Can money make you happier?
The debate on whether or not money buys you happiness has been going on for almost as long the commodity has been in circulation. On both sides of the argument; valuable points abound. Very few will argue that money definitely buys a certain amount of comfort and convenience; but is this the ultimate recipe for happiness?
Money, glorious money
During Michael Norton’s thought provoking speech during TEDx Cambridge; he put forward the idea that money can buy happiness: you just have to spend it right. He claimed that spending money on others actually made you happier. In an experiment, a group of subjects were given money to spend on themselves; another group was given money to spend on others. It was the findings of researchers that those who spent money on others recorded a higher level of happiness.
According to Business Insider writer, Eric Barker, spending money on others is just one of five ways money can make you happier. His list includes spending more on experiences rather than purchasing items; taking a break from spending every once in awhile so you truly enjoy the experience when you do; buying ‘time’ by paying to outsource work; and paying now to enjoy the experience later.
The writer says that in spending; having a ‘break’ from enjoyment and treats go a long way in ensuring that each experience is savoured. He also opines that spending on experiences leave more lasting feelings of euphoria as opposed to the short-lived one of purchasing a new item.
If these opinions are to be accepted; the key to happiness through money all depends on what you do with it. Others, however, beg to differ.
How money buys happiness according to Eric Barker.
Beyond the price tag
Tom Stafford, reporting for the BBC, claimed simply that: winning a big lottery won’t make you happy forever. He begins by explaining that the very problem lies with the fact that happiness is unquantifiable. You can ask someone to rate happiness on a scale of one to ten but it will be unlikely that the state of mind will be based on perceptions peppered by flawed memories and subjective processing of data and experiences to ever be accurately measurable.
He then goes on to quote a study conducted by Christopher Hsee of the Chicago Business School. In the study, Hsee conducted two experiments using two flavours of ice-cream as a reward for participants who completed a set amount of ‘tasks’. The study found that despite which ice-cream people preferred; when a point system was introduced into the equation – people automatically chose the higher point to work for as opposed to the flavour of ice-cream they preferred. Hsee claimed the study indicated that the measurable amount of points much like the measurable amount of money created a distraction for people who would’ve really preferred the lower level of points with a different flavour of ice-cream (which would in turn make them happier).
It sounds like a roundabout way to explain the concept but it is quite simple: we work for more money because it is quantifiable; not necessarily for more happiness which isn’t.
But does that really equate money not buying happiness or simply that it may distract us from pursuing what makes us happy?
Really at loggerheads?
Despite claiming two completely different ideas, it’s not hard to collapse the above viewpoints into what seems like a sure-fire way to maximise happiness through money: don’t let a price tag or the lure of money distract you from pursuing happiness and where possible, don’t spend the what you have on things.
Where do you stand: do you think money can buy happiness?
This was brought you by Diana Chai from RinggitPlus.com. RinggitPlus compares credit cards, debit cards, balance transfers and personal loans to help Malaysians get more for their money.
