A couple of writers, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, desperate for a topic latched onto money and happiness. How much income does it take to make a family happy, they wondered.
Using data collected from almost half a million Americans by Gallup, they discovered that most of us think $75,000 a year meets our basic needs and money earned above that number doesn’t produce proportionately more happiness.
The Gallup conclusion was seconded by research done at Princeton University. Scholars there found that higher household incomes were associated with better moods on a daily basis — but that the “beneficial effects of money tapered off entirely after the $75,000 mark.”
Armed with those results, Dunn and Norton did some of their own prospecting. A sample of Americans told them they thought their “life satisfaction would double” if they earned $55,000 instead of $25,000. But further questioning found that those earning the higher figure were only 9 percent more satisfied than those earning $25,000.
Additional research brought them to the conclusion that “buying more and buying for ourselves are ineffective at turning money into happiness.
“A decade of research has demonstrated that if you insist on spending money on yourself, you should shift from buying stuff (TVs and cars) to experiences (trips and special evenings out.)
“Our own recent research shows that in addition to buying more experiences, you’re better served in many cases by simply buying less — and buying for others.”
The pair go ahead to demonstrate that most of us get as much pleasure from sharing as we do from accumulating and conclude that how money is spent makes as much difference to happiness levels as does the amount spent.
DUNN AND NORTON won space for their article because it is an old story that bears frequent retelling. Yes, money buys happiness — but only until basic needs are met. From that point forward, happiness happens mostly as a byproduct of useful and compassionate living.
The ancients knew this truth. Greek, Chinese and Egyptian philosophers and story-tellers all had their versions of men and women brought low by greed and self-love — and made happy and admirable by selfless service to others.
But, like all basic truths about human behavior, the scripture must be preached often and earnestly because self-love, lust and greed are every bit as destructive — and every bit as much a part of most of us — today as they were in the days of King Midas and King David.
Heed the old wisdom and find serenity.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
N.B. Elizabeth Dunn is an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Michael Norton is an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. They are authors of the forthcoming book “Happy Money: The Science of Spending.” The article quoted above appeared in the Sunday New York Times.
