Can Money Buy Happiness?
Paul Piff’s research suggests that money makes you mean. But many people seem to believe that money can buy happiness. What do you think: Can money buy happiness?
Since happiness is highly personal, the final answer to this old question may never be found. Recent research provides a tentative answer: Yes, money can buy happiness, but only up to the point where it lifts you out of extreme poverty.
People all over the world were asked in a survey to rate their sense of happiness from 1 to 7. One meant “not at all happy” and 7 meant “completely happy.” You will not be surprised to learn that on average millionaires gave their lives a score of 5.8. And you will not be surprised that homeless Indians rated their happiness at 2.9.
However, you may be surprised to learn that people living in Kolkata slums, just a step above being homeless, rated their happiness at 4.6. Not only that, the Inuit people of northern Greenland, who have a very hard life in the Arctic, rated themselves at 5.8. And the Masai, who are cattle herders in Kenya and live without running water, flushing toilets, or electricity, rated their happiness at 5.7. Both the Inuit and the Masai gave themselves the same rating as American millionaires.
Many happiness studies from around the world contradict the idea that money can buy happiness. Take the United States, for example. The gross domestic product (GDP) per person in the US has tripled since World War II. Have Americans become happier? No. In fact, the sense of happiness has not changed much at all. The same thing is true of Japan and of Western Europe. Prosperity has increased dramatically while happiness levels have hardly changed.
The conclusion of many happiness studies is that economic factors do not seem to predict happiness. Even though people in the developed world have grown richer in recent decades, they seem to be no happier. In fact, they seem to feel even more depression and distrust.
Paul Piff’s research suggests that money makes you mean. But many people seem to believe that money can buy happiness. What do you think: Can money buy happiness?
Since happiness is highly personal, the final answer to this old question may never be found. Recent research provides a tentative answer: Yes, money can buy happiness, but only up to the point where it lifts you out of extreme poverty.
People all over the world were asked in a survey to rate their sense of happiness from 1 to 7. One meant “not at all happy” and 7 meant “completely happy.” You will not be surprised to learn that on average millionaires gave their lives a score of 5.8. And you will not be surprised that homeless Indians rated their happiness at 2.9.
However, you may be surprised to learn that people living in Kolkata slums, just a step above being homeless, rated their happiness at 4.6. Not only that, the Inuit people of northern Greenland, who have a very hard life in the Arctic, rated themselves at 5.8. And the Masai, who are cattle herders in Kenya and live without running water, flushing toilets, or electricity, rated their happiness at 5.7. Both the Inuit and the Masai gave themselves the same rating as American millionaires.
Many happiness studies from around the world contradict the idea that money can buy happiness. Take the United States, for example. The gross domestic product (GDP) per person in the US has tripled since World War II. Have Americans become happier? No. In fact, the sense of happiness has not changed much at all. The same thing is true of Japan and of Western Europe. Prosperity has increased dramatically while happiness levels have hardly changed.
The conclusion of many happiness studies is that economic factors do not seem to predict happiness. Even though people in the developed world have grown richer in recent decades, they seem to be no happier. In fact, they seem to feel even more depression and distrust.