Money and Happiness: Here's Why You Won't Laugh All the Way to the Bank
It's only money. Really.
If you're reading this column, you are no doubt looking to get ahead financially. But don't kid yourself: All those extra dollars won't make you extra happy.
In recent years, economists and psychologists have turned their attention to "happiness research" -- and the results are a little disturbing if your life's goals are a bigger paycheck and a fatter nest egg. Money alone, it seems, just doesn't buy a whole lot of happiness.
? It's all relative. To be sure, high-income earners often express greater satisfaction with their lives. In a 2004 survey, 43% of those with family incomes of $90,000 or more reported being "very happy," versus 22% for those with incomes below $20,000.
But the truth, it seems, is messier than such surveys suggest. Yes, if you live in poverty, more money can bolster your happiness.
"But once you're safe and warm and fed, it makes surprisingly little difference," says David Schkade, professor of management at the University of California at San Diego. "Once you get to the lower-middle class, then it takes a lot of income to make a difference. Income does matter, just not as much as people think."
Indeed, despite rising standards of living, just 30% of Americans described themselves as "very happy" in the late 1990s, down from 34% in the early 1970s, according to a study by economics professors David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald that appeared in the Journal of Public Economics in July 2004.
Faced with this sort of data, researchers have speculated that our happiness is influenced not by our absolute level of wealth and income, but rather by how our financial situation compares with friends and colleagues.
This may help explain why so many high-income earners describe themselves as "very happy." Much of the time, these folks aren't necessarily all that cheerful. But when asked in surveys to assess their satisfaction with their lives, they think about their standing in the world -- and that prompts them to say they are happy.
? On the clock. What happens when high-income earners aren't contemplating their position in the financial pecking order? Consider a June 30 article in Science magazine by Daniel Kahneman, Alan Krueger, Norbert Schwarz, Arthur Stone and Prof. Schkade.
The five professors analyzed data for 374 workers who were asked every 25 minutes during the workday about the intensity of various feelings. Those with higher incomes didn't report being any happier, but they were more likely to say they were anxious or angry.
The five professors also studied government data detailing how folks divvy up their waking hours. They found that people with higher incomes tend to spend more time working, commuting and engaging in obligatory nonwork activities, such as maintaining their homes. All of these are associated with lower happiness.
"People who are richer aren't having a better time," Prof. Schkade concludes. "But if you ask them about their lives, they report being a little more satisfied" than those who are less affluent.
? Buying time. This raises the question: If more money won't make us much happier, what will? Here are four pointers.
? Keep your commute short. Tempted to use your latest pay raise to buy a big house in a distant suburb? Don't do it.
While we often adjust amazingly well to life's hardships, commuting is an exception. "You can't adapt to commuting, because it's entirely unpredictable," says Daniel Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness" and a psychology professor at Harvard University. "Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day."
? Choose time over money. Cutting back the hours you work will likely leave you happier, even if it means less pay.
What about the fall in your standard of living? It may hurt less than you imagine. True, you are thrilled when you buy a new car. Soon enough, however, the good feelings fade and you're taking the new car for granted. Academics call this "hedonic adaptation."
? Think carefully about how you spend your dollars. While a new car may not boost your happiness for long, maybe a trip to Europe would.
"Money itself doesn't make you happy," Prof. Gilbert says. "What can make you happy is what you do with it. There's a lot of data that suggests experiences are better than durable goods."
The car might seem like the better purchase, because it has lasting value. But, in fact, it sits in the driveway, slowly deteriorating. "Experiences don't hang around long enough to disappoint you," Prof. Gilbert says. "What you have left are wonderful memories."
? Use your leisure time wisely. Surveys show that leisure is better for your happiness than work. But much also depends on how you spend your leisure time.
Passive activities like watching television usually don't make folks as happy as eating. A good meal, in turn, doesn't rank quite as highly as active leisure activities, such as socializing with friends.
"Going to a dinner at a nice restaurant, where you're going to see friends and eat good food, is one of the best combinations," Prof. Schkade says. "The French know what they're doing, when it comes to how to enjoy a good meal."
