Money really can make us happier

Economist Justin Wolfers (Justin Wolfers) presented the results of recent studies have confirmed this fact.

Justin Wolfers

Professor of Economics and Public Policy from the University of Michigan.

Swedish researchers interviewed Thousands of people who have won the lottery. It turnedLong-run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-beingThey are all significantly more satisfied with their lives than those who participated in the lottery, but won nothing. And those who received the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars, are happier than the winners, receiving tens of thousands. And the effect lasts a surprisingly long time, until two decades after the win.

Discussion on the role of personal finances in the formation of subjective well-being feeling is carried for a long time. Many previous studies have pointedThe Economics of Happiness, Part 4: Are Rich People Happier than Poor People? the fact that people with higher incomes are more satisfied with life. And this trend is seenEconomic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox

Lottery essentially become randomized controlled trials.

In medical tests, as well as in the lottery, only an accident determines you get a large or small dose of medication or do not get.

This type of research is considered to be conclusive, because the only factor causing systematic differences in participants, - the difference in the amount of the resulting formulation. That is, this study really showed the effect of additional money on life satisfaction.

The study authors have convinced state agencies that collect statistics to interview all the winners of the big lotteries in the last ten years. And then followed the different aspects of their lives. In addition, they studied the same parameters in people who have received a small amount of or participated in the lottery, but did not win money. The researchers were asked how they are all satisfied with their lives in general.

It turned out, life satisfaction most strongly associated with income. You can not say about the level of happiness: it usually has more to do with the current mood and emotions.

The researchers also asked questions about mental health. It turned out a high income does not affect him. While another study foundWealth, Health, and Child Development: Evidence from Administrative Data on Swedish Lottery PlayersThat winning the lottery is discharged less psychotropic drugs. These data suggest certain reflections, but does not prove anything.

Other researchers have followed the economic life of the winners to deeply assess the impact wealth. Contrary to popular beliefWealth, Health, and Child Development: Evidence from Administrative Data on Swedish Lottery Players, Those who have won hundreds of thousands of dollars, keep most of the money immediately. They gradually spend novopriobretonnoe wealth for many years. Most do not throw the work, but works a bit less and retire a little earlierThe Effect of Wealth on Individual and Household Labor Supply: Evidence from Swedish Lotteries.

This is contrary to popular opinion of psychologists that people tend to get used to the circumstances, including financial. Most likely, it has arisen due to previous studies of lottery winnings. The most famous of them was carried outLottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative? in 1978. It compared the subjective feeling of well-being in the lottery winners and participants in the control group. Winners have estimated his fortune after winning both happier, but the sample was quite small. The researchers felt that the outcome could affect some accident, and concluded that the impact on the happiness of winning.

But 40 years later, thanks to thousands of lottery winners, massive amounts of data and the three Swedish economists can say with certainty that the money really help get more satisfaction from life.

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