money can't buy happiness speech

Speech on Money Can’T Buy Happiness

You’ve probably heard the saying “money can’t buy happiness.” It’s a concept that stirs up quite a debate. Many argue that money, to a certain extent, does influence our well-being, while others insist that joy comes from more profound sources.

Let’s explore this idea together. Is it possible that the richest people are the happiest? Or, does real contentment lie somewhere beyond the reach of dollar bills?

1-minute Speech on Money Can’T Buy Happiness

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let’s talk about something we all know, but sometimes forget – money can’t buy happiness. True, money can buy things we like – toys for kids, a nice car, a big house. But do these things make us truly happy?

Think about it. The richest person in the world can have everything money can buy but still feel lonely or sad. That’s because happiness isn’t something you can just buy from a store. It comes from inside us. It comes from spending time with our families and friends, from helping others, from doing things we love.

Now, let’s consider our friends. We don’t choose them because they have a lot of money, right? We choose friends because they make us laugh, they understand us, they support us when we’re down. This shows that what makes us happy isn’t money, but love and friendship.

Also, think about the best moments in your life. Maybe it was when you scored a goal in a football game, or when you first rode a bike without training wheels. None of these moments required money. They were about achievement, about overcoming challenges, about the joy of living. That’s what real happiness is about.

In the end, remember this – money is useful, it helps us live comfortably. But it’s not the most important thing. Love, friendship, kindness, joy – these are the things that truly make us happy. And the best part is, they don’t cost a thing.

2-minute Speech on Money Can’T Buy Happiness

Let’s talk about happiness and money. It’s true, money is important. We need it to pay for food, clothes, and a safe place to live. But does more money mean more happiness? Many people think so. But this is not the full truth.

Imagine having all the money in the world. You can buy any car, any house, any gadget you want. But will these things make you truly happy? The answer is no. What’s the use of a big house if it’s empty? What’s the use of a fancy car if you’re alone? These things can’t laugh with you, can’t comfort you when you’re sad. True happiness comes from love, friendship, and family. These are things that money can’t buy.

Also, think about the most beautiful moments in your life. Maybe it was the time you played in the rain, or the day you learned to ride a bike, or the moment when your friend shared his lunch with you. They were simple moments. But they made you happy. They didn’t cost a thing. This is because happiness is about experience, not material things.

Now, let’s take a look at people who chase money all their lives. They work hard, often forgetting to eat and sleep. They miss their children’s first steps, their spouse’s birthdays. They don’t have time for friends. In the end, they have lots of money. But they are not happy. Because they missed out on the real joys of life.

Of course, money is not bad. It helps us live a comfortable life. But it’s not the most important thing. Health, love, and time are more precious. They can’t be bought. So, instead of chasing money, we should chase these things. We should live each moment fully. We should love deeply. We should take care of our health. Then, we will be truly happy.

In conclusion, money can’t buy happiness. It can buy comfort, but not joy. It can buy things, but not memories. It can buy a house, but not a home. So, let’s focus on what’s truly important. Let’s appreciate the simple things in life. Let’s cherish love and friendship. Let’s make beautiful memories. Because these are the things that bring true happiness.

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Why money can't buy happiness

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Money can't buy happiness, a neuroscientist explains why

We all need enough funds to cover our basic needs, but beyond that the connection between wealth and wellness is less clear.

Dean Burnett

"Money can’t buy you happiness" is either a widely accepted insight or a tired cliché. Is it right , though? Scientifically speaking, the answer is… mixed.

A recent study carried out at the University of Bath has once again looked at the relationship between income and happiness .

It seems that, up to a point and within a specific set of circumstances, money can buy happiness. But beyond that, the relationship between money and happiness becomes much looser and uncertain.

What makes us happy?

At the most immediate and fundamental levels, the things that make us happy, or at least the provoke a positive, reward response in our brains, are those that satisfy our basic biological needs. Put simply, we humans, living organisms, need many things to ensure our survival, such as food, water, air, sleep, and security. Our brain recognises these things as being ‘biologically significant’, so if we obtain them, we experience a sense of reward.

Because the human brain can make intuitive and abstract leaps, it can easily recognise that receiving money means we can now more easily obtain food/water/shelter etc. This, as a study carried out by the Wellcome Trust in 2007 found, can be both rewarding and motivational , two things that could fall under the umbrella of happiness.

However, this doesn’t mean ‘more money’ automatically means ‘more happiness’. Money may be recognised by our brains as biologically significant, but there’s an upper limit on how rewarding even biologically significant things can be. For example, eating food can often be pleasurable, but at some point you’ll be sated, after which point eating more causes actual discomfort. Same with drinking. Even things like shelter and security; build too many barriers around yourself and you can feel isolated and oppressed.

