With More Money One Can Be Happier?

By Author: Jacob Gan
Total Articles: 5
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Can money in particular and wealth in general, bring happiness happiness? This is a question that must have been debated since the earliest civilization.

In this article, we shall not try to talk about such a wide ranging question. Instead, the focus will be on discussing the question of whether people who have more money are happier than those with less money.

In many societies, a continuing belief is that money can bring happiness and fulfillment. According to the paper The funds, friends, and faith of happy people, by D Myers in American Psychologist (2000), when people were asked what they believe they need to have in order to be happy, one of the most widespread answers is �more money�.

Why do people believe that having more money will bring happiness? Here are three of the common explanations:

1. Having more money allows one to realize more of the sought after things such as more spacious and finer cars and houses, going for more holidays and to exotic places, or to indulge oneself with luxuries.

2. Having more money allows oneself and one�s family to better ...
... weather through unexpected serious illnesses and disasters.

3. Having more money allows one to be able to perform more good for others who are less fortunate.

We can attribute the first explanation to the fact consumerism.

In a consumerist society, economists hold the view that consumption can stimulate a nation�s economic growth. Equipped with this blessing from the authorities, sellers unashamedly promote lavish and unnecessary consumption. Being able to have the means of living a life of luxury is seen to a status symbol of success, of having accomplished the desired goal. There is therefore the compelling need to keep up with the Joneses.

In a non-consumerist society such as Bhutan which is a very poor nation in the Himalayas, instead of promoting gross national product, the kingdom promotes gross national happiness. The outcome is that people seem to be happy despite the fact that they are actually very poor.

We can attribute the second explanation to the fear of not having the necessary amount of money to survive the unforeseen financially draining events that may occur.

In a communist nation, the basic needs of the people are taken care of by the nation. In a socialist nation, the basic needs are also well provided for all, whether they really need them or not. In order to counter communist and socialist influence, a capitalist government had also implemented systems where welfare of the so-called needy is well provided for. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economies of the Eastern Block nations, big strains on the resources on many socialist nations due to welfare systems, as well as the disappearance of the life-long employment system in almost all nations, a greater need for self-reliance becomes inevitable.

The third explanation can be viewed as a natural desire for people to want to contribute to the less fortunate. While this altruistic practice does not provide any material benefits to the givers, does provide the givers with non-tangible benefits.

The fact that two of the richest men on Earth are able to provide very large sums of money for the benefits of others seems to reinforce this explanation. The point that these two men give away their money in the same way as they make the money seems to be left unappreciated. Bill Gates continues to work very hard in giving away the money. On the other hand, Warren Buffet had also studied Bill Gates� giving and trust his money with Bill Gates to give away money for him. In another word, they work as hard in giving away their wealth as they accumulate them.

What lesson can we learn from the above discussion? The three reasons why folks think that money can bring them happiness do not seem to be very convincing. Indeed, researchers have found poor relationship between money and happiness. In fact, sometimes negative relationship is found instead.

Here are some interesting findings:

1. D Meyers in his paper The funds, friends and faith of happy people published in American Psychologist (2000) found that although per capital GNP in the USA was more than double that of Ireland, there was so significant difference in happiness. This seems to suggest that folks in a wealthy country may not be happier than those in a less wealthy country.

2. Diener and co-researchers published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1995) that although there is a strong relationship between income and contentment when income is low, the relationship becomes insignificant when the income rises. This seems to indicate that after the income is sufficient to provide for the basic needs, higher income does not seem to add happiness to any appreciable extent.

3. Kasser and Ryan published the paper A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a life aspiration in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1993), that the more a person considers money as important, the less contented he will be when he gets it. This seems to suggest that when one considers money as important, he is less likely to be happier when he gains the money.