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Money and HappinessPrev TopicNext Topic
If YOU win the lottery, will the money buy you happiness?
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100The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee
United States
Member #73,902
April 28, 2009
15,378 Posts
OfflineMash down here to enlarge
Now you have to admit, that is one nice turban! And it's available! -
hot women, all the lexus cars, travel the world, none of that 9 to 5 bullcrap lol. This is what i think about when i play powerball/mega.. so yeah
$$
FOR THE WIN!
-
I still play lottery every week, almost every day, but with the years, more the time goes by, more I don't expect to win. Playing for me, it's more a habit than expecting TO WIN SOMETHING. it's more like a cigarettes addiction than drugs addiction if one can compare. I don't like the Casino and scratch off tickets, I never play them. I really hate casinos. it's not about happiness, it's if I win, I win, if I don't too bad , but it won't change anything. 3 times in my life I missed the Jackpot off a Number, I thought to myself, what would have happen to me if I had won. If my Pencil had pick the next number. 2 times , I would have been to young according to me. the first time I would have probably spend everything with nice girls and scrapped some new cars for fun. The second time I would have probably stay with a girl that did not desserve to be with me at that time, and the Third time I would not have met my wife which is a very good person. I don't have any regrets to have missed the Jackpot three time, So I can say It's a bad luck for a good luck. I am still happy with my life
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Quote: Originally posted by Set4life on Aug 25, 2011
hot women, all the lexus cars, travel the world, none of that 9 to 5 bullcrap lol. This is what i think about when i play powerball/mega.. so yeah
Well, according to some here, you'd get bored with all those sexy women, hot cars, travel, and no 9-5 job. Eventually you'll be so unhappy, you'll go back to your slave job and just have to put up with mediocre women who are middle aged, wrinkled, and rotting teeth, drive your Yugo, no vaction travels, and punch a clock at work with your miserable boss. Why?....because we all know money won't make us happy, and we'd give away all our fortune and return to a life of misery because that's what really makes us happy right?....Yeah, I like working for a living like a slave.....That makes me soooooooooooooooooo happy, even now I'm doing back flips in between writing this.....
And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell, real cheap...Looney Tunes folks, looney tunes....
But not to fret, there's still many pages to go in this thread with folks that will come here and play mother theresa. They'll throw corny cliches around like ......What really makes me happy is the fuzzy feeling I get when I'm with family. That's what happiness is allllllllllll about...........or......helping a kitten get down from a tree...I get a warm cuddly tingle down my spine....that's what happiness is allllllllll about.....who needs tons of money, it's what;s inside of you that will make you happy,,,,,,,cozy, fuzzy, tingly and goose bump feelingsss....yeah that's the ticket........................................................................................................................
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100The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee
United States
Member #73,902
April 28, 2009
15,378 Posts
OfflineUh-oh, sounds like someone needs a hug.
I think some positive reinforcement through daily affirmations might help though.
Try this one:
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"
Just keep repeating that while sitting in your favorite chair and looking longingly at yourself in a mirror.
-
Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Aug 25, 2011
Uh-oh, sounds like someone needs a hug.
I think some positive reinforcement through daily affirmations might help though.
Try this one:
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"
Just keep repeating that while sitting in your favorite chair and looking longingly at yourself in a mirror.
You're right, I do need a hug by about ten 20 year old hotties using 100 dollar bills to fan me in my 20 million dollar mansion......
A already tried your suggestion in front of a mirror, but then I realized it was a two way mirror...
-
Zeta Reticuli Star System
United States
Member #30,469
January 17, 2006
11,788 Posts
OfflineReceived this today in an e-mail from Bottom Line's Daily Wealth. It fits this discussion like a glove:
Money and Happiness: It’s Not About the Bling
You know how people are always saying that money can’t buy happiness? It turns out they’re wrong!
I’ve recently seen not one but two studies that reveal some important findings on what cash can deliver in terms of quality of life. It’s a compelling topic these days -- not least of all because the economy is forcing lots of us to confront the question of what we really need in order to have a good life.
The Price of Happiness
First comes a report from Princeton University published late last year in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using data involving 450,000 Americans from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the researchers analyzed the relationship between household income and each respondent’s self-reported emotional state (what the researchers call "day-to-day happiness") as well as their overall feelings about their well-being and "satisfaction" with life.
