![]() The authors also suggest that there are policy implications in these findings. ![]() People looking to improve their outlook on life might do well to remember this. It appears that it is what people can do (or at least believe they can do) as a result of having more money that actually increases their wellbeing. This study provides further evidence that while having enough money to get by is necessary for happiness, it is not having piles of money alone that make people happy. While perhaps intuitive, this finding will advance the literature on the subject and has many practical applications. In any case, hope does mediate the relationship between income and life satisfaction. It might be the case that a higher income causes people to be hopeful, which, in turn, improves their level of life satisfaction, or it could be that the causation runs the other way, with optimistic people making more money as a result of their already being hopeful. The authors themselves admit that casualty cannot be inferred from these findings. While these differences may not prove substantial, the mentioned findings held up across all demographics involved in the survey they may temper claims of how universal the results are. Notably, the median test taker made less than the median American, was more likely to be unreligious, and rated their overall happiness slightly lower than other tests show Americans tend to do. While the study’s demographics were similar to that of the United States overall, there were points of significant departure. It seems money can buy happiness, or at least hope, but that it is more expensive than many people can afford. The authors speculate that “this might be explained by the (lack of) capabilities that an income below $1800 can offer,” and note that many of their test subjects would fit into the category of multi-person households at that level. It is worth noting that this is around the poverty line for a multi-person household with children at the time of the study. However, the effect didn’t exist for those making less than $1800 a month increases in income below that point didn’t increase hopefulness much. Increases in hope were strongly and directly linked to improved levels of satisfaction, and the ability of statistical models to predict how happy a participant was more than doubled by adding in their levels of hope. Also, as expected, higher levels of income tied to higher levels of hope. To the surprise of no one, those making more money tended to report higher levels of life satisfaction.
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