If you win the money just keep living your life but without money issues or worries, spend the money on trips or stuff like that, dont try to live the “rich life” with this money because you will spend it all and not enjoy it, enjoy the life you know without worries and have the money for whatever
I have heard family becomes difficult to deal with too. Your brother suddenly needs some big medical bills paid, or your sisters mortgage. If you do pay them, they expect more and you might grow bitter. If you don't help them out you're a monster.
Some years back the guy who won the German version of Who wants to be a millionaire probably did the right thing: He kept the café he was running because he knew that work was not only a way to pay the bills for him but also provided him with satisfaction and a sense of purpose. I think he paid off some debts but everything else stayed the same for the most part. Smart man.
John Kessler Make a big fundation with all the money, invest nearly all in it (keep what you need to live confortably without excess), this fundation will have the money and manage to help people, finance sientific research or whatever goal you have, and YOU won't personnaly have it, so people will not annoy you, plus, many people brains will be working to reach the exact same goal that you have :-) That's my solution to that, but I may be wrong ^^ Who knows ?
When I had enough money not to worry about it all the time.. I wasn't stressed or depressed at all. Despite having multiple mental health issues - having enough money cured most of the bad symptoms for me. It's heavy burden to be unsure all the time do you have enough money and how to get just enough to survive. I have always said that those who think Money can't buy happiness don't know where to shop.. Because only those with money, no matter what country you are from, can get all of the medical help they need. And that's a big thing when comes to happiness and well being.
@@jd.passek9015 I'm in Australia, we have a similar system to the UK and likely not overly different to Germany. We are entitled to free medical care; however if you have enough money then you use the private system not the public system so you don't have to wait for for everything. If your in an emergency situation your treatment will be the same, but if you need say a none life threatening operation then you might be waiting months(in some bad cases years) to get it done, but if you can afford to go private you would have it done within a week or two. Many countries have free healthcare, but apart from maybe Cuba they all seem to have the free and premium care depending on how thick your wallet is.
I'm in Finland and we're supposed to get medical help but not really. If you fall outside of the basic and most common needs you're fucked and will never get help you really need. Of course.. The big reason is that there isn't enough money given so we had actually doctors and treatments for people and everything gets cut more. So those medical personel who do work get burn-out and don't have enough time for patients what aren't and fast fix. Only difference being that if something is deadly like cancer it has to be treated because that's liability. Ah.. But.. Those who already have well paying work do have work health care where they get everything. But then you already are middle class. Also.. If you actually need real mental health care.. You have to go private. If you get basic mental health care here (to me it took 10 years to get it) they have only enough people working to keep you stable but not time to build much. And in private sector bills are over 100 euros by 45minutes.. So goodbye to being sane.
Most awful thing is that public health care needs people who don't burn out and work long... But usually those who do stay long and don't burn out re the ones who like being in powerful position related to patients. There's a lot of people in social sector with safe work place (= work were you don't get fired) who enjoy it not because helping people but because they have free range to manipulate someone.
I've always found that the whole 'Money can't buy happiness' saying simplifies things a little too much. When we've built the world in such a way that alot revolves around money I find it to be a little unfair to say that money can't buy happiness. I understand that billionaires can be depressed and people who are broke can find happiness in their situations but it's not always that simple. If my mom works in a small kitchen with no ventilation or pressure cookers/tools that are old and dangerous to use and I didn't have money to move into a bigger house with a nicer kitchen and buy her the stuff she needs, then I'd be sad and worried for her safety and health. The saying simplifies life too much and people often use it to make poor people who wish for more feel ashamed or even ungrateful for what they do already have and I'm not the biggest fan.
Money doesn’t by happiness and in that scenario you have layers out, if you ask the people at the end of the day how they felt they’ll say it was hard but they’re glad to be together. A happy life is a life with time well spent. Money can hinder you from spending that time well as it gives you an abundant reason not too, there’s a reason suicides are more common the richer a society is and even more so in the rich people in those societies. It’s really sad
I prefer saying “excessive amounts of money cannot buy happiness.” Once you secured a comfortable place to live for your loved ones and yourself, have enough savings in case health gets rough and a bit to buy experiences (travels, art classes or whatever), all that’s extra would be unfair to keep for yourself if you don’t actually need it. I know I’d feel awful and guilty buying a luxury car just because I can, knowing loads of people don’t sleep under a roof most nights.
A lot of wealthy people aren't trying to be rich to be happy. The wealth is a side effect of them finding something they are passionate about and becoming very good at it. This idea that the wealthy only do what they do because they are greedy and want more money needs to stop.
I struggle with severe depression and anxiety and I’m a long way from having enough money to be comfortable but my dog can almost always make me happy in the moment and give me positive memories, they’re way better than money, also having siblings who have children gives amazing experiences without needing money and with a lot less stress than having your own kids. It’s harder not having money but you can still have positive experiences and make great memories without it.
Thank you, Brit. I enjoy your presentations, and this is now one of my favorites. Also, thank you to all of you behind the camera, who gather and assemble all of this useful information.
How money would buy my happiness: 1. never have to work again 2. would be able to buy a giant plot of land far away from society. 3. would be able to give money to friends and family to help them out.
there's no internet where you wanna go. what you gonna do about family and friends that will try to murder you because they want even more money from you? The police will not find your corpse in the middle of nowhere any time soon.
If you have cell phone service, you have internet service. And my family is freaking awesome, and my little house will have an equally fantastic security system that will alert me of any intruders well before they'd even get to the house.
I'm a simple man. Get me 1. *a jetski* 2. *a great burger* 3. *some new socks* and that's how money will buy me happiness. 😅 What's your obscure list!?
