Does Money Buy Happiness?

Can money buy happiness? Ed Diener, a psychologist from the University of Illinois says scientists haven`t found any link between money and happiness and that such a conception is simply a myth. He says the connection is complex but in general richer people are far more content with their life then very poor individuals.

Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, England says: "There is overwhelming evidence that money buys happiness," adding that the main debate is how strong the correlation is. Daniel Kahneman, an economist and laureate of the Nobel Prize for Economics of Princeton University, has said, together with his colleges, that the notion that great financial gain creates a general good mood is mostly an illusion. In a study they conducted they stated that people with an annual income of over $90,000 have a slightly higher inclination to describe themselves as "very happy" as apposed to people with an annual income of between $50,000 and $90,000, 43% as apposed to 42%. On the other hand, people with an annual income of over $90,000 a year were twice as inclined to define themselves as "very happy" than people who earned less than $20,000 a year. It was also found that people who earn over $150,000 a year are substantially happier than people who earn less then $40,00 a year, but the reason for this correlation is not clear.

So does money make people happier? Or are happier people better equipped to earn more money? Or maybe a third factor contributed both to larger incomes and happiness? Richard Lucas, a psychologist at the Michigan State University said there is evidence to support all three propositions and in any case, the type of relationship a person is in has a much stronger effect on a persons happiness than his income level.

                                 

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