The common belief that people who make more money are happier is mostly an illusion, according to a study appearing in the June 30 issue of the journal Science.
“People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities,” the study led by two Princeton University professors found. “Moreover, the effect of income on life satisfaction seems to be transient.”
Researchers examined data gleaned from a 2004 study and a 2005 study of workingwomen in Texas and Ohio and discovered that higher income played a relatively small role in people’s daily happiness. They limited the studies to women because they wanted to use a homogeneous group, a Princeton news release said.
“We argue that people exaggerate the contribution of income to happiness because they focus, in part, on conventional achievements when evaluating their life or the lives of others,” researchers wrote.
Women were asked to report the percentage of time they spent in a bad mood the previous day and to predict how much time people with certain income levels spend in a bad mood. The respondents expected women who earned less than $20,000 a year to spend 32 percent more of their time in a bad mood than they expected people who earned more than $100,000 a year to spend in a bad mood.
“In actuality, respondents who earned less than $20,000 a year reported spending only 12 percent more of their time in a bad mood than those who earned more than $100,000,” the study found, according to the news release.
The study also incorporated results from a nationwide Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, which said people with higher incomes devote more of their time to work, shopping, child care and other obligatory activities. People with higher incomes were found to spend less time on activities such as socializing or watching television, which are often deemed more leisurely.
Money does not play a significant role in day-to-day happiness, Alan Krueger, a professor of economics at Princeton and an author of the study, told The Washington Post. Though money can purchase possessions, it does not usually abolish the basic struggles common to people today — concerns about children, relationships and jobs. (BP)
Share with others: