Nov 23, 2009
How to Increase Happiness
Psychological therapy could make you happier than winning the lottery or getting a big pay raise, according to new research from psychologists Chris Boyce of the University of Warwick and Alex Wood of the University of Manchester.
They found that it would take a pay raise of about 40,000 dollars to reach the same increase in well-being that’s achieved through a course of therapy costing around 1,300 dollars. In other words, money is an inefficient way of boosting happiness.
It’s an important finding, as Boyce explains:
We have shown that psychological therapy could be much more cost effective than financial compensation at alleviating psychological distress. This is not only important in courts of law, where huge financial awards are the default way in which pain and suffering are compensated, but has wider implications for public health and well-being.
Often the importance of money for improving our well-being and bringing greater happiness is vastly over-valued in our societies. The benefits of having good mental health, on the other hand, are often not fully appreciated.
Although I agree that good mental health is an outcome that everyone should agree with, the overall costs to the individual in emotional pain must be also compensated.
The reason is that justice is not done just to rectify the future, but to resolve the past. Otherwise, the courts minimize the emotional pain and the damage that was caused by the injustice involved.
No one but the individual and his family and friends, who also probably suffered, can judge rightly in these cases. If nothing is done to prohibit others from taking advantage of others in causing emotional pain, the likelihood that the State or other organizations or people will not care about the damage to an individual or a family.
And how is one to gauge what the costs to children in the family was and possibly still is?
I agree with Angie – the purpose of financial compensation is to compensate for the distress already caused rather than alleviate it.
[...] often fail to point out that money buys only a very tiny amount of happiness. The purpose of our research has been to illustrate that money is relatively ineffective at raising well-being. In Britain, we [...]
When reading this article, the quote “money can’t buy happiness” popped in my head. Yes, I’m sure getting a pay raise and being able to afford expensive things is nice. But, how does it make you happier in the long run? Money controls people. And how long can you stay happy? When the money runs out?