I think this is a great finding. Use money to save time and become less stressed instead of bying more things that demand your attention. In this case I'm for minimalism.
Sure money won't "buy happiness," but what it WILL do is reduce your misery. Being broke is incredibly stressful. The only time I ever have nightmares is when I'm worried about my bills. Up until about ten years ago, I'd often had to choose between buying food or getting my prescriptions (type 1 diabetic (not the fat-guy kind)). I always got my meds and just sucked it up for a week or two without a trip to the grocery store. Go America ;-)
You're very fortunate to not live in the U.S. when you need healthcare. The evil system we have endured here forces people to literally buy their healthcare which doesn't even pay for all costs, and if someone DOESN'T have money, they simply cannot afford their own health, or in many thousands of yearly cases, their own life. ALL other western societies have realized the health of their populace is desperately critical to the stability of that society, and have made the wise choice to ensure healthcare is there for every individual, rather than lording over others, forcing them to pay exorbitant piles of money for treatments or healthcare generally when their health (as it always does) goes bad. The French may not have done many things very well, historically, but they damn sure do revolutions right, having executed the aristocracy in power, ending their control and abuse over the lower class. One day we'll do that too.
yeah, that tends to happen when they actually have healthcare to deal with. truly, it's so much easier not having to worry about it by not having healthcare, am I right? who cares if a few people die because they're too sick to work and thus too sick for someone to provide them with healthcare?
When you're on an unpleasant phone conversation and it ends, it's called "bye happiness." edit: regarding giving to others. It's true, I feel a certain satisfaction when I see my monthly Patreon donation to you guys on my credit card statement. Money well spent. ^_^
As for me, knowing that im living better life than some others makes me feel guilty, spending my money for others, wether its person or animal, could ease that guilt a little bit. When my dad passed away, the strong sense of mortality makes me rethink about everything, the money we've saved will mean nothing without person/something we care about.
OK after watching the video, the third study sounds a little suspect. Both $5 and $20 are small amounts of money. It would have been more insightful to use, say, $5 vs $100. I suspect that spending small amounts of money on another person would make you feel better, but spending large amounts of money might not have the same effect.
I don't feel good when I spend my money on others. It kind of annoys me because I work hard for my money and would rather use it for what I want. I still do spend it on others sometimes. I even donate to the children's hospital. I regret it every time but still do it because I have empathy for others. Anyway my point is that it probably would make me feel better if I donated money that was given to me no matter the amount. Easy come easy go. That is the flaw in that study for me.
I think a lot of it comes down to feeling better if you truly think the other person will get a lot more benefit from it than you would. Like giving money to someone you know needs to feed their kid, vs someone you think will probably just go buy drugs. They both might be flat broke, but it's what you think the money might achieve/improve that l suspect makes the difference.
Actually it doesn't change You can also just ask someone if they could use some help. Doing anything nice, like giving presents does this. Game theory even pointed this out in a video about Santa.
Yay, this means I'm doing it right! I already value experiences more than objects, and people tend to tell me I'm "too generous" in the way I prefer to give to charities or help out others when I can. I don't know about time-saving stuff, though, but that's because my entire life consists of work and free time, so there's not really anything in between that I can outsource XD I recently got a much better job than I had, so after a year or so of saving up, I hope my life will stabilize. Especially since my new salary is quite close to the numbers you mentioned as the "threshold" for utility :D
Learning and studying is my happiness and that's why I'm here. So just a good computer, laptop, calm environment, cellphone, tablet, private room and any things related alike will make me happy. Getting insights gives me more dopamine boost especially when I solved the da*n bug in my Js program hahaha... and many other more.
Money gives you options, choices _ for myself I would have the resources to build the boat and airplane I have designed then float or fly around the world.
How money could buy my happiness : 1. Education funds for me and all my little siblings (this always worry me, because my dad will be retired when my youngest sibling finally enter college/uni, so that responsibility to make sure all the children get educated fall to me as the first born) 2. Commissions/patrons for all my fave artists that I always want to do but never able 3. Books and art supplies. Being able to draw/paint without rationing my supplies is an awesome feeling 4. Organic garden for spices and food 5. Savings for health care (my country's public health care suck. There's many cases where people die because the government's public health care is too slow and not all people can afford non-government hospital. If you want to get treated asap, it's really expensive) 6. Maybe a new set for formal clothing every year 7. Enough for charities 8. Financial security
well, i love spending money on a) others and b) objects with which the /experience/ matters more (e.g. CDs, for listening to my favorite music over and over again), so i guess i'm on the right track
For me, the most effective way for money to contribute to my happiness is to save it. What I get for that is a sense of security which I value more than fancy things or experiences.
There are two major ways to measure subjective well-being: happiness, which can change a lot from moment to moment, and life satisfaction. Life satisfaction is measured by asking people to look at their lives as a whole and see if they're living a good life or a bad one. People who remember mostly happy days rate themselves as living better lives. According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, buying experiences like vacations and concerts is more likely to make you happier than buying things like clothes or gadgets, One way to test this is by giving people $40 and telling them to spend half of it on something that saves them time and the other half on themselves. According to surveys conducted in 136 different countries, how much you spend on others is correlated with your happiness. Some research suggests that knowing the impact of your spending helps. Others say that this widespread effect might just be something that's deeply ingrained in human nature: we feel better when we help others.
