Believe It or Not, Money Isn’t the Key to Happiness
Get this: A study by McGill University has found that more money does not necessarily make people in low-income countries happier.
I like more money as much as the next guy, but that does not surprise me.
People in developing countries like Bangladesh may not have high incomes and own lots of nice material things, but they do have an abundance of two key sources of happiness: More contact with family and nature.
McGill’s study backs me up.
Sara Minarro, the lead author, says in Futurity.org that the people interviewed reported that what was responsible for making them happy was the greater proportion of time they spent with their families and in contact with nature (many of the people interviewed were fisherman).
As Chris Barrington-Leigh, a professor in McGill’s Bieler School of the Environment, explained, “When people are comfortable, safe, and free to enjoy life within a strong community, they are happy - regardless of whether or not they are making any money.”
A number of recent studies have come to a very similar conclusion.
A 2017 study by the University of British Columbia found that spending money to buy free time, such as paying others to cook or clean for you, does improve happiness, leave you feeling less stressed and generally more satisfied with life.
Beyond that, however, money does not necessarily make us happier.
According to Time magazine, Dan Gilbert, a Harvard University psychology professor and the author of “Stumbling on Happiness,” believes that having money has some obvious benefits but also limitations.
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Copyright 2021 Tom Purcell, All Rights Reserved. Credit: Cagle.com