There’s also the phenomenon of habituation, where the fundamental parts of our brains learn to not react to things that occur predictably and reliably. As evidenced in a 2011 study carried out by Dr Ruth Krebbs at Ghent University, this is why things that are novel, as in surprising and unexpected, are often more rewarding than familiar things .

In many cases, the same thing happens with money. Receiving your regular pay is reassuring, but receiving unexpected money, even if it’s much less, often makes you much happier.

Also, when we actively and tangibly need it for our survival, obtaining money is very rewarding. But when we go beyond that point, when we’re ‘financially secure’ as they say, money can still be rewarding, but it’s power to make you happy is significantly reduced , a study carried out at San Francisco State University found. More psychological, experience-based stimuli (e.g. travelling, forging new relationships, helping others etc.) have a greater ability to make you happy.

Granted, in the modern world you usually need money to do all those things too, but this ultimately means money’s link to happiness is more indirect, as a means to an end, rather than directly rewarding in its own right.

Is there a threshold amount of money that can make us happy?

That there’s a certain cut-off amount of money where it stops making people has a lot of implications, particularly in the present day. With much talk of wage stagnation, rising prices, and trials of universal basic income becoming increasingly common, the question of how much money people need to be happy is an increasingly salient one.

Unfortunately, there can be no easy answer, at least not one that applies to all people equally, because the factors that determine how much money is ‘enough’ for security and happiness are highly subjective, and vary considerably from person to person.

Some people feel they’d be happy for life with surprisingly modest sums, others don’t think they’d ever feel they had ‘enough’ money. Studies carried out by researchers at the University of Bath have also found that these significant variations are even more apparent when you compare people from different cultures , suggesting the link between money and happiness is at least as much learned as it is ‘innate’.

But even within the same capitalist culture, people’s ideas about financial security can differ drastically, with people who have ample money sometimes being much less happy than those with far less money because they have more worries about.

Can too much money make us unhappy?

This introduces another factor; money can make you unhappy . Or reduce happiness in other ways. Studies have shown that being paid to do something you enjoy can make you less motivated to do it, suggesting it actively reduces potential happiness. This would explain why people are often reluctant to turn a hobby into a job, or actively regret doing so.

Also, in our modern world, money is not static. If we have more money than we strictly need, we don’t hoard a big pile of gold coins in our spare room like modern-day dragons. Money is fluid, often intangible, and typically ends up being tied up with things like investments, stocks, properties, savings accounts, and more.

All these things are subject to the whims of politico-economical factors and more, meaning the person whose money it is has less control over it and less certainty than if they’d gone for the ‘big pile of gold’ option. Loss of control and uncertainty are two reliable sources of stress and unhappiness for the human brain.

Ultimately, rather than “money can’t buy you happiness”, it might be better to say “money can buy you safety and security”, and these things make it easier for us to be happy. But there’s no direct one-to-one relation between money and happiness, and how it affects us ultimately depends on who we are and how we’ve been raised.

Read more about happiness:

• Is waving back at a stranger on a bridge a sign of happiness?
• National happiness mapped over the last 200 years
• Why does chocolate make us happy?
• Could being happier help you fight infectious disease?

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Why Money Doesn't Buy Happiness

According to kahneman and deaton, money doesn't buy happiness. why not.

Posted August 25, 2022 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• It's often said that money doesn't buy happiness, and, in a 2010 study, Kahneman and Deaton show that it doesn't.
• Nevertheless, most people apparently think that it does.
• Kahneman and Deaton found that "emotional well-being" is associated with social interaction rather than with higher income.

The old saw “money can’t buy happiness ” is often used, mostly by people who don’t have much, as a challenge to the importance of wealth in human society. But is it true? Does more money really not make people happier?

In a 2010 study, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton set out to answer this question. They explored two aspects of what’s known as “subjective well-being.” Importantly, they made a distinction between emotional well-being and life evaluation. Emotional well-being is defined as “…the emotional quality of an individual’s everyday experience—the frequency and intensity of experiences of joy, fascination, anxiety , sadness, anger , affection that make one’s life pleasant or unpleasant." Life evaluation “refers to a person’s thoughts about his or her life.” Here is what they found:

In the present study, we confirm the contribution of higher income to improving individuals’ life evaluation, even among those who are already well off. However, we also find that the effects of income on the emotional dimension of well-being satiate fully at an annual income of ∼$75,000… (Kahneman and Deaton, 2010, p. 16490).

In other words, getting more money makes us think our lives are better, but doesn’t make us feel any better.

To be sure, not having enough money negatively affects our emotional well-being. But once we have enough (about $75,000 in 2010), having more doesn’t positively affect it. So, while we think our lives would be better if we got a raise or hit the lottery jackpot, we’d be no happier than we were before the windfall. Now that’s interesting. Money really doesn’t buy happiness.

