Can money really buy happiness? Scientists' research is shocking

Plato once said: "The constant goal of all human activities is happiness." Not only is everyone struggling to pursue happiness, but happiness has also always been a hot topic in psychological research.

Perhaps the most heated question in the discussion about happiness is: " Can money buy happiness? "

Copyright images in the gallery. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes.

Some people think it is possible, believing that being poor is the biggest worry; others think that happiness is not measured by money, and that one can be happy even if one is penniless.

Perhaps everyone can give their own subjective answer to this question, but Zhang Junsen's team from the School of Economics at Zhejiang University gave their answer in an empirical study: Yes! But such happiness is short-lived .

01

The higher the income, the happier you are

This study was published in the authoritative journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on June 12 this year. The researchers solved a difficult problem in happiness research: how to eliminate the influence of genetic factors on happiness?

Genetic factors contribute about 30% to 50% to happiness , which means that 30% to 50% of the ability to feel happiness is innate. Some people are born to feel happy, while others are not. If we do not rule out genetic factors, it is difficult for us to determine whether the difference in happiness is due to innate contentment or the influence of some external factors.

In this study, researchers worked with the National Bureau of Statistics to collect happiness and income data from 750 pairs of identical twins (1,500 people) and 456 pairs of fraternal twins (912 people) in five cities in China in 2002. For comparison, the researchers also included non-twin families in the same five cities as a control group.

Using data from twins, especially identical twins, can almost completely eliminate the influence of genetic factors, because identical twins are almost genetically identical, while fraternal twins have a 50% genetic similarity.

The researchers used two survey questions, "Are you happy?" and "What was your total income last month?", as the main measures of happiness and income.

The average happiness index of all respondents was about 3.48 points, which was between "often feeling happy (4 points)" and "sometimes feeling happy (3 points)". The distribution of subjective happiness was as follows:

Mapping: ACC Psychology Popular Science, Data Source: Reference [1]

Among all the twins, the average monthly income is 912 yuan. The happiness of twins with different monthly incomes is shown in the following figure:

It should be noted that the data of "average monthly income of 912 yuan" was collected in 2002. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in 2002 was 7,703 yuan, with an average monthly income of about 642 yuan. The data of rural residents was about 206 yuan per month. In contrast, the average monthly income of 912 yuan per person for twins is not low. Map: ACC Psychology Popular Science, Data Source: Reference [1]

As can be seen from the above figure, as monthly income increases, the proportion of people who “often feel happy” gradually increases, and the proportion of people who “rarely feel happy” and “never feel happy” gradually decreases.

The researchers further found in the form of a scatter plot that happiness is indeed positively correlated with monthly income, that is, the higher the monthly income, the stronger the happiness . On average, doubling the income can lead to an increase of 0.26 points in happiness on a four-point scale.

Image source: Reference [1]

02

Does money buy happiness for everyone?

First, the extent to which income can improve happiness is closely related to age .

In this study, it was found that income has the greatest impact on the happiness of middle-aged people . This may be because middle-aged people have the heaviest family and economic burdens, and a decent income is particularly important for maintaining daily life and happiness. This shows that the greater the economic pressure on a person, the higher the happiness that income can bring .

Secondly, the impact of income level on the happiness of men and women is also different: the effect of men's income on their happiness is large and significant, while the effect of women's income is small and insignificant .

Researchers believe that this is because men and women generally play different roles in Chinese society, with men often taking on more economic responsibilities and women taking on more family responsibilities. Another foreign study also showed that for women, appearance may have a greater correlation with happiness than income.

03

Is “making money” the “only solution” to happiness?

In 2006, American psychologist Daniel Kahneman published a study in the academic journal Science titled "Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion". The study showed that high-income people do have higher "overall life satisfaction", but their "current happiness" is no higher than that of low-income people, and they may even feel more stressed and nervous .

Copyright images in the gallery. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes.

Note that "overall life satisfaction" is about "how happy you feel in the recent past", while "current happiness" refers to "real-time happiness" or "how happy you feel at each time period of yesterday", which can better reflect an individual's happiness. For example, psychologist Easterlin found that the overall income of the Japanese increased fivefold between 1958 and 1987, but individual happiness did not increase accordingly.

Kahneman gave several explanations for this:

First, the effect of income on happiness is short-lived , because people will quickly get used to the happiness brought by material things, just like changing from eating steamed buns every day to eating meat every day. Although you will be happy at first, you will get tired of eating too much meat. Therefore, even if income increases and material life becomes better, it is unlikely that income will continue to grow, and the happiness it brings will gradually be forgotten by people.

Second, people often use income as a criterion for judging personal achievement . When income increases, they will naturally regard it as a personal achievement, which will lead to an increase in life satisfaction. However, the troubles in daily life will not necessarily disappear as a result.

Third, the level of happiness depends on where people spend their time . People always think that if their income increases, they can spend more time playing, but in reality, most of the time, their income increases, but they also have more work and more pressure. They are busier than before and have no time to play, so their happiness decreases instead of increasing.

So, if you want your life to be happy, working hard to make money may be a solution, but it is by no means the only solution. Find a balance between life and work , take some time to enjoy the beauty of life, and experience more new things. Happiness may be hidden in every moment of leisure and surprise.

References:

[1] Ye, M., Zhang, J., &Li, H. (2023). Twins, income, and happiness: Evidence from China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(25), e2221884120.

[2] Hamermesh, DS, &Abrevaya, J. (2013). Beauty is the promise of happiness?. European Economic Review, 64, 351-368.

[3] Kahneman, D., Krueger, AB, Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, AA (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion.science, 312(5782), 1908-1910.

Author: ACC Psychology Popular Science Creator

Reviewer: Tang Yicheng, Deputy Director of Beijing Zhongke Popular Psychological Health Promotion Center

Planning editor: Ding Zong

Editor-in-charge: Cui Yinghao