There is a huge research literature about money and happiness. For many years, the consensus was that wealthy people in a given society were happier than the p

There is a huge research literature about money and happiness. For many years, the consensus was that wealthy people in a given society were happier than the poorer people in that society... but that wealthy societies weren't happier than less wealthy societies (as long as the mean income was over $5000/yr or so). This was called the Easterlin Paradox. Then there was some research suggesting the wealthiest people in any given society were not happier than average for that society. But the most recent research I've seen says that wealthy societies are happier... and relatively wealthy people in any given society are happier than average for that society. In any case, it's a very tough question to answer... and it's been studied heavily enough that you can find research supporting almost any possible conclusion.