But why not? We think that Kahneman and Deaton’s distinction between life evaluation and emotional well-being might provide an answer.

Evolution of Emotional Well-Being

The emotions of well-being the authors identify—joy, fascination, anxiety, sadness, anger, affection—evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in hunter–gatherer bands. There was no money in these bands, of course, and, as we’ve noted in previous blogs, it was more important to use possessions as gifts than hold on to them. Well-being was having enough to eat and interacting with the other members of the band—hunting, gathering, quarreling, fighting, telling stories, dancing, healing.

However, since the agricultural revolution, human history has been in large part the story of acquisition—more land, money, possessions, power. Today, acquisition messages are all around us: Buy more and better things, get a higher-paying job. These messages address post-agricultural thinking but ignore ancient emotional needs.

Thinking about how your life is going or will go is another creation of our old friend and nemesis the neocortex. Given the obvious advantages of wealth and power after the agricultural revolution, the cortex turned them into ideas, things to aspire to, goals . Moving up was good, whether it made you happy or not.

As more and more opportunities to move up were created by the industrial revolution and the market economy, more and more people could rise. It was great to have enough—enough money, enough to eat, and a place to live. And it felt good to rise and have more status.

A Moving Goal

Unfortunately, there was an unintended consequence: The goal kept moving. There was always a better position, a better salary, higher status. Thinking about well-being became associated with making more money. When Donald Trump was asked about what money meant to him, he said “Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score.” He didn’t mention happiness.

So, here we humans are, stuck again between ancient emotions and an environment that pushes us to achieve and acquire. As Kahneman and Deaton note in their study, when asked the question, “What made you happy yesterday,” most people emphasized time with family and friends, taking care of a relative, working on a project with others, etc. When asked what they thought would make them happier, most said, “Having more money.”

Kahneman, D. and Deaton, A. 2010. “High Income Improves Evaluation of Life, But Not Emotional Well-Being.” PNAS. September 21, 2010, vol. 107, no. 38, pp. 16489-16493.

J. Gary Bernhard, Ed.D. has been involved in educational leadership for more than 40 years. Kalman Glantz, Ph.D. has spent nearly 30 years as a psychotherapist in private practice in Boston.

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Does Money Buy Happiness? Here’s What the Research Says

March 28, 2023 • 5 min read.

Reconciling previously contradictory results, researchers from Wharton and Princeton find a steady association between larger incomes and greater happiness for most people but a rise and plateau for an unhappy minority.

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The following article was originally published on Penn Today .

Does money buy happiness? Though it seems like a straightforward question, research had previously returned contradictory findings, leaving uncertainty about its answer.

Foundational work published in 2010 from Princeton University’s  Daniel Kahneman  and Angus Deaton had found that day-to-day happiness rose as annual income increased, but above $75,000 it leveled off and happiness plateaued. In contrast, work published in 2021 from the University of Pennsylvania’s  Matthew Killingsworth  found that happiness rose steadily with income well beyond $75,000, without evidence of a plateau.

To reconcile the differences, Kahneman and Killingsworth paired up in what’s known as an adversarial collaboration, joining forces with Penn Integrates Knowledge  University Professor  Barbara Mellers  as arbiter. In a new  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  paper , the trio shows that, on average, larger incomes are associated with ever-increasing levels of happiness. Zoom in, however, and the relationship becomes more complex, revealing that within that overall trend, an unhappy cohort in each income group shows a sharp rise in happiness up to $100,000 annually and then plateaus.

“In the simplest terms, this suggests that for most people larger incomes are associated with greater happiness,” says Killingsworth, a senior fellow at Wharton and lead paper author. “The exception is people who are financially well-off but unhappy. For instance, if you’re rich and miserable, more money won’t help. For everyone else, more money was associated with higher happiness to somewhat varying degrees.”

Mellers digs into this last notion, noting that emotional well-being and income aren’t connected by a single relationship. “The function differs for people with different levels of emotional well-being,” she says. Specifically, for the least happy group, happiness rises with income until $100,000, then shows no further increase as income grows. For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness increases linearly with income, and for the happiest group the association actually accelerates above $100,000.

Joining Forces to Ask: “Does Money Buy Happiness?”

The researchers began this combined effort recognizing that their previous work had drawn different conclusions. Kahneman’s 2010 study showed a flattening pattern where Killingsworth’s 2021 study did not. As its name suggests, an adversarial collaboration of this type — a notion originated by Kahneman — aims to solve scientific disputes or disagreements by bringing together the differing parties, along with a third-party mediator.

Killingsworth, Kahneman, and Mellers focused on a new hypothesis that both a happy majority and an unhappy minority exist. For the former, they surmised, happiness keeps rising as more money comes in; the latter’s happiness improves as income rises but only up to a certain income threshold, after which it progresses no further.