Happiness has a price tag: The researchers learned that happiness climbed right along with income up to about $75,000 per year, after which more income didn’t predictably buy more happiness. But -- here’s the interesting point -- satisfaction with life overall did continue to rise right along with income beyond $75,000 per year. People who earned more... and more... felt that much better about the quality of their lives.
It’s About Choices...
And now we’ve just seen a second study on happiness, a meta-analysis (a study of other studies), that is quite remarkable. Social scientists from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand were looking to learn whether having money or having choices in life ("autonomy") is more important for well-being. They examined data from a huge sample (420,599 individuals from 63 countries spanning more than 30 years) -- some of these people were wealthy, some poor... some living in capitalist societies, some socialist... some in developed nations and others in countries that can still be classified as "third-world."
Result: Regardless of where respondents lived, they tended to report greater well-being if they felt that they had autonomy. And if money bought the ability to make more and better choices -- as it does here in the US, for instance -- it did indeed buy happiness. In situations where money did not correlate with autonomy -- you guessed it -- no correlation with happiness or a better life.
What’s New?
I put in a call to James Maddux, PhD, a psychology professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and asked for his help in putting this information into context. He told me that the real surprise is in the second study, that showed that across cultures, happiness depended upon having autonomy... no matter what their background, humans want to have the chance at independent accomplishment.
Dr. Maddux explained that "in broad strokes, previous research has demonstrated that in Western cultures, like those in the US, Canada and Europe, autonomy and individualism correlated with happiness, but not so in traditional Eastern cultures (such as Japan, China and India), where identity is collectivist, rooted less in personal identity than in what the group -- your family, your community, your employer -- has accomplished."
Beyond that, said Dr. Maddux, the body of research studying the link between income and satisfaction with life has yielded some wisdom that is generalizable (and, frankly, familiar) to most people trying to find the correct balance between money and satisfaction in life...
There’s nothing magic about $75,000. The real point of that study, Dr. Maddux explained, is that it reinforces that being poor is no picnic. "It is important to have enough income to meet your basic needs," he said. Cost of living varies greatly depending on many variables -- where you live, how you are accustomed to living, whether you live alone or with a spouse or family, etc., so $75,000 represented a kind of a rough marker in the study.
After your needs are met, money counts for less. Once you’ve reached the point where you are comfortably able to pay your bills, earning more will make you happier... just not as much as you might guess. Dr. Maddux said that "additional income buys additional happiness to a point... then a bit more money buys a bit more happiness... and so on... but for everyone, there comes a point when extra money isn’t really going to add anything to your life at all."
Personal development matters. Using money to expand your knowledge and understanding (for instance, putting your dollars toward travel, education, the pursuit of special interests or donating money to philanthropy) increases happiness, Dr. Maddux noted.
Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry -- with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."
Personally, I am not surprised by these findings -- they are entirely consistent with what I believe about every aspect of life. Having the opportunity to function as an individual, free to work hard and to be rewarded for it -- emotionally and financially -- leads to great satisfaction. There is no better feeling than the feeling of accomplishment.
Source(s):
James Maddux, PhD, professor of psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.
There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
-
100The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee
United States
Member #73,902
April 28, 2009
15,378 Posts
OfflineQuote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Aug 27, 2011
Received this today in an e-mail from Bottom Line's Daily Wealth. It fits this discussion like a glove:
Money and Happiness: It’s Not About the Bling
You know how people are always saying that money can’t buy happiness? It turns out they’re wrong!
I’ve recently seen not one but two studies that reveal some important findings on what cash can deliver in terms of quality of life. It’s a compelling topic these days -- not least of all because the economy is forcing lots of us to confront the question of what we really need in order to have a good life.
The Price of Happiness
First comes a report from Princeton University published late last year in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using data involving 450,000 Americans from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the researchers analyzed the relationship between household income and each respondent’s self-reported emotional state (what the researchers call "day-to-day happiness") as well as their overall feelings about their well-being and "satisfaction" with life.
Happiness has a price tag: The researchers learned that happiness climbed right along with income up to about $75,000 per year, after which more income didn’t predictably buy more happiness. But -- here’s the interesting point -- satisfaction with life overall did continue to rise right along with income beyond $75,000 per year. People who earned more... and more... felt that much better about the quality of their lives.
