Greece
‘ More and more income does not lead to more and more happiness.’
The Paradox A study by Ed Diener demonstrated that the richest Americans, earning more than $ 10 million annually, report levels of personal happiness only slightly greater than the people who work for them. And why is it that people in some developing countries are happier than people in rich countries ? This phenomenon is called the ‘Happiness Paradox’. Professor Stavros Drakopoulos is currently researching the effect of money on happiness. His advice ?
The link between income and happiness One of the interesting findings that many economists have uncovered is the relationship between the level of income and overall reported levels of happiness. In particular, the results from many national studies indicate that the level of income is very important for how happy many people feel. However, it seems that this effect is very strong when income is quite low, but not so strong when income is high. Experts have called this relationship the ‘Happiness Paradox’. In other words, income is very important for people’s happiness when they are poor but much less so when they are financially comfortable or well-off. This not only seems to be true within individual countries but also when different countries are compared. For example, some developing countries report higher levels of happiness than in many of their developed high-income neighbours. One might explain this by arguing that, in general, humans feel very unhappy if their basic needs such as food and shelter are not met. Once they can meet these needs, different factors become important. This means that having an adequate income to cover important needs (as they are defined in a modern society) is crucial. However, further increases of income do not
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