To test this new hypothesis, they looked for the flattening pattern in data from Killingworth’s study, which he had collected through an app he created called Track Your Happiness. Several times a day, the app pings participants at random moments, asking a variety of questions including how they feel on a scale from “very good” to “very bad.” Taking an average of the person’s happiness and income, Killingsworth draws conclusions about how the two variables are linked.

A breakthrough in the new partnership came early on when the researchers realized that the 2010 data, which had revealed the happiness plateau, had actually been measuring unhappiness in particular rather than happiness in general.

“It’s easiest to understand with an example,” Killingsworth says. Imagine a cognitive test for dementia that most healthy people pass easily. While such a test could detect the presence and severity of cognitive dysfunction, it wouldn’t reveal much about general intelligence since most healthy people would receive the same perfect score.

“In the same way, the 2010 data showing a plateau in happiness had mostly perfect scores, so it tells us about the trend in the unhappy end of the happiness distribution, rather than the trend of happiness in general. Once you recognize that, the two seemingly contradictory findings aren’t necessarily incompatible,” Killingsworth says. “And what we found bore out that possibility in an incredibly beautiful way. When we looked at the happiness trend for unhappy people in the 2021 data, we found exactly the same pattern as was found in 2010; happiness rises relatively steeply with income and then plateaus.”

“The two findings that seemed utterly contradictory actually result from data that are amazingly consistent,” he says.

Does It Matter Whether Money Can Buy Happiness?

Drawing these conclusions would have been challenging had the two research teams not come together, says Mellers, who suggests there’s no better way than adversarial collaborations to resolve scientific conflict.

“This kind of collaboration requires far greater self-discipline and precision in thought than the standard procedure,” she says. “Collaborating with an adversary — or even a non-adversary — is not easy, but both parties are likelier to recognize the limits of their claims.” Indeed, that’s what happened, leading to a better understanding of the relationship between money and happiness.

And these findings have real-world implications, according to Killingsworth. For one, they could inform thinking about tax rates or how to compensate employees. And, of course, they matter to individuals as they navigate career choices or weigh a larger income against other priorities in life, Killingsworth says.

However, he adds that for emotional well-being money isn’t the be all end all. “Money is just one of the many determinants of happiness,” he says. “Money is not the secret to happiness, but it can probably help a bit.”

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Can Money Buy You Happiness?

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Michael Norton: Can Money Buy You Happiness?

More from this episode.

The Money Paradox

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Money Paradox .

About Michael Norton's TEDTalk

Social scientist Michael Norton researches how money can buy happiness — when you don't spend it on yourself. The key is social spending that benefits not just you, but other people.

About Michael Norton

Michael Norton is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Prior to joining HBS, Professor Norton was a Fellow at the MIT Media Lab and MIT's Sloan School of Management.

His work has been published in a number of academic journals, including Science, The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. His article "The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love" was featured in Harvard Business Review's Breakthrough Ideas for 2009.

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Gertrude Stein: 'Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.'

Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.

In her famous quote, "Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping," Gertrude Stein challenges the conventional wisdom that money cannot bring happiness. At first glance, the quote may seem materialistic, suggesting that happiness can indeed be purchased through shopping. However, upon closer examination, this quote unveils a deeper philosophical concept about the complexities of happiness and the role that material possessions may play in our well-being.Summarizing the quote, Gertrude Stein suggests that the key to buying happiness lies in knowing where to shop. On the surface, this may imply that acquiring material possessions can bring joy. Yet, there is more to it than meets the eye. Stein's statement can be viewed as a lighthearted critique of the notion that material possessions are inconsequential in the pursuit of happiness. Instead, it invites us to explore the different ways in which money can, in fact, contribute to our overall well-being.Considering the unexpected philosophical concept that arises from this quote, we can delve into the idea of individual values and the subjective nature of happiness. While some may argue that true happiness comes from the fulfillment of non-materialistic experiences, such as relationships, personal growth, and self-actualization, it is crucial to recognize that material possessions can align with different people's desires and needs. Happiness, it seems, is multifaceted and varies from person to person.When discussing the relationship between money and happiness, it is important to reflect on the potential benefits and drawbacks of material wealth. Research has shown that money can indeed provide a sense of security, freedom, and improved living conditions. It allows access to quality education, healthcare, and the ability to pursue passions and interests. For some individuals, material possessions may contribute to their sense of self-worth and provide a means to express their personality and identity.However, it is essential to acknowledge the limitations of relying solely on material wealth for happiness. Possessions come and go, and the pursuit of materialism can lead to a never-ending cycle of desire and consumption. True happiness should not be solely dependent on external circumstances but should stem from a deeper sense of purpose, contentment, and inner fulfillment.A balanced approach must be taken when considering the relationship between money and happiness. While material possessions can enhance our quality of life and provide temporary satisfaction, true and lasting happiness requires a focus on the non-material aspects of life as well. Personal relationships, experiences, personal growth, and a sense of community all contribute to a holistic understanding of happiness. It is through a harmonious integration of material and non-material aspects that we can achieve a deeper and more meaningful sense of fulfillment.In conclusion, Gertrude Stein's quote challenges us to reconsider the dichotomy between money and happiness. While it may appear to advocate for materialism, it carries a deeper message about the complexities of happiness and the role that material possessions can play in our lives. Understanding the subjective nature of happiness and the potential benefits and drawbacks of material wealth allows us to adopt a more balanced approach towards finding joy and contentment in life. Ultimately, the pursuit of happiness goes beyond mere shopping; it is an exploration of our values, relationships, and inner selves.

