Posted on 02/13/2006 10:19:16 AM PST by new cruelty
Money really doesn't buy happiness, study finds Feb 13 12:19 PM US/Eastern Email this story
Money doesn't buy happiness, and now there's a study to prove it. Australian researchers found that people in well-off Sydney are among the most miserable in the country, while those in some of the poorest areas are much more satisfied with their lives.
"Only at very, very high levels does money actually have any impact to act as a buffer," said Deakin University researcher Liz Eckerman.
"Money doesn't actually buy happiness and that's what was shown very clearly for the nearly 23,000 people we've interviewed so far," she told ABC radio.
The findings, collated since 2001, show that while there are no extremes of well-being in Australia, the happiest areas had a lower population, more people aged 55 or over, more women, more married people and less income inequality.
The survey assessed a person's satisfaction with their standard of living, health, relationships, life achievement, safety, community connection and future security.
Robert Cummins, a professor of psychology at Deakin who compiled the survey's scorecard, put the difference down to the higher cost of housing and high population density in cities.
"People in these rural electorates often have the advantage of additional disposable income since the cost of living, particularly housing, tends to be reduced outside the cities," he told The Australian newspaper.
Of the 150 national electorates surveyed, one of the nation's poorest, Wide Bay in rural Queensland, was among the happiest.
While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery. --Unknown
The quote above supports your view. Traffic jams and being crammed in with a bunch of liberals in an overcrowded area doesn't help either.
LOL
"Sugar Ray Robinson said in his Biography:
"I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better!"
My father had a saying that went something like this:
Being of modest means is nothing to be ashamed of....
it's just damned unhandy
My wife did. Of course, I was quite a looker back in the day ;)
Money might not buy happiness, but "no money" won't buy squat.
Money may not buy happiness, but if you're poor, you can't buy sh#t.
I'm tired of being in the control group on this study.
Some people are unhappy no matter what their circumstances.
As I've always said, Money can't buy hapiness...but neither can poverty!
When asked what she thinks of a fat old guy walking down the street with a hot young babe, Roz said: "I don't think anything, I just try to make eye contact with him, because he must be somebody rich or famous."
From Bob Newhart Show.
Money does not buy happiness but does allow one to suffer in comfort.
I don't want to buy happiness. I want to buy a Lexus. It's the Lexus that will make me happy, not the money to buy it.
Money may not buy happiness, but it will rent some quality gooch to make your sadness more enjoyable.
LOL. Quality gooch?
On of my favorite episodes of "Law and Order", Lennie & partner are checking out the crime scene, a rich man's bedroom. Lennie looks at all the bottles upon bottles of medicine on the man's bedside table and says, "I'm glad I'm not rich enough to know how sick I am..."
Dosen't this statement somwhat undermine the study's entire premise? It seems to suggest that living in rural settings allows you more disposal income - thus increasing your measure of happiness???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.