We usually say that money does not buy happiness, but let’s be honest, saying many things are said and they do not always have reason on their side.
When it comes to income, scientists say that there is actually an ideal amount that we can earn each year to feel emotionally satisfied – and believe it or not – having too much money could drag you into unhappy territory.
“That might be surprising, since what we see on TV and what advertisers tell us we need would indicate that there is no limit when it comes to the amount of money it takes for happiness, but now we see that there are some thresholds. “explains psychologist Andrew T. Jebb of Purdue University in Indiana (USA).
Jebb and his team analyzed data from the Gallup World Poll, an international survey of more than 1.7 million people from 164 countries around the world. Estimates were calculated based on purchasing power and questions related to life satisfaction and well-being.
When they examined the responses of the participants on what is known as subjective well-being (satisfaction and well-being in life) they discovered that the magic number of ‘material well-being’ is a global phenomenon, but that it varies considerably around the world.
However, when you average the results, we can get a rough idea of how much money it is.
“It has been debated at what point money no longer changes the level of well-being. We found that the ideal entry point is $ 95,000 (77,000 euros) per year for material well-being and 60,000 to 75,000 (48,500 to 60,000 euros) for the emotional well-being. This amount is counted per individual and is probably higher for families, “explains Andrew T. Jebb, leader of the work.
Of course, the global average masks how economic satiety points are significantly higher in some countries than others, largely associated with how rich each country is.
Let’s talk about numbers
Life satisfaction costs $ 125,000 in Australia, $ 105,000 in North America, and $ 100,000 in Western Europe, but only $ 70,000 in Southeast Asia, $ 45,000 in Eastern Europe, and $ 35,000 in Latin America.
Globally, it is cheaper for men to be satisfied with their lives ($ 90,000) than women (they need $ 100,000), and for people with low ($ 70,000) or moderate education ($ 85,000) than people with education higher ($ 115,000).
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the study is how it highlights that once you achieve this material well-being, you may want to freeze your earning capacity at that amount.
“Another important phenomenon within our data was the presence of inflection points in income levels, which after being satisfied caused constant decreases in happiness, ” the authors explain.
“It has been speculated for some time that very high incomes can lead to reductions in subjective well-being.”
The authors detected this phenomenon in their own results, but noted that it was only evident in terms of life assessment (not emotional well-being), and limited to only five of the nine regions considered in the study: Western Europe / Scandinavia, Europe from the East / Balkans, East Asia, Latin America / the Caribbean and North America.
As to why the employer is not found elsewhere, it is not known for sure, but researchers speculate that it is associated with the demands associated with higher wages.
“Theoretically, it is not the higher incomes themselves that drive reductions in subjective well-being, but the costs associated with them,” the experts write. “ High income is often accompanied by high demands (time, workload, responsibility, etc.) that could also limit opportunities for positive experiences (eg leisure activities).”
If that’s the case, it fits perfectly with a lot of other research that shows that money buys happiness but only if you have free time to enjoy it, spend it on the right things, and don’t prioritize money over time.
Reference: Happiness, income satiation and turning points around the world. Andrew T. Jebb, Louis Tay, Ed Diener & Shigehiro Oishi. Nature Human Behavior volume 2, pages33–38 (2018) doi: 10.1038 / s41562-017-0277-0
