New Study: Finding love, not money, is the key to happiness
Turns out, love makes you happier than a pay raise.
There might be some truth to the age-old adage that money can’t buy you happiness, after all. Interestingly, a new study by the London School of Economics (LSE) has found that finding love had a significantly greater bearing on a person’s overall contentment, compared to economic factors like a double pay raise! Who would’ve thought?
The Study
The team of researchers collated responses from 200,000 people around the world to determine how different factors impacted their well-being. The study revealed that being in a happy relationship brought about the biggest increase in contentment, while suffering poor mental health (either through anxiety or depression) saw the biggest decrease.
While love seemed to the key ingredient to happiness, money didn’t seem to have as significant an impact on a person’s contentment. Measured on a scale of 1 to 10, doubling someone’s salary only saw a 0.2 increase in happiness. The reason? The researchers believe that this could be because people mostly care about their income levels comparatively to what others earn. Unemployment, depression and anxiety saw happiness drop by 0.7 on this scale, while the loss of a partner due to separation or death saw a decrease by 0.6.
Professor Richard Layard, co-author of the study, states that the findings reveal that the things most invaluable for our happiness and misery are our social relationships, and physical and mental health. He argued that these findings prove that governments need to revise their focus on the happiness and well-being of its citizens – towards a system of ‘well-being creation’, rather than the present emphasis on ‘wealth creation’.
Of course, these findings are broad conclusions on what makes people truly happy. We know enough to say that contentment and joy cannot truly be quantified on a 10-point scale. However, they are worthy indications for governments and policy-makers to further explore how we can create a better quality of life for people, beyond merely looking at economic means. What are your thoughts on the findings?
Sarah Khan
Photo: Getty Images
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Cherish Yourself: 15 Simple habits to practise self-love daily
