They say that happiness is not in money. But scientists are in no hurry to agree with this statement and conduct serious long-term studies to check whether this is actually true. If it is true, then what makes us truly happy?
According to a joint study by experts from the Scottish University of Stirling, as well as the University of Manchester and the University of Nottingham, an increase in income does not make most people happier. However, losing money is much more important, as it makes you feel unhappy — however, this applies to a certain type of people.
Lead researcher Christopher Boyce says: «It is often assumed that as income increases, so does our satisfaction with life, but we have found that this is not the case.»
More than 18 people took part in the study and were followed for more than nine years. The researchers found that regardless of personality types, increasing earnings did not increase life satisfaction. This indicator — naturally, in a negative way — was affected only by the loss of money.
Boyes is sure: “For most people living in economically developed countries, ever-increasing incomes are not an important factor in increasing well-being and happiness. Instead, we should strive for financial stability in order to help and protect those who are in difficult financial situations — this will make us happier.1.
Satisfaction with life depends on how we are perceived by the «local community»
This is not the first study on the relationship between income and happiness. For example, in 2012, the journal Psychological Science published evidence that a person’s well-being does not depend on the state of his bank account, but on the respect and admiration that he inspires in other people.2.
Author and lead author Cameron Anderson of the University of California at Berkeley explains: “We are interested in this issue because there is a lot of evidence that high socioeconomic status — high salary or a lot of wealth, good education — does not in any way affect the growth of well-being and life satisfaction. But at the same time, many are still convinced that high status is the key to happiness.”
To test this claim, they collected data on 80 college students: income level, social status (according to their peers and themselves), social activity level, and happiness level. Happier were not those students who are richer, but those who had a better “social position”.
This is the so-called «local ladder effect», that is, the dependence of life satisfaction on how we are perceived by the «local community». The researchers tested this assumption three times in different ways and each time came to the same conclusion.
People quickly get used to a new level of income or wealth
The participants in another study were MBA students who were followed during the academic year. The results again confirmed that it is not money that brings happiness, but the respect of others — like a sports team, neighbors or friends.
Cameron Anderson commented: “I was surprised how interconnected it was: even for nine months, it was obvious how the level of happiness changed in one direction or another, depending on whether a person went up or down on the local “social ladder”.
The head of the study suggested why money does not affect life satisfaction as it seems: “One of the reasons why money does not bring happiness is that people quickly get used to a new level of income or wealth. For example, lottery winners feel happy at first, but they soon return to normal levels of happiness.”
Why is social status so important for happiness? According to Anderson, our well-being depends on the opportunity to be respected, influential, included in the life of society, because this is what is always relevant and valuable.
1 psp.sagepub.com/content/42/4/471
2 pss.sagepub.com/content/23/7/764