Does money make you happy? Science comes up with a surprising answer

Does money make you happy or not? This debate goes on endlessly. For a moment, it seemed that science had given a definitive answer to this question once and for all. However, those same researchers are now returning to this answer. After all, (more) money actually brings happiness, as they say now. Pretty surprising, if you ask us.

What exactly is the relationship between happiness and money?

Scientific way

Scientist Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University published his groundbreaking research in 2010, in which he hit the happiness plateau. Kahneman monitored the well-being of more than 450,000 Americans in 2008 and 2009 and concluded – in short – that if they exceed the $75,000-a-year income limit, more money does not make them happier.

This really makes you happy, according to 85 years of Harvard research

However, more than ten years later, there was a dissenting voice. Matthew Killingsworth, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, draws very different conclusions after his scientific research. He argues that people become happier with more money. Even if this amount is well above the previously mentioned “happiness threshold” of $75,000.

Combined Research: Does Money Make You Happy?

When only one person is right in many sectors, the situation is more precise in science. Instead of fighting each other, these scientists are one cooperation Contracted. What does it look like? If we look at the average score, it seems that a higher salary leads to more happiness. However, it is more complicated on an individual level. They seem to get happier as income increases – especially among unhappy people – up to a maximum of about €90,000 a year.

The following applies to the middle class: extra money makes happiness a little more. For the happiest people, happiness also grows above the income limit of €90,000 a year. It is important to note that the research was conducted on American soil, where the average income is much higher than in the Netherlands. There, the average salary equates to just under €60,000, while Jan Modal in the Netherlands has to make do with around €40,000 in total on an annual basis.

5 ways money buys happiness

Are you really rich, but unhappy? Then the extra money will not contribute to more happiness. If you are already happy, the extra money can give you even more happiness. In general, money buys happiness.