Gertrude Stein: 'Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.'

George washington carver: 'i would never allow anyone to give me money, no difference how badly i needed it. i wanted literally to earn my living.'.

Can Money Buy Happiness Speech

This speech will explore the complex relationship between money and happiness. It will delve into how financial stability can contribute to a sense of security and well-being, while also discussing the limitations of material wealth in achieving true happiness. The speech will reference psychological studies and philosophical perspectives, examining how factors like relationships, fulfillment, and personal values play a significant role in one’s overall happiness. It will also address the concept of diminishing returns with increasing wealth and the importance of finding a balance. At PapersOwl, you’ll also come across free essay samples that pertain to Happiness.

How it works

“Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference” – Barack Obama.

Although it is injustice to poor people when we say that money can buy happiness. But still money is the basic amenity for each and every individual. As we can clearly see that average number of people are more than satisfied when they have money while comparing to the situation when they don’t have it. According to Blanchflower and Oswald (2011) review of international happiness they stated that money is not the only factor of happiness as there are other factors too like age, gender, education, marital status, diet, other personal characteristics, region characteristics, country characteristics.

But on the top of that as stated by Neal M Ashkanasy (2011) review Blanchflower and Oswald are saying that subjective happiness remains constant in a developed country. And from the developed county it is clearly stated that the country is economically strong and stable. So this statement of Blanchflower and Oswald contradicts their own findings that money can’t buy happiness. In this paper I will be arguing about the fact that even though it is against our cultural or moral ethics of believing money as the factor of happiness in one’s life but still people having money don’t seem to be crestfallen. On the other hand people who don’t have struggle for their life too.

• 1 Money for Amenities
• 2 Money for Objective Happiness
• 3 Money for Ill-Use
• 4 Conclusion

Money for Amenities

After studying the article of Peter M. Ruberton (2016) it is clearly evident that the amount of money available in your bank account is directly proportional to the quality of life and greater the satisfaction in life more joyful and happy your life would be. As each and every individual in the society require food, shelter, clothing. Life without any one of them would be miserable as hell. Money here is considered for the basic amenities not for the luxurious lifestyle. The ratio is same if the amount of money in someone’s life is increased then the demands will be more high. Resulting in more happiness. Buying a new phone or a new car will bring a happy feeling in ones life. Apart from this high ends requirement if one is not able to afford to send his children to school, buy clothes or food. This makes a person not only sad but his life becomes depressing by knowing that he is not capable to provide the life like other children because of the lack of money in his life. It’s not always about being happy or sad with or without money but it is also about how life can change from zero to hero by having the most powerful thing in this world which in known as money. As the whole world is running after money at some point of life.

Money for Objective Happiness

Each and every penny matters and it can change anyone’s life any day especially in this 21st century where money speaks louder than any other thing in this world. According to a recent study by an economist David Clingingsmith at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western University that negative feelings or sadness depends upon the amount of money people have in their life. Negative feelings increases with the decrease in the bank balance of an individual. Earlier bank balance was not the factor for these feelings but now with the increase in industrialization and urbanization money has become the most important and crucial factor in one’s life.

According to the science also many researches have demonstrated that the level of stress and depression is so less with the higher income of an individual. Approximately $70,000 gross income results in higher level of objective happiness on an average (John Rampton,2018).

There was another survey by the Princeton University that people having gross income more than $75,000 will be satisfied in their lives as compared to the people who have less than this (p. 2).

Money can reduce poverty and scarcity in the society when it is spend in a good deed as a generosity for the poor people by the rich ones. That is the ultimate happiness and desire for the pauper.

Money for Ill-Use

Many people think that money is just a medium for luxurious lifestyle but it cannot provide us happiness in a longer term. It is true that it is used for having bed of roses but this point is use when a person is having the money in abundance. But ultimately it is providing happiness only. Apart from this if we look in a broader perspective it should be included as the basic utility apart from food, shelter and clothing. As all the three of them are interconnected but the root is money for them.

