Bozur
Amicus
Posts: 5,515
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Post by Bozur on Sept 13, 2009 10:01:33 GMT -5
Study Finds: Money Won't Buy Happiness
sciencedaily.com — There is more to life satisfaction than money, and public policy programs aiming to tackle poverty need to move beyond simply raising people's income to also improving their quality of life in other areas. More…
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ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2009) — There is more to life satisfaction than money, and public policy programs aiming to tackle poverty need to move beyond simply raising people's income to also improving their quality of life in other areas.
These findings by Professor Mariano Rojas from Mexico's Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales are published online in Springer's journal, Applied Research in Quality of Life.
The reduction of poverty is one of the main considerations in the design of both domestic and foreign-aid programs. To date, the focus of these programs has been to get people out of poverty by increasing their buying power and there has been an assumption that raising people's income translates into greater well-being. Professor Rojas challenges this assumption and argues that measures of life satisfaction should also be taken into account when designing and evaluating poverty-abatement programs.
Professor Rojas used data from a yearly national survey run by the University of Costa Rica covering the years 2004-2006. In addition to questions about household income and dependency on household income, he added more subjective questions about life satisfaction in general, as well as satisfaction with health, job, family relations, friendship and self, as well as the community environment.
The majority of people rated their lives as satisfactory or more than satisfactory. Not all people who were considered ‘poor' experienced low life satisfaction and not all people who were not considered ‘poor' were happy with their lives. Professor Rojas observed that only 24 percent of people classified as ‘poor' rated their life satisfaction as low. Furthermore, 18 percent of people in the ‘non-poor' category also reported low life satisfaction. It is therefore clear that poverty alone does not define an individual's overall well-being and it is possible for someone to come out of poverty and remain less than satisfied with his life. On the other hand, a person can be satisfied with his life even if his income is low, as long as he is moderately satisfied in other areas of life such as family, self, health, job and economic.
Professor Rojas argues that social programs need to recognize that well-being depends on satisfaction in many domains of life, and that many qualities and attributes need to be considered when designing these programs, including leisure, education, the community and consumer skills (learning to spend higher income sensibly).
Professor Rojas concludes: "This paper has shown that it is possible to jump over the income poverty line with little effect on life satisfaction. Income is not an end but a means to an end. There is a big risk of neglecting and underestimating the importance of well-being-enhancing factors when focusing only on income poverty. It is important to worry about getting people out of income poverty, but it is more beneficial to also worry about the additional skills people need to have a more satisfying life." www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090907142345.htm
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Post by hellboy87 on Sept 22, 2009 23:40:17 GMT -5
I disagree
Money does buy you happyness.Why do you see everybody wanting more? Money contests and sorts.
Why do people go yessss when they won money or got a bonus,like that? It does bring you happyness.
But I guess,maybe because its like,fleeting?
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Post by Emperor AAdmin on Sept 23, 2009 10:17:02 GMT -5
Rather then expressing just my opinions here are some more known quotes relevant to the topic.
It isn't enough for you to love money -- it's also necessary that money should love you. - Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930, American Journalist/Humorist/Cartoonist
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money. - John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English Author/Poet/Artist
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. - Marcus Aurelius, 121-180, Roman Emperor and Philosopher
I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. - Martha Washington, 1732-1802
Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances. J. Donald Walters
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about. - Charles Kingsley
It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about. – Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955, American Author and Trainer
The only thing money gives you is the freedom of not worrying about money. – Johnny Carson, 1925-2005, American Comedian/Writer/Host of "The Tonight Show"
A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart. – Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745, Anglo-Irish Writer and Satirist
The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. – Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887, American Preacher/Orator/Writer
A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity. - Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States
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Post by Emperor AAdmin on Sept 23, 2009 10:32:56 GMT -5
Abd Er-Rahman III of Spain: I have now reigned about 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot. They amount to fourteen. (960 C.E.)
Albert Camus: You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. / But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?
Alexandre Dumas: There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state to another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
Aristotle: Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient
C. P. Snow: The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase, if you pursue happiness you'll never find it.
Sophocles: Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness.
Albert Einstein: If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.
Stacey Charter: Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and respect yourself - no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are - completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as YOU see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different.