In the event that I were to win a substantial lottery I would buy an aesthetically pleasing and dependable car, pimp it out, buy a middle of the road house, invest my cash into my musical pursuits
Speculation why it may happen that giving money makes more happy: because every kind of experience is more powerful when there are fewer of it being done, otherwise it reverts into the person's Hedonic treadmill level. If there are those who always give and don't keep, I guess putting some coin in their own pocket and/or a gift to pleasure other parts of materialist self would produce more happiness for normally generous outgiving persons.
Money can make you happy if not having enough money is a big problem in your life, I've noticed whenever I have a big problem I think when it's solved or when I heal from it, then I will be Happy but then I just get new problems. So if I solved the not enough money problem I would expect to be happy but then I'd still have problems in my life. I don't think happiness = a total lack of problems in your life. If you are excited to go out for icecream and that's the best part of your day, you just bought happiness. And if someone randomly gave me a bunch of money I would definitely be happy, even if my life is still bad overall, it would still make me feel happy.
Winning a high-dollar lottery would allow me to immediately pursue a giant list of engineering projects that have been burning up my brain for months. Even if they never reach fruition, just being able to pursue it would be fulfilling, and would practically guarantee that some unforseen technologies or results would be made. Yes. I desire this path.
yep, sure have! my mate when he got one for $16k and on the half dozenth outing a rod carved the block in half, insurance denied any payout. 8-9K out of pocket later in a whole new engine and 9 months off the water while work was being done. The only person happy was me, because I thought the engine damage was trophy worthy and should be framed :D Holy crap it was epic!
Well, it makes you happy (and provides an experience) while you use it. The rest of the time it creates stress instead, in the way 3800Tech pointed out, in other way (like the need to buy additional stuff to keep it stored and transport it). Since you most likely rarely use it this cost outweighs the benefits. I once had what many would consider a dream car. It was a classic Ferrari. Sure, the weekends I used it were nice, but the stress was also real - I couldn't find many a garage for the mechanical care needed, and worse, not a single shop that could do it right (the next owner told me that it had the original oil in it, because in all its thirty years not one mechanic knew how to change oil the right way on a dry sump)
Money can only buy tangible objects, not intangible things like emotions or luck. However money can also buy you a room full of puppies so that renders the other argument irrelevant.
I see a problem with the spending-money-on-others experiment. It sounds like some people CHOSE to spend on others while others didn't. This could be a case of people who are pretty happy to start with also being generous -- which makes them feel happy -- while less happy people might be more likely to try to buy themselves something to increase their happiness.
I had the experience of travelling the world when I was in my mid-twenties - going from Hong Kong up to Beijing and down through South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. I did it all on less than the minimum wage - spending as little as a few dollars a day while in China. I finished with the rio carnival in brazil. But a long the way I went through places like the killing fields of cambodia. It felt like the scene of the time travelling car with kevin costner in the film "a perfect world". It was something I had never conceived of doing while in my early twenties - people just didn't do that kind of thing where I came from. But a friend from a different part of the country suggested it. To be honest I wanted to do it because I thought travelling was nothing special - I had negative reasons for doing it... And it didn't live up to the romantic ideal most of the time. Mainly me and my friend just partied for a year with the knowledge that most people would assume we were having an experience akin to some noble adventurer in a movie or something. Whereas I saw mostly "trust-a-farians" - people travelling on their parents credit card or trust fund wearing fake dreadlocks and competing in discussions with other travellers for who had the greatest and most unique experience: to which with most of these people I'd just drink them under the table.
@aKa Donut my comments were both meant to be tongue and cheek bud, hence the smiley face. I agree with you that is not exactly quantifiable. I was just being humorous but failed lol.
Experiment: 1. Imagine yourself buying some specific thing... Imagine how you would feel... 2. Imagine someone else buying you that thing... Imagine how you would feel... Do you feel diffrent in those scenarios? If so, whats the diffrence? Try this experiment with objects of diffrent monetary value... Is there a diffrence in the outcome?
When you say that when those who chose to spend money on someone else was happier over spending it on themselves, how was that quantified exactly. Was that just report based? Also, I feel that some of these tests are biased due to the novelty factor. Sure, it feels good to buy a friend a drink but if you always did it, that joy might fade. And like, are people that donate to a charity on a regular basis really happier than those that don't or is it just something they say to make people more giving?
If you have enough money to live a decent life, you'll be happier than if you're struggling to survive, but having more than that excess of money won't make you any happier ... 💸 ... I'd say this is why living wages, federal jobs guarantees and universal basic incomes are such good ideas, providing that your nation can support production to cover their costs.
Sure it could. Money could pay for IVF and maybe there's a chance that I won't have another miscarriage and surgery :( Without money we could remain childless if our bad luck streak carries on.. If that's not an example of money having the possibility to make someone happy, I don't know what is ;)
I know what you mean. My fertility is a big question mark at the moment while I wait for a specialist but trying to think of the alternatives makes me depressed as I don't have the money to do multiple adoptions, IVF, or anything really. The only other thing is surrogacy but that is never guaranteed and I don't know anyone who loves me that much to volunteer.
I get the whole biological desire of some people to have kids, but just read this and keep in mind maybe it's not so bad... Well it wouldn't be if you just accepted the situation and stopped spending a fortune on IVF. www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/complete-without-kids/201103/fact-or-fiction-childfree-couples-are-happier-couples-kids%3famp
IVF and a miscarriage....do you have thyroid malfunction? I'd get your thyroid checked out with a scan of some sort as well as levels. Levels will tell you about bad functioning, but it won't disclose a common and likely culprit: a tiny benign tumor somewhere on the thyroid itself, easily removed in most cases with outpatient surgery.
