Money and happiness

2010/07/03 Aulestiarte Lete, Izaro - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Osasuna
• Giza zientziak

Belgian scientists claim that monetary thoughts reduce the degree of satisfaction with the simple pleasures of life.

To reach these conclusions, scientists from the Liege University of Belgium have been based on research conducted with 350 volunteers. Everything was university staff, with different positions and levels of responsibility. And they asked them questionnaires to know their attitude to income, savings and, in general, money and positive events from day to day.

Once the data is analyzed, the researchers have explained that the richest people have less capacity to achieve satisfaction or satisfaction in the day to day. However, they have also mentioned that things live a little happier than people who do not go so well.

In addition to the polls, volunteers had to participate in an experiment. For this they were divided into two groups: some showed the image of a quantity of money and others a “neutral” drawing (had money in the background, but the image was very diffuse). Subsequently they were evaluated their ability to enjoy a pleasant experience through a psychological questionnaire. Consequence? those who saw the image of money clear obtained lower results in terms of ability to enjoy.

In a second test 40 students were asked about their attitude to chocolate. In the same folder was included a photo of an investigation supposedly foreign to the subject (some saw the image of a lot of coins and others, another object). A piece of chocolate was then distributed to eat.

Psychological surveys showed different results, both the volunteers who saw a picture of the money and those who saw another object.

Without knowing what their image was, the researchers measured the time they spent tasting the chocolate and the pleasure they supposedly felt with the action. They say that those who saw the money spent less minutes eating chocolate and therefore enjoying this activity. Those who saw the neutral image took longer to enjoy chocolate.

According to Belgian researchers, money can negatively influence the ability to enjoy the humble pleasures of life. And they say seeing a money-related image can also reduce the degree of satisfaction. “When everyone has enough money to meet their needs, having more capital will not make them feel more satisfied,” he says.

Pain relief?

The psychological impact of money has also been recently analyzed by a group of researchers from the University of Minnesota. Cash can relieve pain (physical and emotional).

After counting the tickets, the volunteers had to put their hands in hot water. Those who dedicated themselves to money suffered less pain than those who were counting normal pieces of paper. (Photo: JM Rosenfeld).

A group of volunteers had to count money (bills) in the experiment, while another group had to count pieces of paper. The researchers then introduced their hands in hot water and ordered them to note the pain they felt. Those who quantified cash felt less pain.

Even when in a computer game the rest of contestants expelled several people from the competition, who had previously counted cash acknowledged having suffered less from this “discrimination”.

Other similar experiments have been conducted by the team of researchers (not only in the US, but also in China and Canada) and have obtained the same results in the Harvard Business Review. In short, they have come to the conclusion that cash can provide people with a kind of “inner strength” and relieve physical and emotional pain.

Published in Ortzadar.