As the video above by AsapSCIENCE (the duo of Toronto musician Mitchell Moffit and artist Gregory Brown) demonstrates, “if you think money and happiness are exclusive, you simply aren’t spending it right.” Although the notion that once ones material needs are met, income over a certain threshold (often stated as $75,000) does not make us any happier, this is only true if that additional money is spent selfishly. The research that Moffit and Brown have drawn on most directly is from a paper by Dunn, Gilbert and Wilson from the Journal of Consumer Psychology, abstracted here:
The relationship between money and happiness is surprisingly weak, which may stem in part from the way people spend it. Drawing on empirical research, we propose eight principles designed to help consumers get more happiness for their money. Specifically, we suggest that consumers should:
1. buy more experiences and fewer material goods
2. use their money to benefit others rather than themselves
3. buy many small pleasures rather than fewer large ones
4. eschew extended warranties and other forms of overpriced insurance
5. delay consumption
6. consider how peripheral features of their purchases may affect their day-to-day lives
7. beware of comparison shopping
8.pay close attention to the happiness of others.
Category(s):Happiness
Source material from Forbes
