Can Money Buy Happiness?
According to a recent study by Arthur A. Stone, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, the belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory,” and that “people with above average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities.”
“Actually, the pursuit of wealth may translate into a higher frequency of less desirable activities, such as a long commute, working overtime, and spending less time at home with loved ones.”
Subhanallah, so true. Too many of us are concerned about making money, and dont appreciate the present times as they should. May Allah 
allow us to be grateful for all that we are blessed at all times and to be content with whatever we are destined to be blessed with in the future.
(Props to Usman for the link to this article)
Keep reading for the full article:
Can Money Buy Happiness?
According to Stony Brook Researcher, it’s Largely an Illusion
Arthur A. Stone, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University School of Medicine
STONY BROOK, NY – It is widely believed that money leads to happiness. The presumption is mostly illusory, however, according to a study by Arthur A. Stone, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and colleagues from Princeton University, University of Michigan, and the University of California at San Diego. The research findings, published in the June 30 issue of Science, reveal that “The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory,” and that “people with above average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities.”
The study uses various pre-existing sources as well as individual surveys in real-time, using the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)1 technique and the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM)2. It identifies money’s effect on happiness as a “focusing illusion” – a tendency in which people exaggerate the importance of a single factor for prediction, in this case the effect of money on well-being.
“People don’t spend their day reflecting on if they’re happy or not; they don’t keep a mental score for their happiness that is readily reported when asked how happy they are,” said Dr. Stone. “Instead, they generate the answer on the fly and the answer can be influenced by many factors, including their relative status on material goods and income and on other life circumstances.”
The study reveals that despite the weak relationship between money and experienced happiness, many people are highly motivated to increase their income. “When thinking about what life would be like with additional income, people only focus on particular aspects of the future and discount the large number of things that actually do not change. This is known as a focusing illusion.” This distortion of what the future will be like may lead to a “misallocation” of time and effort.
“What does influence immediate happiness is allocation of day-to-day activities. The pursuit of additional income may not lead to activities that increase happiness,” Dr. Stone continued. “Actually, the pursuit of wealth may translate into a higher frequency of less desirable activities, such as a long commute, working overtime, and spending less time at home with loved ones.”
Dr. Stone is internationally known for his work in behavioral medicine and in the science of self-report. He is a fellow of several professional organizations and has been President of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine and the Editor-in-Chief of the journals Health Psychology and the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. He is a leader in the use of electronic diaries for the capture of self-report medical data and Ecological Momentary Assessment.
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1 EMA a survey technique for monitoring individuals in real-time and in their natural environments.
2 DRM is a survey method designed to obtain detailed descriptions of the activities and experiences of respondents through a systematic reconstruction of a particular day.
According to Stony Brook Researcher, it’s Largely an Illusion
STONY BROOK, NY – It is widely believed that money leads to happiness. The presumption is mostly illusory, however, according to a study by Arthur A. Stone, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and colleagues from Princeton University, University of Michigan, and the University of California at San Diego. The research findings, published in the June 30 issue of Science, reveal that “The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory,” and that “people with above average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities.”
The study uses various pre-existing sources as well as individual surveys in real-time, using the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)1 technique and the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM)2. It identifies money’s effect on happiness as a “focusing illusion” – a tendency in which people exaggerate the importance of a single factor for prediction, in this case the effect of money on well-being.
“People don’t spend their day reflecting on if they’re happy or not; they don’t keep a mental score for their happiness that is readily reported when asked how happy they are,” said Dr. Stone. “Instead, they generate the answer on the fly and the answer can be influenced by many factors, including their relative status on material goods and income and on other life circumstances.”
The study reveals that despite the weak relationship between money and experienced happiness, many people are highly motivated to increase their income. “When thinking about what life would be like with additional income, people only focus on particular aspects of the future and discount the large number of things that actually do not change. This is known as a focusing illusion.” This distortion of what the future will be like may lead to a “misallocation” of time and effort.
“What does influence immediate happiness is allocation of day-to-day activities. The pursuit of additional income may not lead to activities that increase happiness,” Dr. Stone continued. “Actually, the pursuit of wealth may translate into a higher frequency of less desirable activities, such as a long commute, working overtime, and spending less time at home with loved ones.”
Dr. Stone is internationally known for his work in behavioral medicine and in the science of self-report. He is a fellow of several professional organizations and has been President of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine and the Editor-in-Chief of the journals Health Psychology and the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. He is a leader in the use of electronic diaries for the capture of self-report medical data and Ecological Momentary Assessment.
1 EMA a survey technique for monitoring individuals in real-time and in their natural environments.
2 DRM is a survey method designed to obtain detailed descriptions of the activities and experiences of respondents through a systematic reconstruction of a particular day.
I agree with that, however, the cost of living is just so redicilious that people are forced to work harder and procure higher standards in life, whether it be from, materialistic things to perosnal fulfillment. Often times, people won’t have too much time on their hands until they are older, and have some extra money, which then might make them happier.
But of course this doesn’t stand for everyone, because there are a lot of people out there who really don’t need to be working, but do anyways. A lot of people out there who should sped more time at home, and refuse to be internaly seperated from their families.
Inshallah, Allah
(swt) brings happiness in all our lives and keep our hearts strong.
this post is ridiculous. Heres one article of many that will argue the point back and forth. For example, another study just came out delineating how theres a very direct link between the amount of income a person makes and their lifespan. Apparently, the telomeres inside peoples cells are shorter if they make less money. This might be due to stressing out over bills, personal finance, etc, but the end result is clear. Shorter telomeres = shorter life span. So if someone works harder to make more money they might not enjoy themselves so much in the short term but they have 6 extra years to enjoy retirement, their nice home, whatever. So you can end a post citing the study i mentioned with…”Subhanallah, so true. Too many of us are concerned with enjoying the temporary pleasures and dont appreciate the times we have left. May Allah
allow us to be grateful for all the time we have been given and be productive during this time so he may bless us with a long and healthy retirement”…
i dont think higher powers have anything to do with the issue b/c you can clearly use it to argue either point.
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