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They say that money can’t buy happiness. Ryan Howell believes that it can—sometimes. Howell is a researcher at San Francisco State University. He thought that maybe money matters if it’s spent on things that bolster our psychological well-being—activities that people truly enjoy and that enhance their lives in nonmaterial ways.
Howell recently presented his research at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Tampa. He recruited 154 participants between 19 and 50. Half wrote a paragraph about a recent experience they purchased, such as eating out or going to the theater. The other half wrote a paragraph about a thing they bought. Both also wrote about their feelings about what they got for their money. Turned out those who bought experiences reported significantly higher levels of feeling happy, and like it was money well-spent.
Howell says these feelings of well-being might come from feeling active and connected to friends and community. He also says we don’t get bored of happy memories, while we might get tired of a purchase. So the study challenges the old adage about money—because maybe money can buy happiness. If it’s not spent on just things.
—Cynthia Graber
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11 Comments
Add CommentThat's a sloppy headline. Everybody's paying in this experiment, so it doesn't show whether money can buy happiness - for that, you'd have to have one group paying for their experience and one group not paying. This set-up only looks at Things vs. Experiences.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs it 60-Second Science or is it 60-Second Psych?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this60 Second stupidity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSci Am should be embarrassed
I've always said that money may not buy happiness, but poverty sure as hell won't.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn writing about money and happiness (see http://www.happiness-after-midlife.com), I refer to books such as "The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt. He contrasts the ideas of pleasure and a gratification. The first is sensory and emotional and it is rather short-lived. Think of your favorite ice cream and enjoying it while it lasts. The second is an activity that leads to flow, such as accomplishing something, learning something or improving yourself. Gratification (which is different from "authentic happiness" in my thinking) can come from knowing your strengths, and using them to their full advantage.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thispoor science, poor write up.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut it does go to explain why there are so many people willing to pay $1000s per year for fleeting "services" like $4 ice cream cones & $5 cups of coffee [10-25X normal grocery store costs]. They pay for "experience" rather than the consumable item. My "hard" purchases always make me happier! I get to see & use them 1000s of times over many years!
Maybe it's a valueless research, but my view is that, too many people spend money stupidly, they don't even understand this kind of truism.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with whoever said , 'those who say money doesn't buy happiness probably doesn't have any.' The only thing that makes me happier than having money is experiencing good health.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think we can buy happiness with money according to our Country Problems. mostly people go abroad for earning purpose they leave their parents, brother, wife, sisters and reletive for the sake of money. Why? he wanna do something for their members.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisinteresting thoughts!
I believe its not possible to make a general statement on whether money makes people more or less happy. Money comes with a whole set of new elements that may have good or bad impact on our happiness, and depending on how susceptible we are to every one of them, the conclusion will go one way or the other (i.e. different from person to person).
I recently made an effort to provide a more comprehensive picture of what these ad- and disadvantages are. I invite you to have a look at <a href="http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/08/money-how-much-should-we-strive-for-it-to-become-happy">Money and Happiness</a> and tell me what you think!
Thank you,
Nick
I'm sorry I think the href link is not readily accessible in my previous post. Let me try it again: www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/08/money-how-much-should-we-strive-for-it-to-become-happy
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you, Nick