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The problem is that most people spend the money they have, expecting more possessions to improve their subjective well-being. There are some exceptions to the
by toby 18y ago
The problem is that most people spend the money they have, expecting more possessions to improve their subjective well-being.
There are some exceptions to the "money doesn't buy you happiness" rule, my favorite of which are:
- Spending a lot of money on loved ones or favored charities does tend to make people happier
- Having a lot of savings makes people more apt to handle negative shocks
It is, however, extremely difficult to resist the temptation to spend excess cash even if you know of and believe the research that it doesn't make you feel any better.
- hugh 18y agoThe real problem: asking people "are you happy?" isn't a good metric of their well-being. The answer you get is determined mostly by (a) their personality and (b) what's happened in their lives over the past few days (whether good or bad). But that isn't the same as saying that there are no differences in well-being throughout someone's life. If I lose both my legs tomorrow I'll probably feel bad for a while but after a couple of years learn to cope with my new situation and return to my baseline level of happiness. That doesn't mean that chopping off my legs is essentially a cost-free exercise to me though.