
They noted that in one study, people with household incomes of $90,000 or more were only slightly more likely to call themselves "very happy" overall than were people from households making $50,000 to $89,999. The rates were 43 percent versus 42 percent, respectively. (Members of the high-income group were almost twice as likely to call themselves "very happy" as people from households with incomes below $20,000.)
But other studies, rather than asking for a summary estimate of happiness, follow people through the day and repeatedly record their feelings. These studies show less effect of income on happiness, Kahneman and colleagues said.
There is still another twist to the money-happiness story. Even though people who make $150,000 are considerably happier than those who make $40,000, it's not clear why, says psychologist Richard E. Lucas of Michigan State University.
Does money make you happier? Or does being happier in the first place allow you to earn more money later, maybe by way of greater creativity or energy? Or does some other factor produce both money and happiness? There's evidence for all three interpretations, Lucas says.
In any case, researchers say any effect of money on happiness is smaller than most daydreamers assume.
"People exaggerate how much happiness is bought by an extra few thousand," Oswald said. "The quality of relationships has a far bigger effect than quite large rises in salary.... It's much better advice, if you're looking for happiness in life, to try to find the right husband or wife rather than trying to double your salary." |
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126.../be_happy_money |
|
|
| English Rachel |
| quote: | Originally posted by starsearcher
"People exaggerate how much happiness is bought by an extra few thousand," Oswald said. "The quality of relationships has a far bigger effect than quite large rises in salary.... It's much better advice, if you're looking for happiness in life, to try to find the right husband or wife rather than trying to double your salary." |
Agreed.
But not worrying about money also makes a big difference - money doesn't buy happiness but it lessens stresses. |
|
|
| rabbitjoker |
| Money will magnify whatever successes or problems a person has. |
|
|
| English Rachel |
| quote: | Originally posted by rabbitjoker
Money will magnify whatever problems a person has. |
I also agree with this - I guess money only makes you happier if you are happy to begin with. If you have problems, money will mean you can buy more of the same or skirt over them with empty retail therapy. |
|
|
| starsearcher |
I once read a very interesting article in the British GQ by Tony Parsons who in my mind is an excellent writer, one of the best. He was a guest columnist and wrote a section called "The cruel rules" over a period of time. I found interesting when he also tackled the issue of happiness and money in one of his articles - he said "people who think that money does not buy happiness don't know where to shop".
Albeit he was talking about the mega rich, not the 50k/year vs the 100k/year debate.
Regardless that comment and the whole article really made me think. |
|
|
| thesauce23 |
ultimately money rules the world. although it may not provide happiness for some, it will ease the burdens of having bills, rent, etc. but then it can also focus ur worries of the things u want instead of the things u need, which then leads to unhappiness. so its like a cycle. u always want what u cant have and once u get it, theres something else.
my biggest problem with money would have to be how people let it rule them. i mean its so sad the "friends" i have lost b/c of money and how much they have let their money dictate who they are.. MONEY COMES AND GOES. why worry over it-whether ur rich or poor. |
|
|
| zokissima |
| quote: | Originally posted by rabbitjoker
Money will magnify whatever successes or problems a person has. |
Interesting. Can you elaborate?
I think that overall, money may not really be a determining factor in hapiness. But the article does little to compare the extremes of money and hapiness. The differences in lifestyle between someone making 50,000 and 90,000 are not that great in the bigger scheme of things.
I think there is also a profound difference between individuals whom are born into money as opposed to those that make sarcifices to make money, and know the value of it, to themselves. The rules of general happiness and the roles money plays in their lives are probably very different. |
|
|
| GQ_IRAQI |
money doesnt buy me happiness
but it buys me what i want, when i want
and that makes me happy. |
|
|
| rabbitjoker |
| quote: | Originally posted by zokissima
Interesting. Can you elaborate?
|
Certainly.
Money magnifies every aspect of one's life - relationships, personality, attitude, approach.
An easy example is:
If a person is good and giving - having lots of money allows them to do more good and more giving. The more money they have, the more money they tend to do good with.
If a person is selfish, greedy, needy, mean - having lots of money tends to make them even even more so (they don't want to loose what they have).
The same trends apply with happiness... |
|
|
| StereoPrincess |
| lol. i am generally happy but if i had money i would be much more happy. |
|
|
| infinity HiGH |
| Money won't make me happy, but I can use it to buy myself things that will make me happy. (can't remember who said this) |
|
|
| marcinm |
The thing with money is that most (I'm not saying all) people, myself included, usually can't get enough. We're flooded with images from media, society, etc that give us the impression that we'll be happier if we get more stuff. The problem with that is aside from money getting you better healthcare (since better health is a large factor in being happier) money can't really improve your life, once your basic needs for food/shelter/clothing are met. Once you attain a certain status/comfort level, there will ALWAYS be something else for you to attain to.
If you get a shiny new Civic, you'll love it for the first little while, and maybe even be "happy" but after a while you'll be all like "ing Civic, I wish I had a BMW" and so on. |
|
|
|
|