@@davidsirmons No I don't. The egg nestled in the ovary.. twice so far. They've had to remove it surgically. Chances of this happening again increases every time that the pregnancy goes wrong and they have to perform surgery. IVF could just make it much more likely to succeed.
"we're happier spending money on others". There is perhaps a missing link here because a lot of people (especially Americans) get really upset when their tax dollars go into helping others (i.e. helping others afford healthcare or social welfare). Are these people happier just keeping their hard earned money to themselves instead of giving it to others? Just curious.
Umm. People have an uncompromising and brutal need to feel good about themselves. It still bewilders me how it escapes most people that most people do exactly enough "good" so they can see themselves as good in their own mind. And sometimes do absolutely disgusting things just for that *feeling*. Spending money on yourself does not help patting yourselves on the shoulder as much as spending it on others does. Luckily, people who genuinely enjoy helping others also exist, eventhough I am sceptical if the charity study is a good way to show this. This is probably more a visiual aid for the givers. Regardless, it's good advice. If you want to be happy, spend your extra cash on others. Just put in the effort to check if actually does good.
The people that bought stuff for others may have been happy people in general already and also were more likely to choose that option anyways. Could be a reverse correlation.
Unless all three of you are millionaires who are also very happy with your life then idk how you are not the same as the people you criticize in ignorance?
Angelique Gonzalez but the people you claim are ignorant are all the things you are excepts for the fact that they believe they can make the same happiness without money as they could with money. When people say money doesn’t buy happiness they’re not saying it can’t they’re saying no matter the situation they can make happiness. True or not, you are in the same bucket as they are. To be more informed you would have to be poor then rich and then poor again al while trying different situations. Which is basically research, which has already been done, and it has concluded money doesn’t buy happiness. All the tips on how money can buy happiness in this video can be done on basically all wealth classes
I met a guy a few years back that makes $150 an hour. What he told me made me laugh at the time but I don't think I will ever forget it. He said, "whoever said money doesn't buy happiness must have been poor." I also know a few other people who are on the winning side of the income gap and they are very happy too. They go on a lot of vacation's.
Or you know; try and make sure that everybody has basic water food shelter and have things like public healthcare so a person can see a doctor whenever they need to regardless of how much money they have…
If you win the money just keep living your life but without money issues or worries, spend the money on trips or stuff like that, dont try to live the “rich life” with this money because you will spend it all and not enjoy it, enjoy the life you know without worries and have the money for whatever
I have heard family becomes difficult to deal with too. Your brother suddenly needs some big medical bills paid, or your sisters mortgage. If you do pay them, they expect more and you might grow bitter. If you don't help them out you're a monster.
Some years back the guy who won the German version of Who wants to be a millionaire probably did the right thing: He kept the café he was running because he knew that work was not only a way to pay the bills for him but also provided him with satisfaction and a sense of purpose. I think he paid off some debts but everything else stayed the same for the most part. Smart man.
Or invest it. Anything that will return above inflation can be a great for retirement.
John Kessler Make a big fundation with all the money, invest nearly all in it (keep what you need to live confortably without excess), this fundation will have the money and manage to help people, finance sientific research or whatever goal you have, and YOU won't personnaly have it, so people will not annoy you, plus, many people brains will be working to reach the exact same goal that you have :-)
That's my solution to that, but I may be wrong ^^ Who knows ?
@@Masterpouya good idea depending on how much you win. A million probably isn't enough to start a foundation.
When I had enough money not to worry about it all the time.. I wasn't stressed or depressed at all. Despite having multiple mental health issues - having enough money cured most of the bad symptoms for me. It's heavy burden to be unsure all the time do you have enough money and how to get just enough to survive.
I have always said that those who think Money can't buy happiness don't know where to shop.. Because only those with money, no matter what country you are from, can get all of the medical help they need. And that's a big thing when comes to happiness and well being.
I just assume anyone who thinks that money can't buy happiness doesn't have a disability.
Well, in Germany and other European states everybody will get the medical help he needs, even unemployed or homeless people
@@jd.passek9015 I'm in Australia, we have a similar system to the UK and likely not overly different to Germany. We are entitled to free medical care; however if you have enough money then you use the private system not the public system so you don't have to wait for for everything. If your in an emergency situation your treatment will be the same, but if you need say a none life threatening operation then you might be waiting months(in some bad cases years) to get it done, but if you can afford to go private you would have it done within a week or two. Many countries have free healthcare, but apart from maybe Cuba they all seem to have the free and premium care depending on how thick your wallet is.
I'm in Finland and we're supposed to get medical help but not really. If you fall outside of the basic and most common needs you're fucked and will never get help you really need.
Of course.. The big reason is that there isn't enough money given so we had actually doctors and treatments for people and everything gets cut more.
So those medical personel who do work get burn-out and don't have enough time for patients what aren't and fast fix.
Only difference being that if something is deadly like cancer it has to be treated because that's liability.
Ah.. But.. Those who already have well paying work do have work health care where they get everything. But then you already are middle class.
Also.. If you actually need real mental health care.. You have to go private. If you get basic mental health care here (to me it took 10 years to get it) they have only enough people working to keep you stable but not time to build much. And in private sector bills are over 100 euros by 45minutes.. So goodbye to being sane.
Most awful thing is that public health care needs people who don't burn out and work long... But usually those who do stay long and don't burn out re the ones who like being in powerful position related to patients.
There's a lot of people in social sector with safe work place (= work were you don't get fired) who enjoy it not because helping people but because they have free range to manipulate someone.
