“ ’Tis the gift to be simple,” the Shakers sing. Catholic nuns and Buddhist monks take vows of poverty. Why? A new study published online in May in Psychological Science offers a hint. Money—even the thought of it—reduces satisfaction from life’s simple pleasures.
Studies have shown that a person’s ability to savor experiences predicts their degree of happiness. Savoring is defined as the emotions of joy, awe, excitement and gratitude derived during an experience. Psychologist Jordi Quoidbach of the University of Liège in Belgium and his colleagues divided 374 adults, ranging from custodians to senior administrators, into two randomly assigned groups. The first group was shown a picture of a stack of money; the control group was shown the same picture blurred beyond recognition. Then the participants were given psychological tests to measure their ability to savor pleasant experiences. The results showed that people who had been shown the money scored significantly lower.
A second test showed even more dramatically how the thought of cash spoils savoring. Participants were given a piece of chocolate after being shown a picture of money or a blurred photograph. Then an observer timed how long the person savored the morsel of chocolate. Women savored the chocolate longer than men, but regardless of gender, individuals shown the picture of money beforehand spent significantly less time savoring the chocolate—on average, 32 seconds versus 45 seconds.
In other words, what money gives with one hand—access to pleasurable experience—it takes away with the other by robbing people of the ability to appreciate simple joys. Think about that the next time you are considering splurging at an expensive restaurant when you could be heading off to a picnic with a bottle of wine, crusty French bread, tangy cheese and, for dessert, a bite of chocolate.
This article was originally published with the title Money Buys Unhappiness.
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14 Comments
Add CommentUh - isn't having money a little different from thinking about money? If so, the statement that money "rob[s] people of the ability to appreciate simple joys" seems overstated.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe study does seem to show that when you're shown a picture of something you want, you're less likely to savor the following moment. But would, say, giving people actual money produce the same effect? I'd think you'd be more likely to reproduce the effect by showing people pictures of other desireables, or even just news stories of interest, etc. Regardless, the study as described is hardly conclusive of the spin this article puts on it.
This study is flawed in that they apparently did not take into account the participants perception of money. Your ability to appreciate pleasures would be muted if you are constantly worried about how to pay your bills. However, if money is not a limiting resource for you, your ability to enjoy pleasureable experiences should not be attenuated by the mere thought of money.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMoney is just a tool, it can be used for good or bad, but it cannot replace you as the driver.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with tjj300.
Steven
http://www.theemotionmachine.com
Money is just a tool, it cannot replace you as the driver. I agree with tjj300. Plenty of people can accumulate large amounts of money without ever letting it run their lives.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSteven
http://www.theemotionmachine.com
These conclusions seem specious, or the writer left out some crucial elements. Seeing a stack of money can trigger unpleasant thoughts about money, of COURSE. Or sudden preoccupation with bills or investments. But to conclude from that, that thoughts of money interfere with one's ability to savor the moment seems a gross generalization. Plenty of people with huge money concerns seem to be able to savor moments of pleasure and happiness just fine... and I think that there are a whole bunch of people who are well off who do just the same. Obsessive thoughts of ANYTHING can keep us from living in the moment. Frankly, I think this was a silly piece and beneath SciAm.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthis seems to prove that being shown a picture of money reduces the time taken to eat a piece of chocolate. Congratulations to the scientists involved for making this great discovery.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWow - people who are shown a picture of money can only think about money from then on! Money must be more powerful than I'd ever imagined, according to this absurd study...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs there anything else the psychologist want us to conclude from this nonsense?
Agreed, this study is an exercise in false choices.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI noticed that the role of money in this experiment is merely as something that is shown; the ability to get a piece of chocolate does not seem to hinge on having the money to get it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNeed I say that real life is different?
I'll be the last person to say that money guarantees happiness, but if used as a tool, it does give us more happiness than the lack of money.
In wonder if some subjects had been shown erotic pictures or horrible war mutilations instead of just money vs. a blurry picture? Would any photo of interest have the same effect?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI couldn't quite buy the conclusion that it was money's effect alone without other comparisons.
The problem is that we human beings use language to create models and therefore to simplify and falsify everything.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhether it is Jesus Christ, money or happiness, one word can't describe the human condition adequately.
When we are in pain, the cessation of pain brings happiness. When we are in the desert a glass of water brings happiness. When we are short of money, more money brings happiness.
Many people eat for happiness and many take various drugs for happiness.
We live in an advertising culture which tries to convince us, on the radio, television and internet and in magazines and newspapers that if we buy X, we will be happier, better, prettier, stronger and more successful.
Advertising is based on the premise that it is possible to create a feeling of lack, inadequacy, need or desire and the thought or illusion that purchasing a product will fill the lack or desire and bring happiness or some other perceived good.
Finally, it isn't clear that the rich are happier than the poor any more than the fat are happier than the thin.
Does it really make anyone happier to drive a Mercedes or Rolls Royce rather than a mechanically sound but used Ford or Honda? Those kinds of distinctions are often based on envy and vanity more than marginal comfort or real benefit.
Happiness is a complicated subject. The word itself masks as much human complexity as all the other big words including, God, success, power, socialism, capitalism, beauty, justice and so forth.
We need to learn not to mistake our simplified maps of the world, for the world, however necessary the maps are for our survival and, dare I say, for our happiness.
Haha, perhaps not the right journal to publish such results/conclusions. After all it is called the scientific -American-, so far, no one has given right to the authors!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm from Europe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe premise in this article, at least in my case, couldn't be further from the truth. For buying experiences with money instead of the proverbial (and quite literal in some cases) "blood, sweat, and toil," enhances the enjoyment for me. Not that I object to earning lots of money, but rather, knowing I didn't have to go through hell to experiences something -- but paid cash in one form or another -- helps me relax and enjoy the experience. I'm not focused on what I had to go through to experience something.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe trouble is that people who have to work hard for experiences -- like retirees who worked for 50 years and now can "enjoy" a cruise -- have expectations that can almost NEVER be met! They had to pay such a dear price for that cruise or other experience, the reality that it doesn't meet the kind of expectations one would expect they "deserve" from a lifetime of toil and savings, tends to make them sick to their stomachs!
That is why many retirees die on cruises. They're so caught up in reflecting on the reality, "Is THIS all there is, is THIS what I slaved for my entire life?" they can't just sit back and enjoy.
That is why winning a lottery, for example -- or in my case perhaps, becoming a successful published author where money is one of the spoils of victory -- makes the experience so sweet. I know.