We hear all the time that money can't buy happiness. We also hear that mo' money = mo' problems. But having the money to buy that new house or car or save for retirement will make me happier. Right? Today we discuss the relationship between money and happiness and how --after our basic needs are met-- the way we think about money can have a more significant effect on our happiness than the money we actually have.

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References: 

Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687-1688.

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion. science, 312(5782), 1908-1910.

Easterlin, R. A. (1995). Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1), 35-47.

Miñarro, S., Reyes-García, V., Aswani, S., Selim, S., Barrington-Leigh, C. P., & Galbraith, E. D. (2021). Happy without money: Minimally monetized societies can exhibit high subjective well-being. PloS one, 16(1), e0244569.

Oishi, S., Kesebir, S., & Diener, E. (2011). Income inequality and happiness. Psychological science, 22(9), 1095-1100.

Johnson, W., & Krueger, R. F. (2006). How money buys happiness: genetic and environmental processes linking finances and life satisfaction. Journal of personality and social psychology, 90(4), 680.