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Jon Muir

Mrs. Wilkerson

Honors English 10

24 April 2020

Does Money Make You Happy?

When I bought my first high-quality and valuable bass guitar, I was incredibly happy to

have it and use it. As blemishes began to appear on it from constant use, I was distraught, as I

saw it as ruining my perfect instrument. As time went on, I realized that the individual blemishes

were simply adding character, reminding me of the time and effort spent playing the instrument

and the enjoyable experience I had had making music with my friends. I learned that it was not

about the value or quality of the instrument, but the way it was put to use. Although some may

say that additional wealth would allow them to purchase things that would make them happier,

wealth does not directly correlate with one’s happiness, as seen in many studies and through the

complexity of individual desires.

Many studies have been done over the years on the effects of wealth on happiness.

According to Claude S. Fischer in the Journal of Happiness studies article “What Wealth-

Happiness Paradox? A Short Note on the American Case.” statistical graphs show that as median

household income rose in the United States, happiness decreased, causing him to go as far as to

say that “[...] median household income was unrelated to happiness”, suggesting no correlation.

Fischer’s findings clearly establish that the popular notion that money cannot buy happiness is

true. Fischer suggests that the complexity of keeping up with the American standard of living is

one of the key factors that is contributing to this discrepancy between wealth and happiness,

mentioning that “ the task of keeping up with living standards and coping with sagging male
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earnings has required much more strenuous efforts by average American families.” This same

discrepancy is seen among the upper class, where Grant E. Donnelly’s article "The amount and

source of millionaires’ wealth (moderately) predict their happiness." in the Personality and

Social Psychology Bulletin tells us that “ First, only at high levels of wealth – in excess of $8

million (Study 1) and $10 million (Study 2) – are wealthier millionaires happier than millionaires

with lower levels of wealth,” showing that more factors are at play than pure wealth. Donnelly

also provides evidence that “millionaires who have earned their wealth are moderately happier

than those who inherited it,” showing that the effort is worth more than the payoff. Donnelly’s

findings exemplify that wealth does not contribute directly to happiness, if it did, those

millionaires that inherited the wealth would be incredibly happy. Because increased happiness is

found from earning a large amount of money from work, Donnelly proves that the process of

earning wealth is a much larger factor for happiness than pure wealth itself. Overall, statistical

data shows that increasing wealth, like raising national income or inheriting money, does not

directly contribute to greater happiness.

Individual people have different needs, much like how a baseball fanatic would be upset

with a gift that was meant for an environmentalist. Suzanne Degges-White emphasizes in the

Psychology Today article “Will Money Make You Happy?” that it is not the amount of money

one has, but “the ability to afford the things that bring personal satisfaction that really matters,”

whether that is services to free up your time, like lawn care, or things for you to do, like a

vacation. This evidence implies that an individual with an income that is significantly below

average, but primarily enjoys time spent with family can be significantly more content than

someone whose income is slightly above average, yet has incredibly lavish spending habits.

Because the lavish spenders’ happiness is limited by their money, they can only be happy with
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the addition of more, whereas the less fortunate person doesn’t need money to spend time with

their loved ones. Degges-White’s findings are paralleled in Michael R. Hagerty and Ruut

Veenhoven’s article “Wealth and happiness revisited–growing national income does go with

greater happiness” in Social Indicators Research, stating “If people’s happiness depends on

income relative to others (social comparisons), or on income relative to their own past income

(adaptive expectations) then raising the incomes of all may not increase average happiness,” also

mentioning that it is more important for people to be able to fill their individual needs. This

suggests that a higher income by itself isn’t enough to make anyone happier, and that fulfilling

one’s needs is significantly more important. If everyone was given a million dollars, one who

takes joy at the thought of being considered “upper-class” would not be satisfied, as they would

still be placed in the exact same social class. Because of the complexity of individual desires, it

is clearly shown that an increase of wealth would not directly contribute to greater happiness, as

the addition of money would not be paramount for many people.

Although some, like Michael R. Hagerty and Ruut Veenhoven in the Social Indicators

Research article “Wealth and happiness revisited–growing national income does go with greater

happiness.” state that their results “show that increasing national income does go with increasing

national happiness” and that only one country showed a negative correlation, this is not the only

factor at hand. As a matter of fact, Joop Hartog and Hessel Oosterbeek show in Economics of

Education Review article "Health, wealth and happiness: why pursue a higher education?" that

education plays a large role in happiness, stating that “Women, clearly, make the best of it: their

health status is no different from men’s, their wealth is less, yet still they manage to be happier.”

The happiness of these women directly refute that wealth is the primary factor at play. The

inequality of wealth favors men, but the happiness inequality favors women, which directly
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proves that wealth alone is not going to make one happier. This evidence is explained in Degges-

White’s article, suggesting that “It’s a consistent finding that the only lifelong predictor of life

satisfaction is having a strong support network.” These findings prove that wealth is not a

determining factor in happiness, and that good relationships with other people are the most

rewarding aspect of life. Often, wealthy friends are friends for reasons based on class, which fails

to promote human connections and relationships, leading to discontent. Ultimately, Michael R.

Hagerty and Ruut Veenhoven’s findings fall short of proving that everyone would be more

content with more money, as there are many other factors at play between economy and

happiness, and money is not going to buy quality connections with other people.

As a result of these many other factors, statistical trends, coupled with the differences in

individuals, show that increasing wealth does not directly lead to greater happiness or life

satisfaction. Whether one prefers time with family, or being considered elite, giving everyone a

million dollars will not make everyone immediately and permanently more happy. Because

everyone tends to believe that money allows them to do what they enjoy, people tend to find

themselves wishing for more of it, when more money is likely not the answer. Overall, the old

adage “money cannot buy happiness” proves to be true, even in the complex day and age that we

live in today.
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Works Cited

Degges-White, Suzanne. “Will Money Make You Happy?” Psychology Today, Sussex

Publishers, 25 July 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifetime-

connections/201807/will-money-make-you-happy. Accessed 11 March 2020.

Donnelly, Grant E., et al. "The amount and source of millionaires’ wealth (moderately)

predict their happiness." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 44.5 (2018): 684-

699. Accessed 12 March 2020.

Fischer, Claude S. “What Wealth-Happiness Paradox? A Short Note on the American

Case.” Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, June 2008, pp. 219–226. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9047-4. Accessed 11 March 2020.

Hagerty, Michael R., and Ruut Veenhoven. "Wealth and happiness revisited–growing

national income does go with greater happiness." Social indicators research 64.1 (2003):

1-27. Google Scholar repub.eur.nl/pub/8672/2003e-full.pdf. Accessed 10 March 2020.

Hartog, Joop, and Hessel Oosterbeek. "Health, wealth and happiness: why pursue a

higher education?." Economics of Education Review 17.3 (1998): 245-256. Accessed 30

March 2020.