It’s About Choices...
And now we’ve just seen a second study on happiness, a meta-analysis (a study of other studies), that is quite remarkable. Social scientists from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand were looking to learn whether having money or having choices in life ("autonomy") is more important for well-being. They examined data from a huge sample (420,599 individuals from 63 countries spanning more than 30 years) -- some of these people were wealthy, some poor... some living in capitalist societies, some socialist... some in developed nations and others in countries that can still be classified as "third-world."
Result: Regardless of where respondents lived, they tended to report greater well-being if they felt that they had autonomy. And if money bought the ability to make more and better choices -- as it does here in the US, for instance -- it did indeed buy happiness. In situations where money did not correlate with autonomy -- you guessed it -- no correlation with happiness or a better life.
What’s New?
I put in a call to James Maddux, PhD, a psychology professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and asked for his help in putting this information into context. He told me that the real surprise is in the second study, that showed that across cultures, happiness depended upon having autonomy... no matter what their background, humans want to have the chance at independent accomplishment.
Dr. Maddux explained that "in broad strokes, previous research has demonstrated that in Western cultures, like those in the US, Canada and Europe, autonomy and individualism correlated with happiness, but not so in traditional Eastern cultures (such as Japan, China and India), where identity is collectivist, rooted less in personal identity than in what the group -- your family, your community, your employer -- has accomplished."
Beyond that, said Dr. Maddux, the body of research studying the link between income and satisfaction with life has yielded some wisdom that is generalizable (and, frankly, familiar) to most people trying to find the correct balance between money and satisfaction in life...
There’s nothing magic about $75,000. The real point of that study, Dr. Maddux explained, is that it reinforces that being poor is no picnic. "It is important to have enough income to meet your basic needs," he said. Cost of living varies greatly depending on many variables -- where you live, how you are accustomed to living, whether you live alone or with a spouse or family, etc., so $75,000 represented a kind of a rough marker in the study.
After your needs are met, money counts for less. Once you’ve reached the point where you are comfortably able to pay your bills, earning more will make you happier... just not as much as you might guess. Dr. Maddux said that "additional income buys additional happiness to a point... then a bit more money buys a bit more happiness... and so on... but for everyone, there comes a point when extra money isn’t really going to add anything to your life at all."
Personal development matters. Using money to expand your knowledge and understanding (for instance, putting your dollars toward travel, education, the pursuit of special interests or donating money to philanthropy) increases happiness, Dr. Maddux noted.
Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry -- with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."
Personally, I am not surprised by these findings -- they are entirely consistent with what I believe about every aspect of life. Having the opportunity to function as an individual, free to work hard and to be rewarded for it -- emotionally and financially -- leads to great satisfaction. There is no better feeling than the feeling of accomplishment.
Source(s):
James Maddux, PhD, professor of psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry -- with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."That's exactly what I was trying to explain to joker.
But he said that's "corny".
And he knows everything.
That's why he's so wildly successfull.
-
Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Aug 27, 2011
Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry -- with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."That's exactly what I was trying to explain to joker.
But he said that's "corny".
And he knows everything.
That's why he's so wildly successfull.
Thanx Ridge, that's all I needed to see. So If I ever win the JP, I'll turn it down and give it all away to charity because Dr. Maddux said It would make me less happy. Thank God for Dr. Maddux....! Just Imagine the lifelong unhappiness I would've had to endure If Cointoss didn't post this.
Boy that was a close call. Thanx Coin and Ridge, you guys just saved me from a life of hell. I owe you guys big time....
How can I ever possibly repay you?.....
-
Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Aug 27, 2011
Received this today in an e-mail from Bottom Line's Daily Wealth. It fits this discussion like a glove:
Money and Happiness: It’s Not About the Bling
You know how people are always saying that money can’t buy happiness? It turns out they’re wrong!
I’ve recently seen not one but two studies that reveal some important findings on what cash can deliver in terms of quality of life. It’s a compelling topic these days -- not least of all because the economy is forcing lots of us to confront the question of what we really need in order to have a good life.
The Price of Happiness
First comes a report from Princeton University published late last year in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using data involving 450,000 Americans from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the researchers analyzed the relationship between household income and each respondent’s self-reported emotional state (what the researchers call "day-to-day happiness") as well as their overall feelings about their well-being and "satisfaction" with life.
