Higher income can scarcely buy you happiness: Study

Poorer individuals also experience more awe and beauty in the world around them, the researchers said.

“These findings indicate that wealth is not unequivocally associated with happiness,” said lead author Paul Piff, from the University of California, Irvine.

“While wealthier individuals may find greater positivity in their accomplishments, status and individual achievements, less wealthy individuals seem to find more positivity and happiness in their relationships, their ability to care for and connect with others,” Piff added.

These differences may stem from higher-income individuals’ desire for independence and self-sufficiency, while the other-oriented emotions help lower-income individuals to form more interdependent bonds with others to help cope with their more threatening environments, Piff said, in the paper published in the journal Emotion.

“Wealth doesn’t guarantee you happiness, but it may predispose you to experiencing different forms of it — for example, whether you delight in yourself versus in your friends and relationships,” Piff said.

For the study, the team conducted a survey of 1,519 people, who answered a series of questions based on seven emotions — amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, enthusiasm, love and pride — considered to make up the core of happiness.