钱多未必更快乐
钱不过就是钱。真的。
如果你正在读这篇专栏文章，你无疑是希望自己在理财方面能获得成功。但不要自己欺骗自己：拥有更多的钱并不能使你更快乐。
近年来，经济学家和心理学家们将关注点转向了“快乐研究”──如果你的人生目标就是多挣钱、多攒钱，那这类研究的结果可有点让你不快了。仅仅有钱似乎并不能让你获得很多快乐。
快乐完全是相对的。高收入者往往会对他们的生活感到更满意，这一点毫无疑问。2004年的一项调查显示，家庭年收入在9万美元以上的人中有43%声称自己“非常快乐”，而家庭年收入不足2万美元的人作此表态的只有22%。
但实际情况似乎比上述调查结果要复杂。的确，如果你原本生活穷困，钱能给你带来快乐。
但加州大学圣迭戈分校的管理学教授大卫?施卡得(David Schkade)认为，一旦你获得了温饱，钱多钱少对你来说真的没有太大差别。他说：“一旦你跻身中低收入阶层，你要收入增加很多才会觉得生活有了明显的不同。钱是重要的，但并不像人们认为的那么重要。”
事实上，尽管生活水平不断提高，但上世纪九十年代末时只有30%的美国人称自己“非常快乐”，低于七十年代初时34%的水平。经济学教授大卫?布兰奇弗劳尔(David Blanchflower)和安德鲁?奥斯沃德(Andrew Oswald)的相关研究结果发表在《公共经济学月刊》(Journal of Public Economics)2004年7月号上。
面对这一调查数据，研究人员开始猜想，我们的快乐感并非取决于我们的财富和收入的绝对水平，而是取决于我们的财务状况与朋友和同事们相比处于何种水平。
这或许有助于解释为什么有如此多的高收入者形容自己的生活“非常快乐”。这些人士大多数时间未必真的那么开心。但当调查者要求他们评估自己对生活的满意度时，他们想到的是自己在社会上的地位──这促使他们声称自己是快乐的。
精确衡量。当高收入者不考虑自己在财富金字塔上所处的等级时情况会怎样？看看丹尼尔?卡恩曼(Daniel Kahneman)等五位教授6月30日发表在《科学》杂志(Science)上的一篇文章吧。
这几位教授分析了来自374位上班族的调查数据，这些人被要求在一个工作日中每隔25分钟就报告一次自己各种感觉的强烈程度。从报告结果看，那些收入较高的人并不更快乐，相反，他们更有可能报告说自己感到忧虑或愤怒。
这五位教授还研究了详细记录人们如何分配工作时间的政府数据。他们发现，收入较高的人花在工作和上班途中的时间也更多，他们不得不用在住房装修等非工作活动上的时间也更长。所有这些活动都会降低人们的快乐感。
施卡得教授总结说：“更富裕的人日子不见得过得更好。但如果你问他们对自己生活的感觉，(与那些较不富裕的人相比)他们的幸福感要高些。”
花钱买时间。这就产生了一个问题。如果金钱和快乐不能成正比，什么才能使我们更快乐呢？这里有四点提示。
--缩短用在上班途中的时间。想用加薪后多得的收入在远离工作地点的郊区买一所大房子吗？可别这么做。
虽然我们适应生活中所遇到困难的能力往往强得惊人，但通勤问题却是个例外。哈佛大学心理学教授丹尼尔?吉尔伯特(Daniel Gilbert)说：“通勤问题是你无法适应的，因为它完全不可预见。每天驾车上班都像是在经历一个不同的地狱。”
--舍钱而取时间。缩短你的工作时间有可能使你感觉更快乐，即使这意味著收入的减少。
如果你的生活水平下降会怎样？痛苦可能不会像你想像的那样严重。诚然，你在购买新车时会很有成就感。但这种良好的感觉很快就会消失，你会觉得新车也不过就那么回事。学术上将这称之为“享乐性适应”。
--深思熟虑花钱的方式。虽然购买新车不会使你获得长久的快乐，但去欧洲旅行一次或许可以。
吉尔伯特教授说：“钱本身不会使你快乐。能够使你快乐的是你用钱做的事情。众多数据显示，花钱买体验比花钱买耐用商品要强。”
买车似乎是一项不错的购买选择，因为车具有长久的价值。可事实是，车会越用越旧。吉尔伯特说，人生体验不会随著时间的流逝而贬值，美好的记忆会长留心间。
--明智地使用休闲时间。调查显示，人们从休闲中获得的快乐比从工作中获得的要多。但这很大程度上也取决于你如何支配自己的休闲时间。
看电视一类的被动性活动通常不会使人获得享受美食带来的快感。而与朋友们交往等积极的休闲活动带给人的快乐又是一顿美餐所无法比拟的。
施卡得教授说：“与朋友们光顾一家好餐馆，你既能见到朋友，又能吃到美食，这是一种最佳组合。说到如何享受美食，法国人可是行家。”
你现在快乐吗？
我们可能比以前富裕了，但我们不见得比以前快乐。以下是一些统计数据：
--上世纪九十年代末，29%的妇女称自己“非常快乐”，低于七十年代初时36%的水平。在此期间感觉自己“非常快乐”的男子由32%下降到31%。
--家庭年收入在9万美元以上的人比家庭年收入不足2万美元的人要快乐得多，但他们的快乐程度比家庭年收入在5万至89,999美元之间的人却高不了多少。
--对909位妇女进行的一项调查显示，通勤和工作是最不令人享受的两件事。
（资料来源：《美国经济评论》(American Economic Review)；《公共经济学月刊》；《科学》杂志）
Jonathan Clements
