More On Money And Happiness

[jeffrey]

Does the amount you make determine your happiness? According to a new article on money.cnn.com a lot depends on how much you're currently making and whether or not you feel money is important:

"If you're not making money, it's much better to be convinced it's not important," said Norbert Schwarz, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan who coauthored the study.

The article also looks at happiness in regard to the amount of money you make compared to those around you:




There's also a school of thought that says how much money you have in absolute terms isn't as important for happiness as how much you have compared to everyone else. So getting more money may make you a little happier, but getting more money than others will make you a lot happier.

When a group of MBAs were asked whether they'd rather make $100,000 when everyone around them made $120,000, or make $90,000 when everyone around them made $70,000, a majority opted for the lesser salary if everyone at the company knew about the discrepancy, Schwarz said. But if the salary discrepancies were kept confidential, about half said they'd opt for the $100,000 job.