DOES NET WORTH RELATE TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS?

Does net worth relate to health and happiness?

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Author Note
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Part 1: Wikipedia Stub Article Expansion

Net Worth

Does net worth relate to health?

According to Miller et al. (2021), net worth has a direct relationship with a person’s health and

wellbeing. Although the relationship between health and wealth has not been fully explored, a growing body

of literature indicates that high levels of wealth predict better health outcomes. A systematic literature review

by Pollack et al. (2021) state that people with high levels of wealth generally live longer and experience low

levels of chronic diseases and improved functional status throughout their life. In addition, more recent

studies have found longitudinal associations between greater wealth and a wide range of favorable health

outcomes such as low mortality levels, higher life expectancy, and decreased risks of obesity, smoking,

asthma, and hypertension. Miller et al.’s (2021) study links high wealth levels with improved health

conditions; for instance, wealth and net worth are key to accessing material benefits such as improved living

conditions and access to health care and protect people from depression. h

Greater wealth and higher income protect people from the stress associated with constant worry about

financial hardships as the health-damaging psychological effects of neighborhood violence or disorders and

struggles to meet daily challenges with inadequate resources. Greater wealth and higher income improve

people’s health by providing them with access to social networks with healthy role models and norms and

resources to share (Wang, Cheng, & Smyth, 2019). Additionally, wealth is closely associated with how

people perceive their social standing relative to others which have been found to have a strong relationship

with health. Research indicates that when hardships occur in the early stages of life, cumulative economic

stress leads to severe health outcomes in the later stages of life. For instance, adverse childhood experiences,

especially in the first five years of life have strong health effects which generally manifest later in life and

this can be attributed to the sensitivity of young children’s developing brain and other organs
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Does net worth relate to happiness?

The relationship between happiness and net worth is an issue of a person’s psychology that requires

attention from providers of financial services. However, Pollack et al. (2021) opined that money the level of

peoples’ financial status directly correlates to their degree of happiness. For instance, the authors argue that

the rich are mostly happy because wealth is directly associated with various favorable life circumstances such

as improved health, increased longevity, low levels of stress, and even lighter prison sentences when involved

in violent or criminal acts. In addition, economists argue that greater happiness is derived from an

improvement in financial status because additional money helps fulfill unfulfilled needs. A study by Wang et

al. (2018) states that people’s emotional wellbeing depends on their level of net worth – the higher the

income, the higher the emotional wellbeing and thus happiness. For instance, adequate financial resources are

key to people’s happiness as it helps them to meet their basic needs such as food, housing, and health care.

On the other hand, people with financial challenges are more likely to suffer from depression and often

experience low levels of happiness.

Part 2. Written Reflection

a)

A scholarly source is an article complied by professionals in a given discipline and serve to keep other

people interested the respective discipline with relevant research, findings, and news. It is imperative to note

that scholarly articles are the most credible sources because of the rigorous peer-review process they go

through. Therefore they need to be original research, written by experts in the respective field, evaluated by

other experts in the same field, and should be 10-30 pages (Gaylo et al., 2020). A scholarly article can be

used when researchers persuade their readers but address the topic objectively with its information well-

supported and include a bibliography and work cited. The article can be used if it can be found in a database

library or Google Scholar and their authors’ credentials are provided and the authors are affiliated with a
DOES NET WORTH RELATE TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS? 4

research institute or a university. In every field, skills and expertise is developed by assessing to the ideas and

discoveries of prior studies (Gaylo et al., 2020). Researchers can use scholarly sources when they intend to

determine and explore the benefits of other viewpoints and explanations for the positions they espouse. This

makes it easier to assess the truth, strengths, weaknesses, and claims made.

On the other hand, it would be appropriate to use a popular source if its content is founded on

verifiable facts and opinions which are not biased (Pavlovic, Petrovic, & Mamutovic, 2017). A popular

source may be subject to peer reviewing which is not necessarily carried out by other users. For instance,

Wikipedia articles are peer-reviewed by other users of the site but those do not have to be necessarily

scholarly. Popular articles can be found in general-interest publications such as magazines and newspapers.

Although these sources are not scholarly, they offer a rich source of background information as well as

stories, images, opinion pieces, and more personal points of view on the topic.

References
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Gaylo, D. N., Caingcoy, M. E., & Mugot, D. C. (2020). Utilization of Scholarly Journal Articles in the

Teaching and Learning of Teacher Education Courses. Proceedings of ADVED, 2020(6th).

Miller, P., Podvysotska, T., Betancur, L., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2021). Wealth and Child Development:

Differences in Associations by Family Income and Developmental Stage. RSF: The Russell Sa

Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 7(3), 154-174.

Pavlovic, D., Petrovic, Z. S., & Mamutovic, A. (2017). Wikipedia–From the Popular Source of Information

to the Pedagogical Tool. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(3), 36.

Pollack, C., Chideya, S., Cubbin, C., Williams, B., Dekker, M. and Braveman, P., 2021. Should Health

Studies Measure Wealth?.

Wang, H., Cheng, Z., & Smyth, R. (2019). Wealth, Happiness and Happiness Inequality in China. In Wealth

(s) and Subjective Well-Being (pp. 445-461). Springer, Cham.