Don’t worry, be happy
Although you may now be making less money than this time last year, it doesn’t mean you should be less happy, says Barry Whelan of Excel Recruitment
Print16 March 2010
With the results of our latest Excel Recruitment management survey in mind, which showed that the majority of management were not going to receive a salary increase this year and in fact for a lot of managers a salary reduction was on the cards in is nice to know that the University of Princeton has finally proven that money does not equal happiness.
Advertising and the neighbours may make you assume that a higher income will make you happier but a study by Princeton University researchers found the link between money and happiness is mostly an illusion.
“The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory,” the researchers wrote. “People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be tenser and do not spend more time in particular enjoyable activities.”
Two Princeton professors — economist Alan B. Krueger and psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman — joined forces with researchers at three other universities on the study. The goal was to formulate different methods of measuring the well-being of individuals and of society; they ended up with deeper insight into income and happiness.
The researchers developed a tool to measure people’s quality of daily life known as the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM). DRM creates an “enjoyment scale” that makes people jot down the previous day’s activities in diary form and assess their feelings about the experiences. The survey showed that respondents who earned less than $20,000 a year reported only spending 12% more of their time in a bad mood than those who earned more than $100,000.
“If people have high income, they think they should be satisfied and reflect that in their answers,” Krueger says. “Income, however, matters very little for moment-to-moment experience.”
We can all take satisfaction in the results of the research – The more you make the more you spend, the more you need. There’s no proven amount you can earn to declare yourself “happy” — you’ll end up chasing a higher salary year after year.
More money equals more stress. We overlook the fact that earning more typically means working more. Working more means less time with family, friends, and for yourself. Would you want to double your income if it involved doubling the time you spend working? Again, when looking at the data coming from the US, according to a nationwide Bureau of Labour statistics survey on how people with varying income spend their time. Men earning more than $100,000 per year spend 19.9% of their time on activities such as socializing or watching television, compared to 34.7% for men making less than $20,000, according to government statistics. Women making more than $100,000 spend 19.6% of their time on passive leisure, compared with 33.5% of those earning less than $20,000.
Perhaps also of interest in this day and age are the future trends in terms of employment. Does the Bureau of Labour statistics in the US give some insight into the future of employment in Ireland?
Taking a look at their recent statistics, they outline some interesting trends in employment. It looks like we’re all going to need more psychologists, computer experts and nuclear power operators!
Radiation therapist
Annual median income: $70,010
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 25%
Nuclear power reactor operator
Annual median income: $70,410
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 11%
Management analyst
Annual median income: $70,990
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 22%
Psychologist
Annual median income: $71,551
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 15%
Environmental engineer
Annual median income: $72,350
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 25%
First-line supervisor/manager of police and detectives
Annual median income: $72,620
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 9 %
Computer systems analyst
Annual median income: $73,090
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 29%
Advertising Manager
Annual median income: $73,666
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 6%
Marine engineers
Annual median income: $76,200
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 11%
Physician assistant
Annual median income: $78,450
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 27%
Veterinarian
Annual median income: $79,368
Increase between 2006 and 2016: 35%
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