New Happiness Research Results
The facts about income and happiness turn out to be much simpler than first realized:
1) Rich people are happier than poor people.
2) Richer countries are happier than poorer countries.
3) As countries get richer, they tend to get happier.
Moreover, each of these facts seems to suggest a roughly similar relationship between income and happiness.
Full article on the implications of the Easterlin Paradox.
It is interesting that their own data show that Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Israel are all happier than the U.S. Denmark is far and away the happiest.
And they say money can’t buy you happiness.
Just about everything I read about happiness research contradicts just about everything else I have read on the subject.
As I recall, happiness is also a function of whether you are richer or poorer than your neighbor. It’s not only the amount of wealth that contributes to happiniess. But also your relative ranking. Ranking higher always leads to feelings of happiness.