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Can
Money Buy Happiness?
Money boosts life satisfaction but not necessarily
positive feelings, study finds
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News
All
over the world, life satisfaction rises with income,
but income is not necessarily highly correlated with
positive feelings and enjoying yourself, new
research indicates.
An
analysis of findings from a study of 136,000 people
in 132 countries also suggests that there is no
single prescription for happiness, which depends on
many factors, including local culture and
expectations.
The
findings from the data, gathered in the first Gallup
World Poll, are published in the July issue of the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
“The
public always wonders: Does money make you happy?”
Ed Diener, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at
the University of Illinois and a senior scientist
with the Gallup Organization, says in a news
release. “This study shows that it all depends on
how you define happiness, because if you look at
life satisfaction, how you evaluate your life as a
whole, you see a pretty strong correlation around
the world between income and happiness.”
However, he says in a news release, “it’s pretty
shocking how small the correlation is with positive
feelings and enjoying yourself.”
Money, Happiness, and Satisfaction
The
pollsters asked people questions on a wide range of
topics, including whether their basic needs were
met, what kinds of conveniences they owned, and
whether their psychological needs were met.
Participants were also asked about positive and
negative emotions experienced the previous day,
whether they felt respected, had family and friends
they could count on in an emergency, and how free
they felt to choose their daily activities.
Diener says positive feelings are much more
associated with factors such as whether they feel
respected, have autonomy, and if their jobs are
fulfilling.
“Everybody has been looking at just life
satisfaction and income,” he says. “And while it is
true that getting richer will make you more
satisfied with your life, it may not have the big
impact we thought on enjoying life.”
Among findings:
The
United States had the highest income but ranked 16th
in life satisfaction and 26th on positive feelings.
Denmark ranks high across categories. The country
ranked No. 1 on life satisfaction, seventh on
positive feelings, and fifth in income.
Extremely impoverished countries in Africa generally
scored low on various categories, but no nation came
in lowest in all types of happiness.
Israel ranks high on life satisfaction (11th) but
much lower in positive feelings.
South Korea is a relatively wealthy country ranking
24th in income, but ranking 58th in positive
feelings.
Some
nations such as Costa Rica and New Zealand are
happier than their income levels would suggest.
Costa Rica ranks 41st in income but fourth in
positive feelings, while New Zealand ranks 22nd in
incomes but first in positive feelings.
Some
mid-level countries such as Costa Rica do well and
some like South Korea less well “in part because of
the quality of social relationships,” Diener says in
emailed responses to questions from WebMD.
Self-esteem is more important to happiness in the
U.S. than in “traditional” cultures.
Poverty Does Not Mean Unhappiness
Diener says Danes are happier mainly for two reasons
-- social trust is very high, and corruption is
considered low. Also, people in Denmark are more
satisfied with “their economic safety net” than
people in the U.S., Diener says.
Also, factors that influence feelings of well-being
vary from country to country, he says.
Diener says the study “clearly shows” that there is
no single prescription for happiness.
Money, he says, no more guarantees happiness than
cigarette smoking guarantees cancer, but they
increase the chances.
In
studies of poor people, researchers find that some
are happy, in part because their needs are met.
“We
have interviewed happy people in the slums of
Calcutta and they can be relatively happy, although
dissatisfied with their poverty, because they are
rich in family and friends,” he says.
Money makes a bigger difference to happiness among
poor people, but it takes a lot more additional
money to change the happiness of a person who is
well-off, Diener says.
Happiness by Country
Here
is a list of rankings of selected nations on types
of prosperity, out of 89:
|
Nation |
GDP/Capita |
Positive Feelings |
|
United
States |
1 |
26 |
|
Denmark |
5 |
7 |
|
Netherlands |
7 |
3 |
|
Japan
|
14 |
44 |
|
Italy |
18 |
67 |
|
Israel |
20 |
61 |
|
New Zealand |
22 |
1 |
|
South Korea |
24 |
58 |
|
South Africa |
35 |
29 |
|
Russia |
36 |
79 |
|
Mexico |
39 |
17 |
|
Costa Rica |
41 |
4 |
|
Indonesia |
59 |
24 |
|
India |
61 |
63 |
|
Ghana |
68 |
68 |
|
Nepal |
76 |
50 |
|
Sierra Leone |
87 |
87 |
|
Tanzania |
89 |
52 |
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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“it’s pretty shocking how small
the correlation is with positive feelings and
enjoying yourself.” |
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