“Giving people more income beyond 75K is not going to do much for their daily mood … but it is going to make them feel they have a better life,” Deaton said in an interview with the AP. People who have large increases in their income feel more successful, but that does not necessarily translate into either happiness or an improved sense of well-being. It apparently just makes people richer.
The results were published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
What, if anything, does the research say, beyond the mere statistics? For one thing, the very rich do not seem happier than the middle class. A yacht, a mansion, an expensive car–none of these can drag those who are miserable out of their state of misery.
And, as for the middle class, or at least the high-end of the middle class, having enough money to own a home, put children through school and own one or two modest care is enough, if these people are already happy.
The poor or nearly poor are less likely to be happy, or have a sense of well-being–as if that would come as a shock to anyone.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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