Happiness has a price tag: The researchers learned that happiness climbed right along with income up to about $75,000 per year, after which more income didn’t predictably buy more happiness. But -- here’s the interesting point -- satisfaction with life overall did continue to rise right along with income beyond $75,000 per year. People who earned more... and more... felt that much better about the quality of their lives.
It’s About Choices...
And now we’ve just seen a second study on happiness, a meta-analysis (a study of other studies), that is quite remarkable. Social scientists from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand were looking to learn whether having money or having choices in life ("autonomy") is more important for well-being. They examined data from a huge sample (420,599 individuals from 63 countries spanning more than 30 years) -- some of these people were wealthy, some poor... some living in capitalist societies, some socialist... some in developed nations and others in countries that can still be classified as "third-world."
Result: Regardless of where respondents lived, they tended to report greater well-being if they felt that they had autonomy. And if money bought the ability to make more and better choices -- as it does here in the US, for instance -- it did indeed buy happiness. In situations where money did not correlate with autonomy -- you guessed it -- no correlation with happiness or a better life.
What’s New?
I put in a call to James Maddux, PhD, a psychology professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and asked for his help in putting this information into context. He told me that the real surprise is in the second study, that showed that across cultures, happiness depended upon having autonomy... no matter what their background, humans want to have the chance at independent accomplishment.
Dr. Maddux explained that "in broad strokes, previous research has demonstrated that in Western cultures, like those in the US, Canada and Europe, autonomy and individualism correlated with happiness, but not so in traditional Eastern cultures (such as Japan, China and India), where identity is collectivist, rooted less in personal identity than in what the group -- your family, your community, your employer -- has accomplished."
Beyond that, said Dr. Maddux, the body of research studying the link between income and satisfaction with life has yielded some wisdom that is generalizable (and, frankly, familiar) to most people trying to find the correct balance between money and satisfaction in life...
There’s nothing magic about $75,000. The real point of that study, Dr. Maddux explained, is that it reinforces that being poor is no picnic. "It is important to have enough income to meet your basic needs," he said. Cost of living varies greatly depending on many variables -- where you live, how you are accustomed to living, whether you live alone or with a spouse or family, etc., so $75,000 represented a kind of a rough marker in the study.
After your needs are met, money counts for less. Once you’ve reached the point where you are comfortably able to pay your bills, earning more will make you happier... just not as much as you might guess. Dr. Maddux said that "additional income buys additional happiness to a point... then a bit more money buys a bit more happiness... and so on... but for everyone, there comes a point when extra money isn’t really going to add anything to your life at all."
Personal development matters. Using money to expand your knowledge and understanding (for instance, putting your dollars toward travel, education, the pursuit of special interests or donating money to philanthropy) increases happiness, Dr. Maddux noted.
Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry -- with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."
Personally, I am not surprised by these findings -- they are entirely consistent with what I believe about every aspect of life. Having the opportunity to function as an individual, free to work hard and to be rewarded for it -- emotionally and financially -- leads to great satisfaction. There is no better feeling than the feeling of accomplishment.
Source(s):
James Maddux, PhD, professor of psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.Ok, so WHY then did we see all the GREED in Wall Street (and other places all over the world) the last few years that tanked our economy? People who were making 10's of millions needed to create ways (illegal & immoral) to make 100's of millions!!
This was also the basic premise of our government back when they 'eased' the regulations on Wall Street years ago 'Oh they would NEVER do anything that would jeopardize the firm they built and own' Yet we now know they didn't care about the firm they only cared about making BILLIONS instead of MILLONS.
What would really be interesting is to try this study on all the people from Wall Street and see what the data shows on them. I think it would show that their ONLY goal IS to make money and they will do that at almost any cost.
-
Hey folks, I just found this article on the net concerning people who are lottery enthusiasts and the reasons they visit lottery sites. Very Interesting read, It's by Dr. Oxie Muron.
Date: 8-26-2011
Edited by: Sum Ting Wong
A Panel made up of experts in the field of human interactions was ceated by Dr. Oxie Muron in early August of 2011, soley to conduct research in the mental develepment and social stucturing behaviors of lottery enthusiasts. The panel interviewed a total of 3,629 volunteers asking them a myriad of questions related to the lottery and associated issues. Based on the relevant data, it was also discovered that the main functions within the parameters of certain types of questions reflected what type of answer the respondent was giving regardless of the precentages outside the expected values that were originally envisioned by Dr. Muron and his asscociates.
