Plato once said, "The constant goal of all human activity is happiness." "Not only is everyone struggling to find happiness, but happiness has always been a hot topic in psychological research.
Perhaps the most heated question in the discussion of happiness is: "Can money be exchanged for happiness?" ”
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Some people feel that it is okay, thinking that poverty is the biggest problem; Some people also feel that happiness is not measured by money, and that two sleeves can also be happy.
Perhaps everyone can give their own subjective answer to this, and Zhang Junsen's team from the School of Economics of Zhejiang University gave their answer with an empirical study: Yes! But such happiness is short-lived.
01
The higher the income
The greater the sense of happiness
The study, published on June 12 in the authoritative journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), solved a difficult problem in the study of happiness: how to rule out the influence of genetic factors on happiness?
The contribution rate of genetic factors to happiness is about 30%~50%, that is, 30%~50% of the ability to perceive happiness is innate, and some people are born with easy feelings of happiness, while some people are not. If genetic factors are not excluded, it is difficult to judge whether the source of the difference in happiness is due to natural contentment or some external factors.
In the study, researchers collaborated with the National Bureau of Statistics to collect happiness and income data on 750 pairs of identical twins (1,500) and 456 pairs of fraternal twins (912) in five Chinese cities in 2002. For comparison, the researchers also included non-twin families from the same 5 cities as a control group.
Using data on twins, especially identical twins, can almost completely rule out the influence of genetic factors, because identical twins are genetically identical, while fraternal twins have 50% genetic similarity.
The researchers used "Are you happy?" And "What was your total income last month?" These two survey questions serve as the primary measure of happiness and income.
The average happiness index of all respondents was about 3.48 points, between "often feeling happy (4 points)" and "sometimes feeling happy (3 points)", and the subjective happiness distribution is as follows:
Mapping: ACC psychological science, data source: reference [1]
Among all the twins, the average monthly income is 912 yuan, and the happiness of twins with different monthly incomes is shown in the figure below:
Mapping: ACC psychological science, data source: reference [1]
As can be seen from the figure above, as the monthly income increases, the proportion of "often feeling happy" gradually increases, and the proportion of "rarely feels happy" and "never feels happy" gradually decreases.
The researchers further found a positive correlation between happiness and monthly income in the form of a scatter plot, that is, the higher the monthly income, the stronger the happiness, and on average, doubling the income can lead to a 0.26-point increase in quartered happiness.
Image source: References[1]
02
Money can buy happiness
Is it the same for everyone?
First, the extent to which income improves 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, probably because middle-aged people have the heaviest family and financial burden, and a decent income is especially important for maintaining daily life and happiness. This shows that the greater a person's financial pressure, the higher the happiness that income can bring.
Second, income levels have different effects on men's and women's well-being: men's income has a large and significant effect on their well-being, while women's income has a small and insignificant effect.
Researchers believe this is due to the fact that 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 and happiness may be more associated than income.
03
Is "making money" the "only solution" to happiness?
American psychologist Daniel Kahneman, published an article in the academic journal Science in 2006 titled "If You Were Richer, Would You Be Happier?" A Focus Illusion" study shows that high-income people do have higher "overall life satisfaction", but "current happiness" is not higher than low-income people, and even feel more stressed and nervous.
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Note that "overall life satisfaction" is about "reviewing the level of happiness in the most recent days", while "happiness in the moment" refers to "happiness in real time" or "happiness in each time period of yesterday's day", which is a more realistic reflection of an individual's happiness. For example, psychologist Easterling found that Japanese people had a fivefold increase in overall income between 1958 and 1987, but there was no corresponding increase in individual happiness.
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, which is like changing from the day of eating steamed buns every day to the day of eating meat every day, although it will be very happy at first, but eating too much meat will also be greasy. Therefore, even if income increases and material life improves, it is unlikely that income will increase all the time, and the happiness it brings will gradually be forgotten.
Second, people often regard income as a criterion for judging personal achievement, and when income increases, it will naturally be regarded as a personal achievement, which will lead to an increase in life satisfaction, but the troubles of daily life will not necessarily dissipate.
Third, happiness depends on where people spend their time. People always think that when the income becomes higher, they can spend more time playing, but in most cases, the income has increased, but the work has also increased, the pressure has also increased, they are busier than before, there is no time to play, and the happiness does not rise but falls.
So, if you want your life to be happy, working hard to make money may be the solution, but it is not the only solution. Find a balance between life and work, balance some time, let yourself enjoy the beauty of life, experience more new things, happiness may be hidden in every moment of leisure and surprise.
Bibliography:
[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, D. S., & Abrevaya, J. (2013). Beauty is the promise of happiness?. European Economic Review, 64, 351-368.
[3] Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion.science, 312(5782), 1908-1910.
Author: ACC Psychological Science Popular Science Creator
Reviewed: Tang Yicheng, Deputy Director of Beijing Center for Psychological and Mental Health Promotion of Science Popularization