By: Senthamil Stefi
This is a topic that has stumped humans, both explicitly and implicitly, since the concept of money emerged into society. Can money truly buy happiness? Is more really better?
Let’s first look at what money does to the nature of humans. Studies done by psychologist Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota and her collaborators have shown that the mere glimpse of money makes people less generous, less approachable, and quite egocentric. Furthermore, another study done by an international team of researchers led by Jordi Quoibach, a post-doc at Harvard University, found an astounding observation through studies conducted. Though wealth may give us an abundance of opportunities to purchase things, they found that it simultaneously impairs our ability to be able to enjoy those things. But how can that be explained? They argued that since those who have money can experience the best of life, their ability to enjoy the little pleasures of life is undermined. Continuing with this theory, Sonja Lyubomirsky of University of California, Riverside, stated that through her studies she found that having money in turn raises our aspirations about the expectation of happiness we have in our daily lives.
Basically, as our monetary sources increase, our expectations of what brings us happiness continues to proportionately or exponentially increase. So it seems as though it is a toxic cycle in which one constantly chases happiness but does not have the likelihood of ever coming close to it, better yet touch it. So this leads me to the conclusion that money builds the illusion of attaining happiness but doesn’t really bring it.
Recently, an interesting theory was brought up by University of British Columbia associate professor, Elizabeth Dunn and Harvard associate professor, Michael Norton. They suggested that to a large degree, joy is more so correlated to how you spend money and how much you spend. “One of the biggest mistakes we all make with our money is that we fail to use it in ways that maximize the amount of time we spend engaged in activities that make us happy.” Furthermore, through studies done in countries ranging from the United States to South Africa, Dunn and Norton found that spending money on others provides more happiness than spending money on yourself.
So the next time you find yourself staring at an expensive watch or a purse, think about whether or not that will truly bring you happiness. Instead, why don’t you buy a stranger a coffee? You just might be surprised on the level of happiness you would feel afterwards.