I've always found that the whole 'Money can't buy happiness' saying simplifies things a little too much. When we've built the world in such a way that alot revolves around money I find it to be a little unfair to say that money can't buy happiness. I understand that billionaires can be depressed and people who are broke can find happiness in their situations but it's not always that simple. If my mom works in a small kitchen with no ventilation or pressure cookers/tools that are old and dangerous to use and I didn't have money to move into a bigger house with a nicer kitchen and buy her the stuff she needs, then I'd be sad and worried for her safety and health. The saying simplifies life too much and people often use it to make poor people who wish for more feel ashamed or even ungrateful for what they do already have and I'm not the biggest fan.
So many of the rich, never stop trying. " If I have a million and I'm not happy, then I need a more millions."
Money doesn’t by happiness and in that scenario you have layers out, if you ask the people at the end of the day how they felt they’ll say it was hard but they’re glad to be together. A happy life is a life with time well spent. Money can hinder you from spending that time well as it gives you an abundant reason not too, there’s a reason suicides are more common the richer a society is and even more so in the rich people in those societies. It’s really sad
I prefer saying “excessive amounts of money cannot buy happiness.” Once you secured a comfortable place to live for your loved ones and yourself, have enough savings in case health gets rough and a bit to buy experiences (travels, art classes or whatever), all that’s extra would be unfair to keep for yourself if you don’t actually need it. I know I’d feel awful and guilty buying a luxury car just because I can, knowing loads of people don’t sleep under a roof most nights.
A lot of wealthy people aren't trying to be rich to be happy. The wealth is a side effect of them finding something they are passionate about and becoming very good at it. This idea that the wealthy only do what they do because they are greedy and want more money needs to stop.
@@kureru3522 I like it! I'm gonna use it from now on. Thanks! ❤️
The biggest problem is that people dont know how to handle their winnings rather than money not helping them. Great video
Dogs cost money, dogs make me happy.
Woulb be an intesting study as well.
I struggle with severe depression and anxiety and I’m a long way from having enough money to be comfortable but my dog can almost always make me happy in the moment and give me positive memories, they’re way better than money, also having siblings who have children gives amazing experiences without needing money and with a lot less stress than having your own kids. It’s harder not having money but you can still have positive experiences and make great memories without it.
good E X P E R I E N C E
Thank you, Brit. I enjoy your presentations, and this is now one of my favorites. Also, thank you to all of you behind the camera, who gather and assemble all of this useful information.
How money would buy my happiness:
1. never have to work again
2. would be able to buy a giant plot of land far away from society.
3. would be able to give money to friends and family to help them out.
there's no internet where you wanna go. what you gonna do about family and friends that will try to murder you because they want even more money from you? The police will not find your corpse in the middle of nowhere any time soon.
If you have cell phone service, you have internet service. And my family is freaking awesome, and my little house will have an equally fantastic security system that will alert me of any intruders well before they'd even get to the house.
Thats the plan
adilator Not everyone comes from dysfunctional families.
But would you be happy if you were all alone without face to face human interaction?
I'm a simple man. Get me 1. *a jetski* 2. *a great burger* 3. *some new socks* and that's how money will buy me happiness. 😅
What's your obscure list!?
"Money can't buy happiness" is a pretty common phrase. I don't think these people realize that poverty means you can't buy anything.
I don't think money can buy happiness exactly, but it can for sure buy ease and peace of mind
I think this is a great finding. Use money to save time and become less stressed instead of bying more things that demand your attention. In this case I'm for minimalism.
I dont think this has anything to do with attention, after all you would also pay attention to a concert.
@@maxmusterman3371 fair point. Better to use the word, demand your time instead of freeing it up.
Basically buy things that won't make u feel guilty xD
Sure money won't "buy happiness," but what it WILL do is reduce your misery. Being broke is incredibly stressful. The only time I ever have nightmares is when I'm worried about my bills. Up until about ten years ago, I'd often had to choose between buying food or getting my prescriptions (type 1 diabetic (not the fat-guy kind)). I always got my meds and just sucked it up for a week or two without a trip to the grocery store. Go America ;-)
Money buys misery....someone else's . If you pay someone to do a miserable job that you can avoid.
Well, if by "money" you mean gold nuggets and by "happiness" you mean golden chicken nuggets, then of course money buys happiness! :D
Gravijta
Chicken bouillon > gold bullion.
Master Therion
Awesome! I have to admit, I had to google both those words.
"So if money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it.."
- Weird Al Yankovic -
1:16 I wondered what she was talking about for a moment because I can always see a doctor when I need to because I don't live in America.
Jesus Christ, what a moron. Grow up, son.
You and I both know that America's health care system is superior. We all know what you guys have to deal with!
You're very fortunate to not live in the U.S. when you need healthcare. The evil system we have endured here forces people to literally buy their healthcare which doesn't even pay for all costs, and if someone DOESN'T have money, they simply cannot afford their own health, or in many thousands of yearly cases, their own life. ALL other western societies have realized the health of their populace is desperately critical to the stability of that society, and have made the wise choice to ensure healthcare is there for every individual, rather than lording over others, forcing them to pay exorbitant piles of money for treatments or healthcare generally when their health (as it always does) goes bad. The French may not have done many things very well, historically, but they damn sure do revolutions right, having executed the aristocracy in power, ending their control and abuse over the lower class. One day we'll do that too.
Good for you for shoving that in our faces?
yeah, that tends to happen when they actually have healthcare to deal with. truly, it's so much easier not having to worry about it by not having healthcare, am I right? who cares if a few people die because they're too sick to work and thus too sick for someone to provide them with healthcare?
"So if money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it!"
-- Weird Al
Your best SciShow Psych episode I've seen. Well done.