Out of the many questions asked, one in particular raised eyebrows. The questions asked the participant the number one reason they liked to visit lottery sites. 98.6 percent of the respondents answered the expected typical response rate evaluated by Dr. Muron when the research was being created. Their answers were similar, but basically revolved around one attribute which was how they loved finding which systems were the most beneficial to them in winning a Jackpot. Of course there were other replies, but that was the main reason. But surprisingly, Dr. Oxie Muron saw a very small percent of respondents answer in a very peculiar fashion. They stated that their purpose was not to get information from the lottery sites, but to spend as much time telling the other members on the site how unhappy it would make them, had they reached their goal of financial independence in life via winning a large Jackpot. This upset Dr. Muron because he simply couldn't understand this skewed data. He couldn't understand why lottery enthusiasts would visit a site multiple times everyday to discourage folks who want to better their financial stance in life, thus making them a much happier person. It was a huge blow to his research mostly in part due to skewing the data. Moreover, he couldn't conceptualize why anyone would even bother visiting a lottery site in the first place when having such an anti-financial gain mindset. It made no sense whatsover to the Dr..
But despite the set back, Dr. Muron and his colleagues are satisfied by their results, and a will be publishing their skewed data in detail soon. Dr. Oxie Muron reiterated that he's fairly certain his study won't get too much negative critique. He mentioned that it was analogous to a Coin Toss, good/bad....
In his off time he likes to play tennis, golf, and run many miles in the Ridge's of the mountains near the Appalachians, Dr. Muron said. It's a tough workout running up and down them hills, but it's good for the cardio vascular system, said Dr.Muron jokingly.
Of Special Interest:
Dr. Oxie Muron is a Psycholigist who received his Masters degree in the "Know-it-all" University in Tennessee. He's also on the bored of directors dealing with pshycotic patients department miscommunations sector for 12 years.
-
Zeta Reticuli Star System
United States
Member #30,469
January 17, 2006
11,788 Posts
OfflineQuote: Originally posted by kapla on Aug 27, 2011
Ok, so WHY then did we see all the GREED in Wall Street (and other places all over the world) the last few years that tanked our economy? People who were making 10's of millions needed to create ways (illegal & immoral) to make 100's of millions!!
This was also the basic premise of our government back when they 'eased' the regulations on Wall Street years ago 'Oh they would NEVER do anything that would jeopardize the firm they built and own' Yet we now know they didn't care about the firm they only cared about making BILLIONS instead of MILLONS.
What would really be interesting is to try this study on all the people from Wall Street and see what the data shows on them. I think it would show that their ONLY goal IS to make money and they will do that at almost any cost.
kapla,
To some extremely wealthy people money is simply the way they "keep score".
And re: the OP, do you really think these Wall St. types are happy? Do you think not being able to get to sleep because your nieghbor's Rolls Royce Corniche is one day newer than yours is true happiness?
joker17,
Have you been writing for the Weekly World News? Dr. Oxie Muron and Sum Ting Wong? Are you Erik Von Datiken?
Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.
There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
-
Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Aug 27, 2011
Received this today in an e-mail from Bottom Line's Daily Wealth. It fits this discussion like a glove:
Money and Happiness: It’s Not About the Bling
You know how people are always saying that money can’t buy happiness? It turns out they’re wrong!
I’ve recently seen not one but two studies that reveal some important findings on what cash can deliver in terms of quality of life. It’s a compelling topic these days -- not least of all because the economy is forcing lots of us to confront the question of what we really need in order to have a good life.
The Price of Happiness
First comes a report from Princeton University published late last year in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using data involving 450,000 Americans from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the researchers analyzed the relationship between household income and each respondent’s self-reported emotional state (what the researchers call "day-to-day happiness") as well as their overall feelings about their well-being and "satisfaction" with life.
Happiness has a price tag: The researchers learned that happiness climbed right along with income up to about $75,000 per year, after which more income didn’t predictably buy more happiness. But -- here’s the interesting point -- satisfaction with life overall did continue to rise right along with income beyond $75,000 per year. People who earned more... and more... felt that much better about the quality of their lives.
