Rationale for Topic Selection
It so no secret that human nature constantly conflicts with itself; one such internal confrontation is materialism versus idealism. Within this topic, thinkers, theologians, psychologists, and economists continue to debate whether relatively or objectively big money can provide a person with true happiness. This annotated bibliography will analyze five specific sources on the correlation between money and happiness to answer this question in an academic way.
Journalists’ Opinion
Data from secondary sources states that the more money one has, the happier they are. A Forbes article by Ledsom titled “New Study Shows That More Money Buys More Happiness, Even For The Rich” declares so. The text summarizes and compares the findings of two psycho-economic studies (Ledsom, 2021). The information looks reliable, but it is better for one to read the mentioned studies themselves to ensure the findings’ credibility.
Arthur Brooks, the Atlantic columnist, continues to develop the inferences of Kahneman, Deaton, and Killingsworth in his “How to Buy Happiness.” He argues that feelings of happiness differ at different income levels and that what a person spends their money on is also a determining factor (Brooks, 2021). This article looks more reliable than Ledsom’s; Brooks develops original ideas based on facts from scholarly papers.
Researchers’ Opinion
D’Ambrosio and their colleagues explore the influence of income and wealth on human mentality in “Money and Happiness: Income, Wealth and Subjective Well-Being.” Their central finding is that permanent wealth determines happiness, not permanent income (D’Ambrosio et al., 2020). The study follows a standard experimental research design so that its findings are valid. However, the terminology and wording may be confusing for less experienced readers.
Aknin et al. directed their scholarly efforts to study the positive effect of prosocial spending on the psyche of one in “Does Spending Money on Others Promote Happiness?: A Registered Replication Report.” They argue that prosocial spending drives happiness in one way, but only slightly (Aknin et al., 2020). Their work is trustworthy, but only readers with advanced research methodology knowledge will understand the study’s nuances.
Muresan et al. investigate the relations between monetary resources and positive emotions in the European setting in “Can Money Buy Happiness? Evidence for European Countries.” They reveal that “happiness increases with individual income until a threshold of 27,913 Euro per year (rounded to 35,000 USD) in European countries” (Muresan et al., 2020, p. 953). The manuscript is structured well, but conclusions may be less suitable for other geographic settings.
References
Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., Proulx, J., Lok, I., & Norton, M. I. (2020). Does spending money on others promote happiness?: A registered replication report. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(2), e15-e26. Web.
Brooks, A. C. (2021). How to buy happiness. The Atlantic. Web.
D’Ambrosio, C., Jäntti, M., & Lepinteur, A. (2020). Money and happiness: Income, wealth and subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 148, 47-66. Web.
Ledsom, A. (2021). New study shows that more money buys more happiness, even for the rich. Forbes. Web.
Muresan, G. M., Ciumas, C., & Achim, M. V. (2020). Can money buy happiness? Evidence for European countries. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 15, 953-970. Web.