When you're on an unpleasant phone conversation and it ends, it's called "bye happiness."
edit: regarding giving to others. It's true, I feel a certain satisfaction when I see my monthly Patreon donation to you guys on my credit card statement. Money well spent. ^_^
At 0:22 I love that her list of things to blow money on included *books* above yachts & houses.
As for me, knowing that im living better life than some others makes me feel guilty, spending my money for others, wether its person or animal, could ease that guilt a little bit. When my dad passed away, the strong sense of mortality makes me rethink about everything, the money we've saved will mean nothing without person/something we care about.
Wining lottery is like using cheat codes in a video game.
All your base are belong to us, lottery winners.
That means it's awesome?
Could you give me some of your cheat codes?
nelson a Hey! No cutting in line.
OK after watching the video, the third study sounds a little suspect. Both $5 and $20 are small amounts of money. It would have been more insightful to use, say, $5 vs $100. I suspect that spending small amounts of money on another person would make you feel better, but spending large amounts of money might not have the same effect.
I don't feel good when I spend my money on others. It kind of annoys me because I work hard for my money and would rather use it for what I want. I still do spend it on others sometimes. I even donate to the children's hospital. I regret it every time but still do it because I have empathy for others. Anyway my point is that it probably would make me feel better if I donated money that was given to me no matter the amount. Easy come easy go. That is the flaw in that study for me.
Plus, the participants were _given_ da moolah; try asking them to spend their _own_ dough, next study
I think a lot of it comes down to feeling better if you truly think the other person will get a lot more benefit from it than you would. Like giving money to someone you know needs to feed their kid, vs someone you think will probably just go buy drugs. They both might be flat broke, but it's what you think the money might achieve/improve that l suspect makes the difference.
Actually it doesn't change
You can also just ask someone if they could use some help. Doing anything nice, like giving presents does this. Game theory even pointed this out in a video about Santa.
your hairstyle keeps on getting more awesome!! Love the videos too and high five on the motercycles comment!
So many people need to hear this information.
Yay, this means I'm doing it right! I already value experiences more than objects, and people tend to tell me I'm "too generous" in the way I prefer to give to charities or help out others when I can. I don't know about time-saving stuff, though, but that's because my entire life consists of work and free time, so there's not really anything in between that I can outsource XD
I recently got a much better job than I had, so after a year or so of saving up, I hope my life will stabilize. Especially since my new salary is quite close to the numbers you mentioned as the "threshold" for utility :D
I thought the biggest advantage of winning the lottery was no longer being afraid of becoming homeless.
"Treat yourself!" :D
I'm just now rewatching Parks and Rec, such a great show! :)
Learning and studying is my happiness and that's why I'm here. So just a good computer, laptop, calm environment, cellphone, tablet, private room and any things related alike will make me happy. Getting insights gives me more dopamine boost especially when I solved the da*n bug in my Js program hahaha... and many other more.
Money can buy everything including happiness and love.
I love this channel so much.
Woah! This was fascinating! I did not know anything in this video and It will probably be in my mind for hours! Thanks for this video and DFTBA!
Buying a puppy brigs you happiness.
Spending on others like experimentations so when the experiment makes the world break lose for it, they'll thank me for the money! That's amazing
I'd still be willing to risk winning the lottery...
Money buys booze... And allows you to attend events with friends while keeping financial worries at bay
Money gives you options, choices _ for myself I would have the resources to build the boat and airplane I have designed then float or fly around the world.
How money could buy my happiness :
1. Education funds for me and all my little siblings (this always worry me, because my dad will be retired when my youngest sibling finally enter college/uni, so that responsibility to make sure all the children get educated fall to me as the first born)
2. Commissions/patrons for all my fave artists that I always want to do but never able
3. Books and art supplies. Being able to draw/paint without rationing my supplies is an awesome feeling
4. Organic garden for spices and food
5. Savings for health care (my country's public health care suck. There's many cases where people die because the government's public health care is too slow and not all people can afford non-government hospital. If you want to get treated asap, it's really expensive)
6. Maybe a new set for formal clothing every year
7. Enough for charities
8. Financial security
These 3 ways need to be on a poster so I can remind myself when I look at it
well, i love spending money on a) others and b) objects with which the /experience/ matters more (e.g. CDs, for listening to my favorite music over and over again), so i guess i'm on the right track
Usually I don’t spend my money at all, because I have nothing I want to buy.
-14 year old
On minute 4>40 thought you were going to bring up the Patreon site XD
I expected a "Treat yo self."
I was not disappointed.
great clip. could use the experience concept on my class later.
For me, the most effective way for money to contribute to my happiness is to save it. What I get for that is a sense of security which I value more than fancy things or experiences.
There are two major ways to measure subjective well-being: happiness, which can change a lot from moment to moment, and life satisfaction. Life satisfaction is measured by asking people to look at their lives as a whole and see if they're living a good life or a bad one. People who remember mostly happy days rate themselves as living better lives. According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, buying experiences like vacations and concerts is more likely to make you happier than buying things like clothes or gadgets, One way to test this is by giving people $40 and telling them to spend half of it on something that saves them time and the other half on themselves.
According to surveys conducted in 136 different countries, how much you spend on others is correlated with your happiness. Some research suggests that knowing the impact of your spending helps. Others say that this widespread effect might just be something that's deeply ingrained in human nature: we feel better when we help others.
