Can money buy happiness?
Financially richer people tend to be happier than poorer people, according to sociological researcher Glenn Firebaugh, Pennsylvania State University, and graduate student Laura Tach, Harvard University. Their research is focused on whether the income effect on happiness results largely from the things money can buy (absolute income effect) or from comparing one’s income to the income of others (relative income effect). They present their research in a session paper, titled “Relative Income and Happiness: Are Americans on a Hedonic Treadmill?,” at the American Sociological Association Centennial Annual Meeting on August 14.
