The Price Of Happiness

Is money the secret to joy?

- Santosh Pattanaik

It's a question that philosophers, economists and social scientists have grappled with for decades. There is still no scientific consensus about whether money can buy happiness. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, it's just a matter of what you believe in and your values. If poverty makes us miserable, it stands to reason that wealth makes life worth living. But then, why aren't your lucrative promotion, five-bedroom house and the fat check cheering you up?

Much of the research suggests that seeking the good life at a store is an expensive exercise in futility.

For emotional well-being money isn't the be all end all. Money is just one of the many determinants of happiness. It's not the secret to happiness, but it can probably help a bit. Financial stability helps people escape everyday hassles of life that cause stress.

The relationship between money and happiness is paradoxical. More money does not guarantee happiness. Initially, our happiness is affected by absolute levels of income, but at a certain threshold, we place importance on relative levels of income. Knowing how we rank and compare to other people, in terms of wealth and material possession, influences our happiness. Scholars have found that how you stand relative to others makes a much bigger difference in your sense of well-being than how much you make in an absolute sense.

Money can easily make a person temporarily happy with the possessions it can buy. Having a higher income, for example, can give us access to homes in safer neighbourhoods, better health care and nutrition, fulfilling work, and more leisure time. Once our income reaches a certain level and our basic needs for food, health care, safety, and shelter are met, the positive effects of money, such as buying your dream home are often offset by the negative effects such as working longer hours in stressful jobs to maintain that income.