It’s About Choices...
And now we’ve just seen a second study on happiness, a meta-analysis (a study of other studies), that is quite remarkable. Social scientists from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand were looking to learn whether having money or having choices in life ("autonomy") is more important for well-being. They examined data from a huge sample (420,599 individuals from 63 countries spanning more than 30 years) -- some of these people were wealthy, some poor... some living in capitalist societies, some socialist... some in developed nations and others in countries that can still be classified as "third-world."
Result: Regardless of where respondents lived, they tended to report greater well-being if they felt that they had autonomy. And if money bought the ability to make more and better choices -- as it does here in the US, for instance -- it did indeed buy happiness. In situations where money did not correlate with autonomy -- you guessed it -- no correlation with happiness or a better life.
What’s New?
I put in a call to James Maddux, PhD, a psychology professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and asked for his help in putting this information into context. He told me that the real surprise is in the second study, that showed that across cultures, happiness depended upon having autonomy... no matter what their background, humans want to have the chance at independent accomplishment.
Dr. Maddux explained that "in broad strokes, previous research has demonstrated that in Western cultures, like those in the US, Canada and Europe, autonomy and individualism correlated with happiness, but not so in traditional Eastern cultures (such as Japan, China and India), where identity is collectivist, rooted less in personal identity than in what the group -- your family, your community, your employer -- has accomplished."
Beyond that, said Dr. Maddux, the body of research studying the link between income and satisfaction with life has yielded some wisdom that is generalizable (and, frankly, familiar) to most people trying to find the correct balance between money and satisfaction in life...
There’s nothing magic about $75,000. The real point of that study, Dr. Maddux explained, is that it reinforces that being poor is no picnic. "It is important to have enough income to meet your basic needs," he said. Cost of living varies greatly depending on many variables -- where you live, how you are accustomed to living, whether you live alone or with a spouse or family, etc., so $75,000 represented a kind of a rough marker in the study.
After your needs are met, money counts for less. Once you’ve reached the point where you are comfortably able to pay your bills, earning more will make you happier... just not as much as you might guess. Dr. Maddux said that "additional income buys additional happiness to a point... then a bit more money buys a bit more happiness... and so on... but for everyone, there comes a point when extra money isn’t really going to add anything to your life at all."
Personal development matters. Using money to expand your knowledge and understanding (for instance, putting your dollars toward travel, education, the pursuit of special interests or donating money to philanthropy) increases happiness, Dr. Maddux noted.
Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry -- with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."
Personally, I am not surprised by these findings -- they are entirely consistent with what I believe about every aspect of life. Having the opportunity to function as an individual, free to work hard and to be rewarded for it -- emotionally and financially -- leads to great satisfaction. There is no better feeling than the feeling of accomplishment.
Source(s):
James Maddux, PhD, professor of psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.This is very interesting Coin Toss. Thanks for sharing it.
-
Egg Harbor twp.south Jersey shore
United States
Member #112,963
June 29, 2011
4,160 Posts
Offlineright now i'd be happy if a women named irene made a hard right turn.
been darker than usual most of the day.
losing the satelite signal more often as storm gets closer.
treetops shakeing more as rain comes down harder.
i think this is just the front edge.
can't get the weather channel or any right now,still have power thank the lord.
god help the ppl.south of me who just delt w/ a earthaquake and now this.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds -- Charles Mackay LL.D.
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"Possessions can make you less happy. In contrast, "the body of research suggests that
if you want additional money so you can buy stuff -- like cars, clothes and jewelry --
with the goal of impressing or keeping up with others, these pursuits will actually
diminish your happiness," Dr. Maddux said, adding that "research shows that the pursuit
of ’bling’ contributes to unhappiness because people probably are pursuing material
goods at the expense of self-development and relationships."I may be misunderstanding the paragraph, but I don't think that Dr. Maddux is saying
that money will make you less happy. I think what he's saying is that if the motivation for money
is to acquire things to keep up with the Jones' that it not only won't make you happy,
but it will make you unhappy because it's impossible to do. There will always be someone out there with something else, or something more. So if someone believes that pursuing material goods will be enough to complete themselves they will end-up very disillusioned, especially if it's done at the
expense of other things in life. Not because there's anything wrong with it but because it's not possible to do ... it will never be enough.