News Flash: Happy People **Accidentally** Make More Money!
Measuring happiness is a difficult process as it doesn't necessarily span cultural and societal norms. Further, there are the elements of time and the sustainability of happiness. For the purpose of the research and the report, happiness was defined as a cumulative set of life-contentment, and -satisfaction, outside the view of income. Without this element, it would be impossible to determine whether the income created the happiness or the happiness created the income. A grade from 0 to 100 was used as a gauge to determine subject's life happiness.
2,400 subjects, across a broad range or professions and ethnicities from across the United States were interviewed and tracked. Educational requirements were a minimum of a high school education; a college degree was not required. Subjects were first interviewed in their mid-twenties, again in their thirties, and then a final time in their forties. They were asked similar questions about their life-satisfaction and -contentment. On the second and third time they were also asked how much their income contributed to their happiness, or whether their happiness contributed to their income. Finally, their annual income was noted.
The chart shows that income rose as a function of subject life happiness, flattening slightly and showing no noticeable difference within a state of moderate happiness. The study showed that going from general unhappiness to moderate happiness and from moderate happiness to strong happiness showed significant signs of increases in income.
The striking observation made by a majority of the subjects during the interviews is that money wasn't a particular influence in their life choices. Rather, income was a byproduct of their happiness, and almost accidental. In other words a large majority of the subjects stated that generation of wealth was far less important than creating enough if it to simply maintain their happy lives.
Among every report and research study I have read conveys identical or at least similar conclusions. Money does not buy happiness, and happiness does generate income.
One can make an interesting correlation between how hard one works to make money and how happy one is to make the same amount. One can either work hard to generate it or simply have a higher level of life-contentment and life-satisfaction. The choice seems obvious.