Money or happiness should not be confused with the greed. Although this thing cannot be ignored that if this feeling comes inside someone then it will bring out bad intentions of stealing and robbery. But it differs from person to person and their upbringing. So the thing here is money do provide happiness but this greed factor depends upon the psychology of the person. And that is a different area to talk about.

We have noticed people using money for making their work done from others. But the person who is doing the work and when he will get paid for his hard work that thing will make him happy. So, at the end it’s the money that will make a person happy. Otherwise people won’t be working for anyone else if they will not get paid for their work. This thing will bring disappointment and sadness in people’s life.

As every coin has two sides. So, similarly this topic also brings two arguments with average number of people saying it brings happiness while the other disagreeing with the narrative. Money provides the basic amenity of life. Not only the amenities but also making their loved ones happy by providing them presents makes a person joyful. Happiness itself is a vast topic to talk about money here is just the medium which is helping to enable it. One can’t associate the entire happiness with a single word money. But this can also be not denied that money played a vital role in bringing happiness in ones life. In truth, this generation is grown in the era where happiness is associated with the materialistic things which is possible when you have the money in your hand.

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More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

When we wonder whether money can buy happiness, we may consider the luxuries it provides, like expensive dinners and lavish vacations. But cash is key in another important way: It helps people avoid many of the day-to-day hassles that cause stress, new research shows.

Money can provide calm and control, allowing us to buy our way out of unforeseen bumps in the road, whether it’s a small nuisance, like dodging a rainstorm by ordering up an Uber, or a bigger worry, like handling an unexpected hospital bill, says Harvard Business School professor Jon Jachimowicz.

“If we only focus on the happiness that money can bring, I think we are missing something,” says Jachimowicz, an assistant professor of business administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at HBS. “We also need to think about all of the worries that it can free us from.”

The idea that money can reduce stress in everyday life and make people happier impacts not only the poor, but also more affluent Americans living at the edge of their means in a bumpy economy. Indeed, in 2019, one in every four Americans faced financial scarcity, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The findings are particularly important now, as inflation eats into the ability of many Americans to afford basic necessities like food and gas, and COVID-19 continues to disrupt the job market.

Buying less stress

The inspiration for researching how money alleviates hardships came from advice that Jachimowicz’s father gave him. After years of living as a struggling graduate student, Jachimowicz received his appointment at HBS and the financial stability that came with it.

“My father said to me, ‘You are going to have to learn how to spend money to fix problems.’” The idea stuck with Jachimowicz, causing him to think differently about even the everyday misfortunes that we all face.

To test the relationship between cash and life satisfaction, Jachimowicz and his colleagues from the University of Southern California, Groningen University, and Columbia Business School conducted a series of experiments, which are outlined in a forthcoming paper in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science , The Sharp Spikes of Poverty: Financial Scarcity Is Related to Higher Levels of Distress Intensity in Daily Life .

Higher income amounts to lower stress

In one study, 522 participants kept a diary for 30 days, tracking daily events and their emotional responses to them. Participants’ incomes in the previous year ranged from less than $10,000 to $150,000 or more. They found:

• Money reduces intense stress: There was no significant difference in how often the participants experienced distressing events—no matter their income, they recorded a similar number of daily frustrations. But those with higher incomes experienced less negative intensity from those events.
• More money brings greater control : Those with higher incomes felt they had more control over negative events and that control reduced their stress. People with ample incomes felt more agency to deal with whatever hassles may arise.
• Higher incomes lead to higher life satisfaction: People with higher incomes were generally more satisfied with their lives.

“It’s not that rich people don’t have problems,” Jachimowicz says, “but having money allows you to fix problems and resolve them more quickly.”

Why cash matters

In another study, researchers presented about 400 participants with daily dilemmas, like finding time to cook meals, getting around in an area with poor public transportation, or working from home among children in tight spaces. They then asked how participants would solve the problem, either using cash to resolve it, or asking friends and family for assistance. The results showed:

• People lean on family and friends regardless of income: Jachimowicz and his colleagues found that there was no difference in how often people suggested turning to friends and family for help—for example, by asking a friend for a ride or asking a family member to help with childcare or dinner.
• Cash is the answer for people with money: The higher a person’s income, however, the more likely they were to suggest money as a solution to a hassle, for example, by calling an Uber or ordering takeout.

While such results might be expected, Jachimowicz says, people may not consider the extent to which the daily hassles we all face create more stress for cash-strapped individuals—or the way a lack of cash may tax social relationships if people are always asking family and friends for help, rather than using their own money to solve a problem.

“The question is, when problems come your way, to what extent do you feel like you can deal with them, that you can walk through life and know everything is going to be OK,” Jachimowicz says.