In the event that I were to win a substantial lottery I would buy an aesthetically pleasing and dependable car, pimp it out, buy a middle of the road house, invest my cash into my musical pursuits
Speculation why it may happen that giving money makes more happy: because every kind of experience is more powerful when there are fewer of it being done, otherwise it reverts into the person's Hedonic treadmill level. If there are those who always give and don't keep, I guess putting some coin in their own pocket and/or a gift to pleasure other parts of materialist self would produce more happiness for normally generous outgiving persons.
Experiences are stories you can tell, while items are things you can see. We like being told stories.
I wish I could get a 1 billion dollars to see if I will be miserable or not. Anyone willing to test this? Give me a bunch of money? XD
That parks and recs reference tho
Money can make you happy if not having enough money is a big problem in your life, I've noticed whenever I have a big problem I think when it's solved or when I heal from it, then I will be Happy but then I just get new problems. So if I solved the not enough money problem I would expect to be happy but then I'd still have problems in my life. I don't think happiness = a total lack of problems in your life. If you are excited to go out for icecream and that's the best part of your day, you just bought happiness. And if someone randomly gave me a bunch of money I would definitely be happy, even if my life is still bad overall, it would still make me feel happy.
Winning a high-dollar lottery would allow me to immediately pursue a giant list of engineering projects that have been burning up my brain for months. Even if they never reach fruition, just being able to pursue it would be fulfilling, and would practically guarantee that some unforseen technologies or results would be made. Yes. I desire this path.
Money buys freedom - the freedom to do the things that truly matter to people - that makes people happy.
Here I was, thinking that they're going to be talking about anti-depressants, horses and a cure for my chronic pains 😂
Money can buy you a jet ski and have you ever seen someone unhappy on a jet ski? (stolen from a comedian I can't remember)
Munashiimaru once made a drawing for a mate, he got it tatooed, it was a guy crying on a jetski, with the words, cry me a river
Raj, on Big Bang wanted a jet ski, with money he thought they were getting.
yep, sure have! my mate when he got one for $16k and on the half dozenth outing a rod carved the block in half, insurance denied any payout. 8-9K out of pocket later in a whole new engine and 9 months off the water while work was being done. The only person happy was me, because I thought the engine damage was trophy worthy and should be framed :D Holy crap it was epic!
I tore a tendon in my knee while riding a jet ski once. I was not a very happy looking person while riding back to the docks.
Well, it makes you happy (and provides an experience) while you use it. The rest of the time it creates stress instead, in the way 3800Tech pointed out, in other way (like the need to buy additional stuff to keep it stored and transport it). Since you most likely rarely use it this cost outweighs the benefits.
I once had what many would consider a dream car. It was a classic Ferrari. Sure, the weekends I used it were nice, but the stress was also real - I couldn't find many a garage for the mechanical care needed, and worse, not a single shop that could do it right (the next owner told me that it had the original oil in it, because in all its thirty years not one mechanic knew how to change oil the right way on a dry sump)
Money can only buy tangible objects, not intangible things like emotions or luck. However money can also buy you a room full of puppies so that renders the other argument irrelevant.
So what I'm getting from this video is to buy a Roomba and give it to my parents.
I see a problem with the spending-money-on-others experiment. It sounds like some people CHOSE to spend on others while others didn't. This could be a case of people who are pretty happy to start with also being generous -- which makes them feel happy -- while less happy people might be more likely to try to buy themselves something to increase their happiness.
to see its true value, money can't be given... it must be EARNED
On vids like this can we get a breakdown of the major points of the episode in the dooblie-doo?
I had the experience of travelling the world when I was in my mid-twenties - going from Hong Kong up to Beijing and down through South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. I did it all on less than the minimum wage - spending as little as a few dollars a day while in China. I finished with the rio carnival in brazil. But a long the way I went through places like the killing fields of cambodia. It felt like the scene of the time travelling car with kevin costner in the film "a perfect world".
It was something I had never conceived of doing while in my early twenties - people just didn't do that kind of thing where I came from. But a friend from a different part of the country suggested it. To be honest I wanted to do it because I thought travelling was nothing special - I had negative reasons for doing it... And it didn't live up to the romantic ideal most of the time. Mainly me and my friend just partied for a year with the knowledge that most people would assume we were having an experience akin to some noble adventurer in a movie or something. Whereas I saw mostly "trust-a-farians" - people travelling on their parents credit card or trust fund wearing fake dreadlocks and competing in discussions with other travellers for who had the greatest and most unique experience: to which with most of these people I'd just drink them under the table.
I didn't go to the USA. So I guess I didn't experience that side of things :)
1. Buy time
2. Buy experiences
3. Spend on others
Winning a million dollars would absolutely make me happier.
Money can buy motorcycles so it can buy happiness.
motorcycles could easily fit into the experiences category I'd say, but yeah certainly makes me happy.
@aKa Donut yeah but there happier now 😉😁
@aKa Donut my comments were both meant to be tongue and cheek bud, hence the smiley face. I agree with you that is not exactly quantifiable. I was just being humorous but failed lol.
Apemanwithcalculator a bit harsh don't you think ? I'm fairly certain the original comment as well as mine were intended to be humourous.
On the correlation between spending on other and feeling better: could it be that the happier you are the less you need to spend on yourself?
my conclusion: hire a maid to save time doing chores and buy her a costume to get a new (?) experience
Experiment:
1. Imagine yourself buying some specific thing...
Imagine how you would feel...
2. Imagine someone else buying you that thing...
Imagine how you would feel...
Do you feel diffrent in those scenarios?
If so, whats the diffrence?
Try this experiment with objects of diffrent monetary value...
Is there a diffrence in the outcome?
I would be happy if I had the money to do whatever I wanted. Like sending cars to space.
