Nobel scientists: Money can buy happiness

Are rich people happier? Studies on this topic have yielded contradictory results in the past. For example, the well-known work of two Nobel Prize laureates from Princeton University, psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton, published in 2010, showed that the happiness of Americans increases as money increases, but when the annual income exceeds $ 75,000, a plateau effect occurs. In turn, the work of Matthew Killingsworth from the University of Pennsylvania, published in 2021, showed that happiness is steadily increasing with an income well over $75,000, without any signs of a plateau.

To reconcile the differences, all three scientists joined together for a common study, reports phys.org . In the article reporting the results, they write that higher incomes for most people are indeed associated with an ever-increasing level of happiness. But at the same time, there is a minority in a group with any income level - a subgroup of unhappy people whose sense of happiness increases as income increases, and then a plateau follows.

That is, emotional well-being and income are not always directly related. For the least happy group, the happiness level increases with income up to $100,000, and then stops. These are emotionally dysfunctional people who, even with full financial solvency, feel unhappy, and wealth does not cure them. For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness increases linearly with income. For the happiest group, this association exceeds $100,000.

Thus, it is still impossible to put an equal sign between emotional well-being and money. "Money is just one of many factors that determine happiness," the researchers say. "Money is not the secret of happiness, but it can probably help a little."

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.