Breaking the ‘shame spiral’

In another recent paper , Jachimowicz and colleagues found that people experiencing financial difficulties experience shame, which leads them to avoid dealing with their problems and often makes them worse. Such “shame spirals” stem from a perception that people are to blame for their own lack of money, rather than external environmental and societal factors, the research team says.

“We have normalized this idea that when you are poor, it’s your fault and so you should be ashamed of it,” Jachimowicz says. “At the same time, we’ve structured society in a way that makes it really hard on people who are poor.”

For example, Jachimowicz says, public transportation is often inaccessible and expensive, which affects people who can’t afford cars, and tardy policies at work often penalize people on the lowest end of the pay scale. Changing those deeply-engrained structures—and the way many of us think about financial difficulties—is crucial.

After all, society as a whole may feel the ripple effects of the financial hardships some people face, since financial strain is linked with lower job performance, problems with long-term decision-making, and difficulty with meaningful relationships, the research says. Ultimately, Jachimowicz hopes his work can prompt thinking about systemic change.

“People who are poor should feel like they have some control over their lives, too. Why is that a luxury we only afford to rich people?” Jachimowicz says. “We have to structure organizations and institutions to empower everyone.”

[Image: iStockphoto/mihtiander]

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Does More Money Really Make Us More Happy?

• Elizabeth Dunn
• Chris Courtney

A big paycheck won’t necessarily bring you joy

Although some studies show that wealthier people tend to be happier, prioritizing money over time can actually have the opposite effect.

• But even having just a little bit of extra cash in your savings account ($500), can increase your life satisfaction. So how can you keep more cash on hand?
• Ask yourself: What do I buy that isn’t essential for my survival? Is the expense genuinely contributing to my happiness? If the answer to the second question is no, try taking a break from those expenses.
• Other research shows there are specific ways to spend your money to promote happiness, such as spending on experiences, buying time, and investing in others.
• Spending choices that promote happiness are also dependent on individual personalities, and future research may provide more individualized advice to help you get the most happiness from your money.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

How often have you willingly sacrificed your free time to make more money? You’re not alone. But new research suggests that prioritizing money over time may actually undermine our happiness.

• ED Elizabeth Dunn is a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and Chief Science Officer of Happy Money, a financial technology company with a mission to help borrowers become savers. She is also co-author of “ Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending ” with Dr. Michael Norton. Her TED2019 talk on money and happiness was selected as one of the top 10 talks of the year by TED.
• CC Chris Courtney is the VP of Science at Happy Money. He utilizes his background in cognitive neuroscience, human-computer interaction, and machine learning to drive personalization and engagement in products designed to empower people to take control of their financial lives. His team is focused on creating innovative ways to provide more inclusionary financial services, while building tools to promote financial and psychological well-being and success.

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Money can’t buy love. but happiness maybe.

(© stock.adobe.com)

Money might not buy love, but a new study suggests that it is more strongly related to happiness than some people think — particularly when people compare their income with someone else’s.

Writing in the journal Psychological Bulletin, researchers describe an association between people’s subjective socioeconomic status — how they perceive their own income, education, and occupation standing in comparison with others — and happiness.

That association, they say, is significantly larger than the connection between people’s objective socioeconomic status — as measured by income and educational attainment — and their level of happiness.

“ There is a conventional wisdom in social science that relationships and experiences are more important than money in producing happiness,” said co-author Michael Kraus , associate professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. “But we found that when people consider their wealth relative to others, there is a stronger association between money and happiness.”

The study, which was led by Jacinth Tan, an assistant professor of psychology at Singapore Management University, contradicts decades of social science research that shows a weak relationship between money and happiness, particularly in wealthy societies, the authors say.

“ The size of the relationship we observed in our study has policy implications in the sense that lawmakers must acknowledge that the relationship between money and happiness remains consequential and cannot be ignored,” said Kraus. “Policy considerations that help people obtain good jobs and protect people from financial ruin during this pandemic may have an added benefit of improving people’s happiness.”

The new research was motivated by an apparent disparity in previous research that has showed weak links between income and happiness and the idea that many people actively seek out prestigious jobs and higher status, the authors say. Moreover, as inequality has increased in some societies (including the United States), overall happiness has declined. That outcome wouldn’t be expected if wealth and material resources were inconsequential, the researchers say.

This gap between research findings and observation suggests the possibility that objective measures, such as income, do not adequately capture the influence of money on happiness, the researchers said. They wanted to test the idea that happiness is more dependent on what people  think  they have compared with others than how much they  do  have.

For the study, the researchers performed a meta-analysis of 357 different studies that have examined questions related to associations between objective and subjective measures of socioeconomic status and people’s subjective wellbeing — their sense of happiness and life satisfaction. Collectively, those studies involved data from more than 2.3 million participants gathered in publicly available datasets, such as the World Values Survey, as well as in private datasets.