Video games and Kirby merchandise
When you say that when those who chose to spend money on someone else was happier over spending it on themselves, how was that quantified exactly. Was that just report based? Also, I feel that some of these tests are biased due to the novelty factor. Sure, it feels good to buy a friend a drink but if you always did it, that joy might fade.
And like, are people that donate to a charity on a regular basis really happier than those that don't or is it just something they say to make people more giving?
i always liked the saying "money cant buy happiness, but its more comfortable to cry in a mercedes, than on a bike"
I prefer "money can't buy happiness, but it sure can painkillers"
probably the biggest happiness of living with money is the feeling of safety, knowing that when you have a problem you still have savings in the bank
money can buy all my happiness.
If you have enough money to live a decent life, you'll be happier than if you're struggling to survive, but having more than that excess of money won't make you any happier ... 💸
... I'd say this is why living wages, federal jobs guarantees and universal basic incomes are such good ideas, providing that your nation can support production to cover their costs.
Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes being sad a lot more difficult.
Sure it could. Money could pay for IVF and maybe there's a chance that I won't have another miscarriage and surgery :( Without money we could remain childless if our bad luck streak carries on.. If that's not an example of money having the possibility to make someone happy, I don't know what is ;)
I know what you mean. My fertility is a big question mark at the moment while I wait for a specialist but trying to think of the alternatives makes me depressed as I don't have the money to do multiple adoptions, IVF, or anything really. The only other thing is surrogacy but that is never guaranteed and I don't know anyone who loves me that much to volunteer.
I get the whole biological desire of some people to have kids, but just read this and keep in mind maybe it's not so bad... Well it wouldn't be if you just accepted the situation and stopped spending a fortune on IVF.
www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/complete-without-kids/201103/fact-or-fiction-childfree-couples-are-happier-couples-kids%3famp
Just describing it as a purchase shows how much of an emotionless and non-empathetic person you are.
IVF and a miscarriage....do you have thyroid malfunction? I'd get your thyroid checked out with a scan of some sort as well as levels. Levels will tell you about bad functioning, but it won't disclose a common and likely culprit: a tiny benign tumor somewhere on the thyroid itself, easily removed in most cases with outpatient surgery.
@@davidsirmons No I don't. The egg nestled in the ovary.. twice so far. They've had to remove it surgically. Chances of this happening again increases every time that the pregnancy goes wrong and they have to perform surgery. IVF could just make it much more likely to succeed.
"we're happier spending money on others".
There is perhaps a missing link here because a lot of people (especially Americans) get really upset when their tax dollars go into helping others (i.e. helping others afford healthcare or social welfare). Are these people happier just keeping their hard earned money to themselves instead of giving it to others? Just curious.
I would love to have that problem.
If in 2038 we get androids that can look like snacks than heck yeah money will buy me happiness.
Umm. People have an uncompromising and brutal need to feel good about themselves. It still bewilders me how it escapes most people that most people do exactly enough "good" so they can see themselves as good in their own mind. And sometimes do absolutely disgusting things just for that *feeling*.
Spending money on yourself does not help patting yourselves on the shoulder as much as spending it on others does. Luckily, people who genuinely enjoy helping others also exist, eventhough I am sceptical if the charity study is a good way to show this. This is probably more a visiual aid for the givers.
Regardless, it's good advice. If you want to be happy, spend your extra cash on others. Just put in the effort to check if actually does good.
That will come in handy the day I win the lottery.😂
I get more stressed out when I pay someone to do work I am able to do.
"Money doesn't buy happiness, it buys crazy-ass happiness"-Eminem
“Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.”
- Helen Gurley Brown
Money would solve 100% of my problems.
The people that bought stuff for others may have been happy people in general already and also were more likely to choose that option anyways. Could be a reverse correlation.
75k a year, i wanna hear more about this, how much are you spending on rent? (Theoredically) i just wanna know what to aim for px
People saying money cant buy you happiness are ignorant
They say that because they will never have money and have no idea what they are saying.
Unless all three of you are millionaires who are also very happy with your life then idk how you are not the same as the people you criticize in ignorance?
Angelique Gonzalez but the people you claim are ignorant are all the things you are excepts for the fact that they believe they can make the same happiness without money as they could with money. When people say money doesn’t buy happiness they’re not saying it can’t they’re saying no matter the situation they can make happiness. True or not, you are in the same bucket as they are. To be more informed you would have to be poor then rich and then poor again al while trying different situations. Which is basically research, which has already been done, and it has concluded money doesn’t buy happiness. All the tips on how money can buy happiness in this video can be done on basically all wealth classes
Things in this world are *never* "black" and "white".
Humanity is diverse and maybe money can't buy *you* happiness but what about someone else?
I met a guy a few years back that makes $150 an hour. What he told me made me laugh at the time but I don't think I will ever forget it. He said, "whoever said money doesn't buy happiness must have been poor." I also know a few other people who are on the winning side of the income gap and they are very happy too. They go on a lot of vacation's.
Why can't scientists give me forty quid?
Or you know; try and make sure that everybody has basic water food shelter and have things like public healthcare so a person can see a doctor whenever they need to regardless of how much money they have…
Good to know, all I need now is some money.
Video games are an experience
Those lottery winners can send me that money. I know how it can improve my life.
Most people feel better when they make someone else suffer.
Man-o-man, these studies have such teeny-tiny sample sizes! Even the biggest was 200?!? Yeesh.
Ok give me all your money.
I'd definitely be happier at $75k a year. Being able to afford my bills without having to do tons overtime would be amazing.
Well, it could buy better health care for me!
Or just an IV of heavy duty morphine until you clock out in sweet bliss.