Epictetus: (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135) There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
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Post by Emperor AAdmin on Sept 23, 2009 10:36:54 GMT -5
Judging by these quotes it appears that money can not buy one happiness since the moment it becomes conditional on things which are beyond our control it becomes unattainable. So it must come from within to be of any more solid substance
ps: lottery winner is happy for several moments or rather until he or she finds out that there is a nice chunk of it going for taxes or other expenses that come with increased appetites.
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Post by vinjak on Sept 24, 2009 18:08:27 GMT -5
The study is true you cannot ever buy happiness.
What money can do is buy freedom, which creates a deep happiness, as long as the person is wise. You never ever flaunt your wealth, you never ever reveal your wealth to anyone even family. You dont take on a tycoon persona without the education to back it up. You dont buy a house without knowing how much the land taxes are every year. You dont buy a super car (what good is a ultra fast car when you cannot drive it at ultra speeds anywhere)
If you want a Ferrari or Porsche etc hire it for the weekend and take it for a long drive over 3 or four days with your partner.
The key to having money is being wise enjoy the freedom it brings,educate yourselves and always donate to your favorite charity.
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Post by Emperor AAdmin on Sept 24, 2009 19:21:59 GMT -5
Good assessment vinjak except lets be practical and ask our self how many people will be wise enough to follow such instructions at the time of them having great wealth versus having their ego run a muck.
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Post by dusko1 on Jan 4, 2010 13:55:43 GMT -5
The study is true you cannot ever buy happiness. What money can do is buy freedom, which creates a deep happiness, as long as the person is wise. You never ever flaunt your wealth, you never ever reveal your wealth to anyone even family. You dont take on a tycoon persona without the education to back it up. You dont buy a house without knowing how much the land taxes are every year. You dont buy a super car (what good is a ultra fast car when you cannot drive it at ultra speeds anywhere) If you want a Ferrari or Porsche etc hire it for the weekend and take it for a long drive over 3 or four days with your partner. The key to having money is being wise enjoy the freedom it brings,educate yourselves and always donate to your favorite charity. Exactly! I always said to myself if I won a big lotto jack pot of a few million dollars that I wouldn't go nuts in purchasing lots of material things. Spend it wisely. I would use that money to help my family back in Montenegro & Serbia. Do you really need a humongous house/mansion to live in? No. Do you need a few Rolls Royces & a few Ferrari's parked in your driveway & garage? No. It's funny what I hear people say if they were to come across such big money. You would be surprised that a lot of people who have won lotteries or inherited lots of wealth have nothing at all now because of senseless spending.
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Post by ngadhnjyesi on Jan 5, 2010 10:08:06 GMT -5
I cannot believe someone conducted a study about something we all learned when we were 5 years old.
How about conducting a study to see if Earth revolves around th Sun. Now that would be groundbraking.
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Post by chalkedon on Jan 21, 2010 5:53:29 GMT -5
I cant understand that concept...i mean how does money NOT buy happiness ? I cant understand ppl like Britnay Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Casey Johnson ( dead ), that girl Murphey thats dead too...
What is wrong with these ppl ? Give me a couple million, and let me wallow in my misery... ;D
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Post by chalkedon on Feb 12, 2010 8:41:24 GMT -5
Man gives away his 3 million euro fortune to become happy
Author: Ивана Атанасоска 10:57 | 12 February 2010
Vienna,
An Austrian millionaire is giving away his fortune and all his personal possessions because they never made him happy.
Karl Rebeder, 47, from Linz, claims he will use the money from his household accessory business - worth £2.7 million - to fund orphanages and other help-the-poor projects in South America.
"I had the idea on holiday in Hawaii some years ago," he said. "My cars and plane have already gone and the rest follows very soon, I can't wait to get rid of them."
He said he realized that luck has nothing to do with money. "The worst thing that can happen to me now is to look for a job that suits me," he said. /end/ vs
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Post by Caslav Klonimirovic on May 3, 2010 6:12:02 GMT -5
Judging by these quotes it appears that money can not buy one happiness since the moment it becomes conditional on things which are beyond our control it becomes unattainable. So it must come from within to be of any more solid substance Yeah good call. I've bought a few entrepreneurial magazines lately to get investment ideas. If I think about it, most of the images in the magazines are of these hugely rich & monetarily successful people wearing suits with not particularly happy expressions. It's like the game never ends for them. I mean if they are happy what I get is that it's because they are enjoying that process of making money, not the actual money it self. Yeah, that guy who overtook Bill Gates as the richest man in the world still lives in the same house he had when he started.
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