In their analysis, the researchers applied the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Status — a 10-rung ladder in which people indicate their perceived social status — to test the association between comparative resources and happiness. Their findings suggest that that social comparison is an important driver of how much money or material resources will increase happiness.

The researchers also found that the effect of social comparison was stronger in countries, such as Singapore, with high population density. This finding makes sense, the researchers say, since there often is greater competition for resources in places where population density is high.

Tan pointed out that social comparison can lead to unhappiness when a person determines their status compares less favorably to others. She cited a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “Comparison is the death of joy.”

“ Our findings also suggest that improving from past levels of material resources alone is insufficient for increasing happiness,” she said. “Even if people today are earning higher wages or attaining higher educational levels than their parents or compared to 10 years ago, there is going to be limited impact on their happiness if they are not doing at least as well as, if not better than others at the present. In people’s minds, social mobility is not simply the ability to ascend one’s own socioeconomic ladder, but also to ascend the ladder of the broader, collective society.”

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Persuasive speech: Money can buy happiness and love

Related Papers

International Journal of Humanity Studies (IJHS)

Emmanuel Stober

Whosoever says money cannot buy you happiness does not know where to shop. Your stand concerning this statement will depend on your level of income and the importance of money for your well-being. Since some might argue that having money is not everything, it then raises the question of what does it take to be happy? What is the government's role in this endeavor? And how can happiness be sustained? This study presents some principles about money and happiness. It suggests that while being rich might not necessarily be the main or only path to happiness, having a higher income will guarantee access to homes in safer neighborhoods, better healthcare, and nutrition, provide access to higher education for your family, give you a sense of fulfillment, work satisfaction, and more leisure time. Note that how you spend, save, and think about money shapes how much joy you get from it. Above all, happiness is a subjective experience. It is about the satisfaction you derive from the way your life is going. Happiness is about personal freedom to make important life choices, such as shaping your life the way you want it.

John Keith Hart

I aim to account here for money’s power to influence our minds and social relations. It would be easy, but misleading to argue that money’s ability to persuade is a universal characteristic. The way money persuades is historically relative – very different for Adam Smith than for Maynard Keynes and even more for us who live in the digital revolution and the expansion of virtual society. The fetishism that grants money a quasi-independent role in human affairs needs to be exposed for what it is. People make and use money, not the other way round; but we sometimes fee that we are more acted upon than acting. Money conveys meanings at the same time as it negates them; it has – or is thought to -- both structure and agency at once. As a symbolic medium of communication, money informs our subjectivity and gives concrete expression to our desires, releasing and fixing our imagination in many ways. It is a store of individual and collective memory, the stuff linking persons to their communities. It may be that money’s chief function was once to persuade people to let go of what they already had; but separating people from it has become the chief object of the engines of persuasion mobilized by capitalist economy. The ideas we have of money were themselves disseminated by “worldly philosophers” who devoted a significant part of their effort to persuading people to accept them. It is hard to separate money’s unconscious influence on us through folk discourse from its characteristics as a social force sui generis. If the study of rhetoric makes much of the distinction between the content of a communication and how it is communicated, money’s success as a rhetorical device, its persuasive power, may lie in its seamless ability to synthesize the two.

leticia toapanta

Jordi Quoidbach

This study provides the first evidence that money impairs people’s ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability (the ability to enhance and prolong positive emotional experience). Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on individuals’ ability to savor undermined the positive effects of money on their happiness. We experimentally exposed participants to a reminder of wealth and produced the same deleterious effect on their ability to savor as that produced by actual individual differences in wealth, a result supporting the theory that money has a causal effect on savoring. Moving beyond self-reports, we found that participants exposed to a reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a piece of chocolate and exhibited reduced enjoyment of it compared with participants not exposed to wealth. This article presents evidence supporting the widely held but previously untested belief that having access to the best things in life may actually undercut people’s ability to reap enjoyment from life’s small pleasures.

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In contrast to decades of research reporting surprisingly weak relationships between consumption and happiness, recent studies suggest that money can indeed increase happiness if it is spent the “right way” (e.g. on experiences or on others). Drawing on the concept of psychological fit, we extend this research by arguing that individual differences play a central role in determining the “right” type of spending to increase wellbeing. In a field study with over 76,000 bank transaction records we find that individuals spend more on products which match their personality and that those whose purchases match their personality report higher levels of life satisfaction. This effect of psychological fit on happiness was stronger than the effect of individual’s total income or their total spending. A follow-up experiment showed a causal effect: Personality-matched spending increases positive affect. In summary, when spending matches personality, it appears that money can indeed buy happiness.

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Title: The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience as to why the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. Central Idea: I will persuade my audience that the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen from twenty-one because of the rights Americans have at the age of eighteen, the comparison to other countries drinking age, and the pressure Americans put an alcohol because of the limit.

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