|
|
A. A quality-of-life index that was developed by the Economist magazine, which included 111 countries, linked subjective life-satisfaction surveys to objective measures such as financial well-being, family life and job security.
|
|
|
B. With the exception of adults making over $290,000, those who said that economic success was essential were less happy than others in their income groups who thought it was not important. The lower a person’s household income, the more negatively his or her happiness was affected by valuing economic success.
|
|
|
C. Well, several recent studies have tried to answer these questions.
|
|
|
D. Ireland, which ranked Number 4 in the GDP-per-person contest, is at the top of the quality-of-life index. The researchers felt that Ireland “successfully combines the most desirable elements of material well-being, low unemployment rates, political liberties with the preservation of … stable family life and the avoidance of the breakdown community.”
|
|
|
E. “If you are not making money, it’s much better to be convinced it’s not significant,” said a professor of psychology who coauthored the study.
|
|
|
F. IT is an eternal question. Does money bring happiness? Does having a high income make you feel better about your life and work?
|
|
|
G. Using this system, The United States ranks number 13 in terms of overall quality of life, even though it was number 2 in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person.
|
|
|
H. However, if the salary discrepancies were kept secret, about half of the respondents said that they would prefer the $100,000 job. Evidently, pride in one’s income is more important than the actual dollar amount to some people.
|
|
|
I. People who have more money might register higher levels of satisfaction with life than those with less. An article in Psychological Science examined the results of a long-term study that followed more than 12,000 people from their first year in college through their late 30s.
|
|
|
J. There are also those who argue that having a higher income will make you happy, but earning more money than others around you will make you dramatically happier. When a group of business degree graduates were asked if they would rather make $100,000 when everyone around them earned $120,000, or make $90,000 when everyone around them earned $70,000, most opted for the smaller salary if everyone at the company knew about the discrepancy.
|
