Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University have found a consistent correlation between higher incomes and increased happiness for the majority of people, but a surprising trend of unhappiness among a minority despite rising incomes. This discovery has reconciled previou
Researchers from Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania have found that, on average, larger incomes are associated with ever-increasing levels of happiness, but the relationship becomes more complex for specific cohorts. The least happy group sees a rise in happiness until $100,000 annually, while for the happiest group, happiness accelerates above $100,000.
To reconcile the differences, the two paired up in what’s known as an adversarial collaboration, joining forces with Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor Barbara Mellers as arbiter. In a newpaper, the trio shows that, on average, larger incomes are associated with ever-increasing levels of happiness.
Killingsworth, Kahneman, and Mellers focused on a new hypothesis that both a happy majority and an unhappy minority exist. For the former, they surmised, happiness keeps rising as more money comes in; the latter’s happiness improves as income rises but only up to a certain income threshold, after which it progresses no further.
“In the same way, the 2010 data showing a plateau in happiness had mostly perfect scores, so it tells us about the trend in the unhappy end of the happiness distribution, rather than the trend of happiness in general. Once you recognize that, the two seemingly contradictory findings aren’t necessarily incompatible,” Killingsworth says. “And what we found bore out that possibility in an incredibly beautiful way.
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