In the happiness world, money does not matter.This is according to a survey that shows being a middle-class citizen is better than the rich who had everything.

Happiness writer Daniel Gilbert said that $100 million does not but more happiness than $1 million. This bestselling author of the book “Stumbling on Happiness” also cited a better example through the use of pancakes:

“The first one is delicious, the second one is good, the third OK. By the fifth pancake you’re at a point when an infinite number more pancakes will not satisfy you to any degree. But no one stops earning money or striving for more money.”

But even though it is the case, research shows people who describe themselves as happy earns significantly higher incomes in a few year or so than those who said they were unhappy.

Source: www.newsweek.com

I often enjoy reading “Harper’s Index” from Harper’s Magazine, and while reading the May 2008 issue, there were two interesting statistics concerning happiness:”Average amount that a sad person was willing to pay for ‘a sporty, insulated water bottle’ in recent study: $2.11; Average amount that a happy person was willing to pay for the same item: $0.56″ (Harper’s May 2008).

On April 19, 2008, NPR’s show All Things Considered reported on this very study in their “Science out of the Box” segment. At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, psychology doctoral student Cynthia Cryder conducted an experiment exploring how people’s emotions affect how they spend money. One group of students at Carnegie Mellow viewed a scene from the movie The Champ in which a young boy weeps over the dead body of the boxer – the “champ” in the movie. This movie is considered a classic way to induce sadness in psychology experiments. After watching the scene, the students then wrote an essay about how they would feel if they lost a mentor. A second group of students saw a much more neutral movie giving factual information about coral reefs. They also wrote an essay; however, this essay concerned the students’ daily routine and activities. Both groups were paid $10 for their time and then were informed that they could purchase “an insulated, sporty water bottle” with some of their earnings. The people who saw the sad movie would pay an average of $2.11 for this rather mundane object. Those who viewed the neutral movie were willing to pay only about $0.56! This difference is an increase of almost 300%, Cryder commented.

It seems undeniable that unhappiness is a driving factor in making people spend more money on commonplace things. However, Cryder also noted that the essays written by the people who viewed The Champ used many more self-centered terminology such as “I,” “me,” and “myself.” This concentration on the self is “a necessary condition for the influence of sadness to carry over to our decisions,” explained Cryder. These findings will be presented in an article in the Journal of Psychological Science in the June 2008 issue.

However, Nicholas Epley from the University of Chicago, who has researched the spending of tax rebates, questioned whether “retail therapy” actually helps to improve mood. Does shopping and purchasing things make people happier? He wonders if it alters their “initial mood motivation.”

Personally, I do believe that a little shopping can increase someone’s mood, as it sometimes does mine, although I will certainly be more aware of how much I am spending thanks to this study. Moderation is certainly key. My cousin and I both regularly go shopping when feeling a little blue. I do often try to buy something for someone else rather than for myself; however, I do not always succeed in this endeavor. My mother believes that a little retail therapy is always necessary when on vacation.

For me, the question still remains of why do we buy things when sad? and from where does the shopping motivation come and why are we willing to spend more?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89761759

Craving for the latest gadget? Car? Dress? Please be cautious as it may lead you to unhappiness.

A new research shows that those who desire to have more tend to be less happier than those contented with what they have.

According to the researchers from the Wichita State University who conducted the study, owning more things does not guarantee happiness. Moreover, purchasing something – let’s say the newest gadget – will eventually phase out and that item will infer happiness.

The researchers asked 126 undergraduate students if they or didn’t own 52 material items such as a car, bed, or roller blades. For those students who reported owning one of the items, will rate how much they like that car in a scale of “not at all” to “a lot.” Meanwhile, those who didn’t will rate how much they would like to have it.

The result revealed that those who wish to have more than what they had were a lot happier than those whom had more items in their possession.

Source: www.livescience.com

Richer people have bigger houses. Magazines featuring celebrities in their cribs were all the rage for their design and contemporary themes. Pair it with their smiling, happy faces, it seem like a larger house gives blissfulness to the homeowner.But it is, in fact, the opposite.

According to Harvard professor Dan Gilbert, buying a house makes us not happier because with a bigger house comes a high maintenance costs and higher mortgage payments every month. Moreover, having a larger house requires time spent on redesigning, customizing and adjusting it to fit the homeowners’ preference rather than enjoying the house.

A smaller house may actually be enjoyed much more, as it is much easier to maintain and a smaller space means a much more intimate relationship with the house mates.

But why do people think that a bigger house makes them happier?

It is all about status, Gilbert says. A bigger house increases our status and we may feel a boost of happiness from people admiring the big house But this happiness is just temporary. After the “infatuation” period, there comes the unavoidable consequences of the financial cost for maintenance and the physical effort that comes with it.

The best way to do? Gilbert says we need to change our perception of happiness that a bigger house doesn’t lead to an increased happiness.

“Being happy is about changing the way we look at things (framing a loss as a gain) but also how we go about doing things to improve our life (actually simplifying our life).” Well-being coach Maddy Swinnen advises.

Midas might have been an unhappy guy,
but that’s probably because he didn’t know
any other kings who could also turn things
into gold. Money as an absolute may not
make you a happier person but making more
money than others in your age group does,
according to a sociological study done in
2005 by researchers at Pennsylvania State
University. But keeping up with the Joneses
isn’t the only way that money brings happiness.
Saving it for retirement or a rainy day brings
together a variety of positive emotions that
can lead to happiness, such as anticipation and
expectation, a sense of delayed gratification
and reward.

Source www.time.com

Who said money cannot buy happiness? Apparently, a new study demystifies the age-old question and answers yes, it can buy happiness, as long it is spent on others.

The people from the Harvard Business School and the University of British Columbia who conducted the study reports that people who spend money, even as little as $5 on others through acts of kindness like charity or through donations are happier than those who do not.

The researchers gave the 600 participants $5 or $20 with specific instructions whether to spend the money on themselves or on someone else. The participants who spent the money on someone else reported feeling happier, “even when they had felt they would be happiest spending the cash on themselves.”

Elizabeth Dunn, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and the study lead author said she was amazed on “how the money was spent and more important is how much money the participants had.”

A study in Australia reports that happiness halt as household income passes AU$100,000.

According to the Australian Unity wellbeing index released this week, once you attained a six figure income:

“money loses its ability to reliably raise wellbeing and does not increase in line with increasing income”.

A person desires to have a certain level of comfort in which money can buy: have shelter, food on our stomachs, clothes on to keep us warm and the ability to buy the things we wanted. After attaining this, “Each dollar thereafter is a sliding scale of diminishing returns, which no amount of stuff can fill.”

Source: News.com

Do you know that we spend more money when we are sad?

In a research funded by the National Science Foundation, the research team, composed of behavioral scientists found out that people who feel sad and “self-focused” tend to spend more than the happy or emotionally neutral people, even when buying the same item.

Cynthia E. Cryder, a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University and the study’s lead author said “The tendency is to focus on oneself when sad drives this effect. More research is needed to determine whether participants are deliberately trying to improve their sense of self by acquiring goods,” added Jennifer Lerner, the report’s co-author.

In their experiments, researchers showed the test participants video clips either from a sad part in the movie “The Champ” or a neutral scene about coral reef from a National Geographic documentary.

After seeing the films, the researchers let the participants shop for ordinary items like water bottles at various prices. Interestingly, those who watched the sad film, paid up to 300 percent more for the same item than those who saw the coral reef documentary.

The researchers suggest that sadness tends stimulate people to “devalue” both themselves and their belongings, leading in efforts to “buy happiness.”

Source: NSF.gov